Grants for Lighthouse Preservation Groups 2026

Lighthouse source review, Grantsights, October 30, 2026: Grantsights checked the National Park Service page on the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act (opens in a new tab), the Save America's Treasures application information (opens in a new tab), the National Maritime Heritage Grants page (opens in a new tab) and its frequently asked questions (opens in a new tab), and the statute at 54 U.S.C. 305101 to 305106 (opens in a new tab). Where official sources stop: none of them estimates what a light station costs to keep each year after the transfer, and that's the number a foundation board asks about first.

A Lighthouse Isn't a Grant: How Federal Transfers Work

Per the National Park Service, the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 lets federally owned historic light stations be transferred to federal and state agencies and private entities, and it's run jointly by the Park Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the General Services Administration (GSA) and State Historic Preservation Officers. The law now sits at 54 U.S.C. 305101 to 305106. Grantsights read the statute itself rather than a summary, because the duties are in the details.

Who can apply

Section 305101 defines an eligible entity as a federal agency, or as a state agency, local government, nonprofit corporation, educational agency or community development organization in the light station's area that does 2 things: agrees to the conveyance conditions and has them recorded with the deed, and is "financially able to maintain" the station. A lighthouse friends group with no reserves can apply, but the second test is where weak applications fall short.

The law's definition of a historic light station is broad. It includes the tower, the keeper's dwelling, the oil house, the fog signal building, the boat house, piers, walkways and the land under them, as long as the station is a historic property.

How a station changes hands

Under section 305103, the Interior Department reviews applications once the agency holding the station declares it excess property, consults the State Historic Preservation Officer and forwards a single approved application to GSA. GSA then conveys the station "by quitclaim deed, without consideration," which means you pay nothing for it and get no promises about its condition. If no applicant is approved, section 305106 says the station is offered for sale, with covenants that protect its history. Net proceeds from stations on public domain land go to the National Maritime Heritage Grants Program, which is one reason that program matters to lighthouse groups.

What you promise in the deed

Section 305104 lists the conditions. These 6 cost money every year:

Section 305104(b) also says you don't have to maintain the federal aid to navigation itself. That's a relief: the lamp or beacon usually stays the government's job.

The reversion clause

Section 305104(c) is the part boards should read twice. At GSA's option, the station reverts to the United States if it stops being open to the public under the terms in your application, isn't kept up to the Secretary's standards, is sold or encumbered without approval, or hosts unapproved commercial activity. It can also revert on at least 30 days' written notice if it's needed for national security. A foundation that funds a lighthouse is betting your group will meet these terms for decades, so show them you've read them.

Who Gave to Lighthouse Groups: What 990-PF Filings Show

Foundations reporting on IRS Form 990-PF are a main source of capital money for lighthouse groups, especially for big restoration jobs that admissions and gift shops can't cover. Grantsights analysis of 990-PF filings pulled October 30, 2026 found 107 foundations that made 180 grants to lighthouse recipients or lighthouse projects. These grants show the range:

For example, Ponce Inlet Lighthouse Preservation drew 3 grants from the Hunter foundation in 3 years: $585,000 in 2022, $334,400 in 2023 and $87,000 in 2024, all filed as historic preservation. One organization in New York, the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation group, shows how a mid-size station builds a base: the Reinhart Foundation's 2024 filing split $61,000 into general purposes, a state match, a fog bell and exhibit construction, and the HRBT Foundation pledged $50,000 a year over 2 years for a lighthouse legacy campaign.

Where the money clusters

Michigan and Rhode Island show up again and again in the largest grants. In Ludington, Michigan, the Delta Foundation made 3 general grants of about $20,000 to $23,000 to the Big Sable Lighthouse Keepers Association in 2024 and 2025, and the Donley Foundation put $25,000 into a Sable Points keepers fund at the Community Foundation for Mason County. In Rhode Island, Watch Hill, Beavertail, Pomham Rocks and Sakonnet lighthouse groups all drew repeat gifts from small family foundations. That pattern suggests lighthouse giving is local and loyal: a foundation near the water funds the light it can see. Small coastal family foundations behave much like the donors described in grants for lake associations, where shoreline owners fund the water they live beside.

