Below is a list of current and upcoming opportunities. If you have questions about an opportunity listed below or additional grant opportunities you’d like to add to the list, please contact Josie Smith (josie@regionalopportunityinc.org).

ROI Grant Opportunities

Check back soon for grant opportunities from ROI!

Grant Opportunities Outside of ROI

The following opportunities are offered by organizations other than ROI. ROI is not affiliated with any of these grants. This list is meant to provide our partners with other sources of funding for the great work they do in the Indiana Uplands Region.

Indiana Historical Society Heritage Support Mini Grant

Heritage Support Grants from the Indiana Historical Society provide funds for projects that will help Indiana’s local history organizations meet high-priority needs in the areas of Collections Stewardship, Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion, Sustainability, and Planning. The Mini Grants are small and require no outside matching support. In addition to grants, the Indiana Historical Society is also offering fundraising education worships, ongoing coaching for grant applicants, and opportunities to serve on grant award selection committees.

  • Award Range: $500 – $4,999
  • Timeline: Applications are due March 28, 2025
  • Learn More >>

T-Mobile Hometown Grants

The Hometown Grants from T-Mobile provide funding for communities with populations of 50,000 or less to implement transformational quality of place projects. Grants are given every quarter to up to 25 small towns.

  • Award Range: Up to $50,000
  • Applications open on a quarterly basis with the following schedule:
    • Spring: Applications open January–March (Quarter 1 Grants close Tuesday, March 31, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. CT.)
    • Summer: Applications open April–June
    • Fall: Applications open July–September
    • Winter: Applications open October–December
  • Learn More >>

The Skatepark Project Skatepark/Skatespace Grant

The Skatepark Project helps underserved communities throughout the United States create safe and inclusive public skateparks for youth. The Skatepark/Skatespace Grant is available to nonprofit organizations and municipalities seeking to build free, public skateparks or skatespaces in underserved communities. Funded skatepark projects should be designed and built from concrete by qualified and experienced skatepark contractors; include local skaters throughout the planning, fundraising, and design process; and demonstrate a strong grassroots commitment to the project. 

  • Award Range: Up to $25,000
  • Timeline: The deadline to apply is March 31, 2025
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CDBG Construction Grants 2025

The State of Indiana distributes Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds rural units of government to support a range of projects. There are five types of Construction Grants designed to enhance community resilience and livability:

  • Main Street Revitalization
  • Wastewater/Drinking Water
  • Stormwater Improvements
  • Blight Clearance
  • Public Facilities
  • Timeline: Round 1 proposals are due on Thursday, April 17. Round 1 applications are due on Friday, June 20.
  • Learn More >>

Voya Unsung Heroes Awards Program

The Voya Unsung Heroes Awards Program helps U.S. K-12 educators and their schools fund innovative classroom projects. Each year, 50 educators are selected to receive $2,000 for their class projects. Of these finalists, three are chosen to receive the top awards of an additional $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000. Full-time educators, teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, or classified staff with effective and innovative projects that improve student learning are eligible to apply. Applicants must be employed by an accredited K-12 public or private school located in the United States.

  • Award Range: 50 finalists receive a $2,000 award. Three finalists will be selected for additional awards of $5,000, $10,000, and $25,000
  • Timeline: The deadline to apply is April 18, 2025
  • Learn More >>

Community Connect Grants Program

The USDA Community Connect Grants Program provides financial assistance to eligible applicants that provide broadband services in rural areas. The broadband should be provided on a “community-oriented connectivity” basis, foster economic growth, and deliver enhanced educational, health care, and public safety benefits. Funds may be used to construct, purchase, or lease land or buildings to deploy broadband service, the cost of providing broadband service free of charge to essential community facilities for up to two years, and/or the improvement, expansion, construction, or purchase of a community center that provides online access to the public.

  • Award Range: $100,000 – $5,000,000
  • Timeline: Applications open February 20, 2025 and close April 21, 2025
  • Learn More >>

Indiana Historical Society Project Grants

Heritage Support Grants from the Indiana Historical Society provide funds for projects that will help Indiana’s local history organizations meet high-priority needs in the areas of Collections Stewardship, Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion, Sustainability, and Planning. Project Grants require applicants to submit a Summary of Proposal. Proposals will be reviewed, and successful applicants will be invited to submit a Full Proposal. Project grants require a 15% cash match. In addition to grants, the Indiana Historical Society is also offering fundraising education workshops, ongoing coaching for grant applicants, and opportunities to serve on grant award selection committees.

  • Award Range: $5,000 to $50,000 with a 15% cash match requirement
  • Timeline: Summary of Proposal due April 30, 2025. Full Proposals (upon approval) due June 30, 2025
  • Learn More >>

Cultural and Community Resilience Grants

The Cultural and Community Resilience grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) support community-based efforts to address the impacts of climate change and COVID-19 by safeguarding cultural resources and fostering cultural resilience through identifying, documenting, and/or collecting cultural heritage and community experiences. The program prioritizes projects from disadvantaged communities, and NEH encourages applications that employ inclusive methodologies. Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations with a 501(c)(3) status, institutes of higher education, state and local governments, and federally recognized Native American Tribal Governments.

  • Award Range: Up to $150,000
  • Timeline: Application opens February 20, 2025, and closes May 20, 2025.
  • Learn More >>

Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas Grants

The Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) program offers funding to support clean energy projects in communities of 10,000 people or fewer. This initiative is designed to address the unique challenges faced by rural areas, such as higher energy costs, less resilient energy systems, and limited access to clean energy solutions.

