ALA Grant Program & Application | Abraham Lincoln Research

Since 2016, the Abraham Lincoln Association has offered grants to help fund non-ALA projects that promote Abraham Lincoln and his legacy. Grant amounts typically range from $500 to $6,000.

Funding from the program comes from the ALA’s endowment fund. Grants are awarded on a first come, first serve basis throughout the calendar year until the funding for the year runs out. A formula determines how much funding is available in a given year, although since the program has begun, the ALA typically has had between $13,000 and $25,000 to distribute.

All grant applications are reviewed by the ALA’s grants committee and then voted on by the ALA’s Executive Board. Applicants can receive full or partial funding of their requests.

Grant typically go to funding for the preservation of Lincoln materials, to sponsor or support Lincoln symposia or programs, and to help fund accessibility to Lincoln related materials, including by providing assistance for placing these materials on-line.

Although a one-on-one match is not required, in most cases the ALA does not provide full funding for a project. Examples from past years of grant recipients include: 

Papers of Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln Group of Washington D.C.

to help fund a Lincoln-related lecture

Iles House-Foundation (Springfield)

University of Illinois-Springfield

Looking for Lincoln

for programming

Indiana Historical Society

to assist funding the Lincoln colloquium

Lincoln Heritage Museum

to help pay for Lincoln banner restoration

Kalamazoo, MI Abraham Lincoln Project

to assist in the purchase of a statue

Watch Night Program (Springfield)

to sponsor Emancipation Proclamation

Peoria Historical Society

to fund a Lincoln-related historical marker

Monroe County, IN Civil War Roundtable

for two-day program on Lincoln

Peoria Historical Society

to fund costs of conservation of Lincoln’s Campaign Banner

All successful applicants are required to note the ALA’s contribution in their publicity materials and to file an after-event report with the ALA detailing how the event went and how the money was used.

ALA Grant Program Application

The Abraham Lincoln Association (ALA) often provides monetary assistance for events which promote the heritage of Abraham Lincoln and which align with the mission of the ALA. That mission is “to observe each anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln; to preserve and make more readily accessible the landmarks associated with his life; and to actively encourage, promote and aid the collection and dissemination of authentic information regarding all phases of his life and career.”

Download the ALA “Grant Program Application”

Fill out the application and sign, gather all supporting documents, scan/save application + all documents to PDFs

Type your name and email address in the fields, upload grant application + supporting document PDFs, and SUBMIT