Grant and Funding Programs Offered by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is a major US‑based philanthropic institution dedicated to strengthening the arts and humanities. Active since 1969, it has awarded more than 20,000 grants and over $9 billion in charitable funding. Mellon positions itself as a long‑term partner to cultural, educational, and community organizations whose work advances critical thinking, creativity, and a more just public sphere.

Mellon structures its grantmaking around four primary areas—Arts and Culture, Higher Learning, Humanities in Place, and Public Knowledge—complemented by signature Presidential Initiatives. Across these portfolios, the foundation supports museums, theaters, universities, libraries, archives, community organizations, and artist- or scholar‑led projects. Recent examples include national humanities internships, the Jazz Legacies Fellowship for veteran jazz musicians, public memory labs in libraries, literary arts funds, preservation of public media archives, and initiatives that uplift Indigenous, Black, and other historically marginalized communities.

The foundation primarily funds organizations in the United States that qualify as IRS 501(c)(3) public charities, as well as non‑US organizations that are equivalent to US public charities. Grants are designated for charitable and educational purposes, and Mellon does not fund tuition, K–12 programming, fundraising events, or provide unrestricted support to individuals. Most awards are made by invitation after staff engage directly with potential partners, though the foundation occasionally issues open calls for proposals. In 2024 alone, Mellon awarded approximately $555 million to 699 grantees.

Mellon’s funding reaches libraries and archives safeguarding the cultural record, higher education institutions expanding access to the humanities, arts organizations commissioning new work, and place‑based projects that reinterpret history in public space. Through its grants, the foundation aims to expand who makes, preserves, and accesses culture and knowledge—whether through community food heritage centers in the American South, national archives of public broadcasting, or digital projects that democratize information. Its work emphasizes equity, storytelling, and the belief that ideas and imagination need sustained financial support to thrive.