  • Award Range: Varies per project
  • Timeline: Concept papers due February 27, 2025, and applications are due August 28, 2025
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Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program

The United States Department of Transportation Build America Bureau is offering up to $27 million in no-match grants on a first-come, first-serve basis through the Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program. This program provides grants to support legal, technical, and financial advisors to help advance infrastructure projects.

  • Award Range: $200,000 to $750,000 for single projects; $500,000 – $2,250,000 for multi-community projects
  • Timeline: Applications open March 4, 2025, and close April 3, 2025
  • Learn More >>

Community Economic Development Grants

The Community Economic Development Grants, from the US Administration for Children and Families Office of Community Services, is a federal grant program for community development corporations (CDCs) to enhance investment in communities facing persistent poverty and high unemployment through the creation and expansion of businesses and job opportunities. 

  • Award Range: $75,000 – $150,000
  • Timeline: Applications due May 1, 2025
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Public Impact Projects at Smaller Organizations Grants

The Public Impact Projects at Smaller Organizations grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities support the expansion of humanities programming currently offered by smaller museums and cultural organizations and to assess the organization’s relationship to their community and surrounding neighborhoods. 

  • Award Range: Up to $25,000
  • Timeline: Applications open March 11, 2025 and close June 11, 2025
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Digital Projects for the Public Grants

The Public Impact Projects at Smaller Organizations grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities support the expansion of humanities programming currently offered by smaller museums and cultural organizations and to assess the organization’s relationship to their community and surrounding neighborhoods. 

  • Award Range: Up to $30,000 in Discovery Grants, up to $100,000 in Prototyping Grants, and up to $400,000 in Production Grants
  • Timeline: Applications open March 11, 2025 and close June 11, 2025
  • Learn More >>

IU’s Sustaining Hoosier Communities

Sustaining Hoosier Communities pairs one rural community with IU faculty, staff, and students for an intensive year to advance community-identified projects that improve Hoosier lives.

  • Award Range: No direct funding, but includes support and tailored reports on community-identified projects.
  • Timeline: Application deadline is October 1, 2025.
  • Learn More > >

Jeffris Heartland Fund

The Jeffris Family Foundation’s Jeffris Heartland Fund supports historic preservation projects in small towns and cities in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The Fund provides matching grants for advanced planning studies for historic preservation projects preparing for a capital campaign and a restoration project. Grants cover 50% of the cost of a Historic Structure Report, and must be matched dollar-for-dollar with cash from other sources. Projects must be located in small towns and cities with a population under 150,000 that are not within a major metropolitan area, and the historic site must be on (or be eligible to be on) the National Register of Historic Places.

  • Award Range: Up to 50% of the cost of a Historic Structure Report, with a 1:1 matching requirement
  • Timeline: Preliminary inquiries accepted on a rolling basis
  • Learn More >>

CreatINg Places Grants

CreatINg Places is a place-based grantfunding program from the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority (IHCDA). The grant supports projects that activate underutilized public spaces or create new public spaces. The program aims to generate public interest and involvement in the development and implementation of place-based improvements by incentivizing small, public donations with a matching grant from IHCDA if and when their funding goal is reached by a set period of time.

  • Award Range: $5,000 – $50,000 with a 1:1 fundraising match requirement
  • Timeline: Applications are available now and accepted on a rolling basis
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Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program

The purpose of the Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program from the US Department of Agriculture is to provide funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. Projects supported through this program must demonstrate substantial community support, and facilities must serve the rural area where they are or will be located. Rural areas must have no more than 20,000 residents, according to the latest US Census Data. Examples of essential community facilities include healthcare facilities, including hospitals, nursing homes, or dental clinics; public facilities, such as town halls, courthouses, airport hangars, or street improvements; community support services, such as childcare centers, transitional housing, or community centers; and public safety services such as fire departments and vehicles or police departments and vehicles.

  • Award Range: Unspecified, applicants may apply for a loan, a grant, or a combination of both
  • Timeline: Applications are available now and accepted on a rolling basis
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Community Heart & Soul Seed Grant Program

The Community Heart & Soul Seed Grant Program provides start-up funding for resident-driven groups in small cities and towns looking to implement the Community Heart & Soul model. Community Heart & Soul is a resident-driven process that engages the entire population of a town in identifying what they love most about their community, the future they want for it, and how to achieve it. 

  • Award Range: Up to $10,000 with a 1:1 cash matching requirement
  • Timeline: Applications are available now and accepted on a rolling basis
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Next Level Jobs – Employer Training Grant

The Employer Training Grant offers employers $5,000 per employee who is trained, hired, and retained for at least 6 months in seven priority sectors: Advanced Manufacturing, Technology and Business Services, Transportation and Logistics, Health and Sciences, Building and Construction, Agriculture, and Early Childhood. 

  • Award Range: $5,000 per employee, up to $50,000 per employer
  • Timeline: Open now and ongoing
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Next Level Jobs – Workforce Ready Grant

The Workforce Ready Grant is a grant program for individuals that covers the tuition and fees of qualifying certificate programs across Indiana. Trainings are available in the following industries: Advanced Manufacturing, Building and Construction, Health and Life Sciences, Information Technology and Business Services, Transportation and Logistics, and Early Childhood. 

  • Award Range: Cost of qualified training
  • Timeline: Open now and ongoing
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Children’s Book Project Grant

The Children’s Book Project Grant, from the Pilcrow Foundation, is a 2-to-1 match grant for rural libraries to purchase up to $1,200 worth of new, quality, hardcover children’s books. 

  • Award Range: Up to $1,200 with a 2-to-1 matching requirement
  • Timeline: Applications are due every April 1 and October 1
  • Learn More >>