The Historic Preservation Education Foundation (HPEF) solicits proposals for both the Partners in Training and Partners in Documentation grant programs. The Spring 2025 Call for Proposals closes on June 1, 2025. For more eligibility information and how to apply, please refer to the program guidelines on HPEF’s website at www.hpef.us, or contact the Program Manager at info@hpef.us.

Partners in Training
This grant provides funding for training opportunities on technical topics associated with preservation technology. HPEF invites U.S.-based educational institutions and nonprofit organizations to submit training and education proposals set in the U.S. that address specialized topics associated with technical aspects of preservation projects. Applicants should review the HPEF website (www.hpef.us) for information on previous HPEF activities, including those undertaken with non-traditional and cross-disciplinary partners, and those which provided in-depth training on narrowly defined materials, building types, or preservation issues. HPEF encourages and supports training projects that demonstrate efforts to address issues of social justice and inclusion.

PiT grants are intended to support proposals that:
- support technical preservation training and education efforts for the public sector and for educational institutions and non-profit organizations.
- partner with educational institutions and non-profit organizations to deliver technical preservation training.
- provide high-quality and focused symposia and conferences on topics timely to the technical preservation community.
- utilize HPEF’s experience and organizational stability to support new and unique training opportunities.

Applicants are encouraged to team with other groups, including public, private, and non-profit organizations, if this supports the primary goals of the proposal. Applicants considering preservation-related projects unlike those HPEF has supported in the past are encouraged to contact HPEF to discuss possibilities for collaboration. Grant awards generally range between $5,000 and $20,000, representing a maximum of 50 percent of the total project cost.

Partners in Documentation:
This program funds student training opportunities involving the documentation of historic structures according to guidelines established by the National Park Service’s Heritage Documentation Programs (NPS HDP). HPEF has long recognized the importance of documentation and recording historic sites- as a component of historic preservation activities, to increase awareness of historic building practices, and to provide information for ongoing interpretation and maintenance. HPEF invites documentation project proposals from educational institutions and organizations based in the U.S. to support documentation training projects. Community colleges and trade schools are especially encouraged to submit proposals. Applicants are also encouraged to partner with secondary organizations, including other public, private, and non-profit organizations if this supports the project’s goals.

PiD grants are intended to support learning opportunities in documentation while also promoting examples of built heritage currently underrepresented in the NPS HDP/Library of Congress collection. Preference will be given to projects that:
involve sites with initial construction dates in the 1950s
through the 1980s.

- involve sites owned and operated by non-profit organizations or foundations.
identify specific benefits and uses for the documentation materials generated through the project.
- demonstrate efforts to address social justice and inclusion issues and expand representation of historically marginalized communities in preservation education and practice.
- PiD awards individual grants of up to $6,000 to manage qualified expenditures associated with documentation training courses, which may include travel, equipment rental, drawing reproduction costs, and limited food costs.