Grant Funding & Financial Incentives Available to Religious Organizations in Western New York.

While there are limitations on financial incentives available to religious organizations, there are a limited number of grant opportunities that provide financial support for rehabilitation/restoration projects or public-based (non-religious) programming. Please note that some of these opportunities either require or strongly encourage that the property be listed or determined eligible for listing in the New York State and/or National Register of Historic Places, or be designated as a landmark under a local preservation ordinance.

National:

National Fund for Sacred Places

The National Fund for Sacred Places is a funding program of Partners for Sacred Places in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Fund provide grants for the planning and execution of urgent capital projects at historic churches that are valued for their cultural importance as well as their role in providing human services, strengthening communities, and revitalizing neighborhoods, and grants for training, capacity-building, and technical assistance to ensure that grant-funded projects are successfully planned and implemented.

More information: http://fundforsacredplaces.org/

Preserving Black Churches

A project of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, the Preserving Black Churches grant is meant to advance ongoing preservation activities for historic Black houses of worship. This grant may be used to fund activities including capital projects, project planning, programming and interpretation, organizational capacity building & operations, and endowment & financial sustainability.

More information: https://savingplaces.org/black-churches

Statewide:

NY Landmarks Conservancy Sacred Sites Program

The New York Landmarks Conservancy’s Sacred Sites Program assists religious organizations with two statewide matching grant programs: the Sacred Sites Grant and Sacred Sites Challenge Grants. These grants provide financial and technical assistance for the maintenance, repair, and restoration of religious properties as well as professional services.

More information: https://nylandmarks.org/what-we-do/grants-loans/sacred-sites/

NYS Environmental Protection Fund

The NYS Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) is administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP). The Fund provides grants for projects to improve, protect, preserve, rehabilitate, or restore properties listed in the State or National Register for use by all segments of the population for park, recreation, conservation, or preservation purposes. This highly competitive program provides grants of up to 50% of eligible project and programmatic costs, with funding caps, deadlines and priorities established each year.

More information: https://parks.ny.gov/grants/historic-preservation/default.aspx