Inquiries and Guidelines

Inquiries

The Public Knowledge program makes grants to institutions and organizations, not to individuals. Program staff welcome inquiries about eligibility. Inquiries should be submitted through Mellon's grantee portal.  

Program staff review all grant ideas to make informed judgments about the merits of a project and its alignment with the program’s funding priorities. They also consider the organization's capacity to carry out the project activities effectively. Please note that, in response to your inquiry, program staff may ask for further information including: project rationale; a summary of key goals, activities, and expected outcomes; and anticipated duration and cost. If invited, the applicant would work iteratively with program staff on the development of their proposal, submitting drafts and revisions over several weeks. Once staff accept a final proposal, they would then recommend it to Mellon's Board of Trustees for funding.

Grantmaking Policies and Guidelines

Please see Our Grantmaking for more information regarding the submission of proposals, reporting requirements, grant modification procedures, and grantmaking policies.

If the Public Knowledge program has invited a proposal, please see Mellon’s proposal guidelines.  If you are a current grantee, please see our guidelines for reporting and/or grant modification.

Other Funding Opportunities

Those ineligible for direct Mellon funding may consider applying for regranting programs supported by Mellon.