Grants / Department of the Interior / Interior Business Center

D25AS00271: HOIHI Grant Program for Native Hawaiian Organizations

Closed Closed June 9, 2025 Opportunity D25AS00271 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of Interior Business Center notices from 2025.

• Award ceiling$200,000
• Award floor$50,000
• Total funding$1.0 million
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to nonprofits and tribes.

• Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

Applications are welcome from organizations that meet the following criteria:Eligible applicants are Native Hawaiian Organizations (NHOs). NHO means a nonprofit organization: (A) that serves the interests of Native Hawaiians; (B) in which Native Hawaiians serve in substantive and policymaking positions, and; (C) that are recognized for having expertise in Native Hawaiian culture and heritage, including tourism.

More grants for nonprofits, tribes.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past H??IHI Grant Program awards averaged $153,677; this notice allows up to $200,000 per award.
• Most of the program's money (98% over five years) went to nonprofits.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

This notice of funding opportunity is administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary, Interior Business Center, Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD) as part of the U.S. Government Interagency Agreement between the Office of Native Hawaiian Relations (ONHR) and AQD. The Office of Native Hawaiian Relations’ (ONHR) Heritage (Tourism) Opportunities in Hawaii (HOIHI) Grant Program serves to implement the Native Hawaiian Organization NATIVE Act Grants under CFDA 15.068 and the provisions of the Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience Act (NATIVE Act), 25 U.S.C. 4351 et seq. The purpose of the NATIVE Act is to establish a more inclusive national travel and tourism strategy that delivers significant benefits for Native Hawaiian organizations (NHO) as distinctly defined in the NATIVE Act, including job creation, elevated living standards, and expanded economic opportunities. Tourism in Hawaii has grown with 9.4 million visitor arrivals in 2022 in a State whose population is less than 1.5 million people. This volume of visitors over a sustained period has led to depletion of natural and cultural resources, including the desecration of sites sacred to the Native Hawaiian Community, and the displacement of its members due to a lack in economic opportunities. The HOIHI Grant Program is an innovative effort to utilize Native Hawaiian traditional knowledge to bolster economic development in the Native Hawaiian Community, advance economic growth in the State of Hawaii, and to equip Native Hawaiian organizations (NHO) with the needed resources to transform tourism involving historical and sacred sites to be regenerative and collaborative. The HOIHI Grant Program seeks to increase economic development within the Native Hawaiian Community by expanding opportunities for entrepreneurship among members, increasing innovation potential on the usage and incorporation of traditional knowledge, and ultimately increasing growth of new businesses within the Community. This, in turn, broadens the ability of Native businesses to flourish and contribute to lowering unemployment and increasing expanding economic growth. HOIHI also furthers the opportunity to promote the incorporation of regenerative tourism models, and in doing so allows for the conservation and preservation of unique natural and cultural resources, and historic sites.

Category: Community Development.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.