Some gifts flow through other organizations. The Georgia Power Foundation gave the Tybee Island Historical Society $20,000 in 2024 for lighthouse restoration, the Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment gave the Coastside State Parks Association $50,000 for Pigeon Point Lighthouse restoration in California, and the Donley Foundation funded a Beaver Island Lighthouse preservation project through the island's historical society. If a historical society or park association owns your station, a funder may know you only by its name, and the park foundations guide explains how those friends groups present shared projects.

Why the Arts Funder List Shows So Few Lighthouse Gifts

Here's the honest part. Grantsights sorts foundation grants into causes such as arts, community and environment, and the free preview on each arts funder list counts grants inside that cause. Most lighthouse gifts in the filings carry no cause tag at all: 87 of the 107 foundations gave at least one lighthouse grant that isn't tagged to any cause, pulled October 30, 2026. Only 12 foundations, making 16 grants, sit in the arts cause, mostly gifts to lighthouse museums such as the National Lighthouse Museum on Staten Island and the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum in Rhode Island. Another 5 sit in the community cause, where historic preservation lives.

So Grantsights doesn't show a lighthouse-only count on this page: 12 foundations is too few to sort by state, and New York is the only state with 3 or more. The arts list is still useful for a lighthouse that runs as a museum, because it shows the foundations in your state that already fund museums and culture, with those that say they take requests first. A state list is $29, the $99 option covers a year of every cause, and either can be refunded within 30 days.

Source: Grantsights analysis of 990-PF arts grants by state, pulled October 29, 2026. Those medians are far below the six-figure capital grants above, which tells you the big lighthouse gifts come from a small number of local foundations with a personal tie to the coast. Groups whose stations sit inside a historic district should also read grants for historical societies, since many lighthouse museums are run by one.

Federal Grants That Can Reach a Lighthouse

2 federal programs on the pages Grantsights checked can pay for lighthouse work. Neither is built for small groups, and neither pays for routine upkeep.

Save America's Treasures

Per the National Park Service, Save America's Treasures funds preservation of nationally significant historic properties and collections. Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations, units of state or local government, federally recognized tribes and educational institutions. Historic property projects can ask for a federal share of $125,000 to $750,000. The catch is significance: the property must be a National Historic Landmark, a contributing property in a landmark district, or listed in the National Register at the national level. A lighthouse listed for state or local significance isn't eligible, and your State Historic Preservation Office can tell you which level yours has.

The Park Service lists other limits that hit lighthouse groups. Each property can win only 1 Save America's Treasures grant, ever. Long-term maintenance, moving historic properties, reconstruction and fundraising costs aren't funded, and the application has to document the required non-Federal match. In practice, that match is where foundation money comes in, and the capital campaign advice in grants for museums applies to a lighthouse museum raising it.

National Maritime Heritage Grants

Per the Park Service, National Maritime Heritage Grants give 1-to-1 matching funds for preservation and education projects about historic maritime properties, collections and traditional maritime skills. The frequently asked questions (opens in a new tab) explain that only State Historic Preservation Offices and the National Trust for Historic Preservation apply directly; nonprofits, local governments and tribes apply for subgrants through their state office. The money comes from proceeds of selling and scrapping obsolete ships in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, not from annual appropriations. The program page, last updated March 5, 2025, said the cycle was open; check with your state office for the current round.

The building itself

The biggest federal contribution is still the transfer. A light station handed over without consideration can be worth far more than any grant, but it comes with every duty in the table above. Don't apply until your board has priced 10 years of maintenance.

What the Park Service Doesn't Tell You About Lighthouse Funding

These 5 points come from reading the federal pages and the statute next to the 990-PF filings.

1. "Financially able to maintain" is a real test. The statute makes it part of who's eligible. Show reserves, an endowment plan or pledges before you apply, and keep that evidence for funders too.
2. Your keepers' association may be invisible in cause lists. With 87 of 107 foundations giving at least one untagged lighthouse grant, a keyword search beats a category search. Read filings by name.
3. Matching money decides federal grants. Save America's Treasures and Maritime Heritage Grants both need non-federal match, so a foundation pledge often unlocks a federal award. The Reinhart Foundation's 2024 filing literally names a "support match from state."
4. Small capital jobs win often. Windows, shutters, cisterns and heating systems drew $10,000 to $69,000 grants in the filings. Contrary to popular belief, you don't need a full restoration plan to get a first gift.
5. Commercial activity needs approval. Weddings and rentals are common lighthouse income, but section 305104 requires approval for commercial use, so don't build a budget on them before you have it.

Grantsights' honest take: a lighthouse group should treat the federal transfer as the start of a fundraising plan, not the end of one.

Pricing a Light Station for a Grant Request

Most groups underestimate the annual cost of a station near salt water. This table is illustrative, not data: costs vary by site, climate and condition, so get local bids.

Add the lines, then show a funder how admissions, memberships and gifts cover each year. A board that can say "our station costs this much a year, and here's how we pay for it" sounds like a group that will still be there in 20 years.

5 Lighthouse Projects Foundations Have Paid For

Each of these appears in the 990-PF grants pulled October 30, 2026.

1. Light station restoration. The Jeffris Family Foundation's $150,000 to Sable Points Lighthouse Keepers Association.
2. Museum buildings and archives. The George Kress Foundation's $500,000 for the Door County Maritime Museum archives building.
3. Water and heating systems. Cistern repairs at Point San Luis in California and a heating system for Five Finger Lighthouse in Alaska.
4. Windows and shutters. The Champlin Foundation's $15,000 at Pomham Rocks and the Wye Foundation's $10,000 for window replacements at the Hillsboro lighthouse in Florida.
5. Free admission and education. A Connecticut filing paid for sponsored admission to the Custom House and local lighthouses for New London residents.

Common Mistakes in Lighthouse Grant Requests

These 5 mistakes show up when a lighthouse group writes like a museum or skips the deed.

• Ignoring the deed conditions. A red flag for any foundation is a request that never mentions who owns the station and what the deed requires.
• Underestimating annual costs. A common mistake is pricing the restoration and not the 10 years after it.
• Applying to Save America's Treasures with the wrong listing. A request fails because the lighthouse is listed for local significance, which the program doesn't fund.
• Counting on rentals before approval. Commercial activity needs Interior Department approval under the statute.
• Asking without reading the funder's history. Read how to read a 990-PF first, so you can match your ask to the foundation's usual grant.

A Lighthouse Group's Funding Calendar

This 12-month plan pairs the visitor season with capital asks.

The Grantsights grant database tracks open federal and state notices, including historic preservation programs where a lighthouse can fit.

Related Guides for Lighthouse Groups

Stations that host tall ship visits or maritime classes can partner with the groups in grants for sailing programs, many of which teach seamanship from the same harbors. Keepers' groups that restore dunes or meadows around a tower can borrow planting know-how from grants for native plant societies.

Lighthouse museums share many funders with grants for museums, especially local family foundations that back culture on the coast. Groups whose station sits inside a state or local park should compare notes with grants for park foundations, since park friends groups raise money for similar capital work. Stations on islands and shorelines often double as nature sites, and grants for marine conservation groups lists the coastal funders behind that work.

Keepers' associations run almost entirely on volunteers who staff the tower in summer, and grants for volunteer centers explains how local centers recruit and train them.

FAQ: Common Questions

Is there a federal grant just for lighthouse preservation groups? No; the lighthouse law transfers property, and grants come from broader preservation programs.

Who can receive a lighthouse under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act? Public agencies, nonprofits, educational agencies and community development groups that accept the conditions and can afford upkeep.

Can the government take a lighthouse back? Yes, if the deed conditions aren't met or it's needed for national security.

How many foundations give to lighthouse groups? 107 in Grantsights' search of 990-PF filings pulled October 30, 2026.

How big is a Save America's Treasures grant? $125,000 to $750,000 in federal share for historic property projects.

What do foundations pay for at lighthouses? Mostly capital work: restorations, windows, cisterns, heating and museum buildings.

Sources

• National Park Service: National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act (opens in a new tab)
• National Park Service: Save America's Treasures Grants (opens in a new tab)
• National Park Service: Save America's Treasures Application Information (opens in a new tab)
• National Park Service: National Maritime Heritage Grants (opens in a new tab)
• National Park Service: Maritime Heritage Grants Frequently Asked Questions (opens in a new tab)
• 54 U.S.C. 305104, Terms of conveyance (Legal Information Institute) (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab)