Freedom 250 Poland 2026

Freedom 250 Poland is a federal public diplomacy funding opportunity offered by the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Mission Poland, through the Public Diplomacy Section at U.S. Embassy Warsaw and Consulate General Krakow. The opportunity supports programming connected to the United States’ 250th anniversary of independence through the Freedom 250 initiative. The initiative is designed to celebrate 250 years of American liberty, democratic values, innovation, and partnership while strengthening the bilateral relationship between the United States and Poland. The funding announcement emphasizes projects that demonstrate American leadership and shared democratic values while building long-term cooperation between the two countries in security, prosperity, science and technology, and culture. Programs are expected to be future-oriented and participatory, encouraging engagement from emerging leaders and established professionals alike. The grant program seeks innovative projects, events, and activities that highlight cooperation between the United States and Poland in areas such as defense, entrepreneurship, energy, digital innovation, culture, and scientific advancement. Priority audiences include Polish youth ages 15 to 35, university students, entrepreneurs, early-career professionals, policy leaders, researchers, artists, exchange alumni, and nonprofit or private sector professionals. The notice specifically encourages projects outside the traditional Warsaw and Krakow networks and favors proposals that connect younger participants with established leaders in government, business, science, technology, or the creative sector. All projects must maintain a clear connection to the United States through American organizations, experts, best practices, or perspectives. Funding priorities are organized into four thematic goals. The first goal focuses on security and encourages programs that increase understanding of U.S.-Poland defense cooperation, shared sovereignty, and emerging security threats. The second goal addresses prosperity and supports entrepreneurship, business innovation, commercial cooperation, and economic policy alignment. The third goal emphasizes science and technology by promoting innovation ecosystems, research collaboration, digital competitiveness, and technology policy. The fourth goal centers on celebrating American excellence through culture, sports, arts, music, and educational engagement. Applicants may address one or more goals and are encouraged to propose measurable outcomes and innovative methods for achieving them. Example activities include public events, bootcamps, hackathons, accelerator programs, policy labs, artistic workshops, exhibitions, networking events, and partnership-building initiatives. The program anticipates awarding approximately five to seven grants with award amounts ranging from approximately $10,000 to $40,000 and a total funding pool of $175,000, subject to the availability of federal funds. Projects must begin in 2026 and generally operate within a performance period of three to twelve months. A substantial portion of program activities must occur during calendar year 2026, although some activities may continue into 2027. Funding instruments may include grants, cooperative agreements, or fixed amount awards. Cooperative agreements and fixed amount awards may involve substantial participation from the Public Diplomacy Section, including approval of speakers, review of promotional materials, collaboration on participant recruitment, and joint promotional activities. Eligible applicants include registered nonprofit organizations, civil society organizations, think tanks, educational institutions, public libraries, schools, universities, individuals including exchange alumni, and governmental educational institutions. For-profit organizations are not eligible to apply directly. Organizations must possess a Unique Entity Identifier and maintain active SAM.gov registration unless exempted. Applicants may only submit one proposal per organization. Cost sharing is not required, but applications demonstrating in-kind support or matching contributions may receive favorable consideration because they demonstrate organizational commitment and sustainability. The notice explicitly excludes funding for partisan political activities, construction, fundraising, direct humanitarian services, religious programming, lobbying, scientific research surveys, commercial activities, and organizational development unrelated to project delivery. Applicants must submit mandatory federal forms including SF-424, SF-424A, and in some cases SF-424B. A narrative proposal of up to ten pages is required and must contain a proposal summary, organizational background, problem statement, program methods, timeline, staffing plan, project partnerships, sustainability strategy, and a monitoring and evaluation framework. Additional required materials include a detailed line-item budget in U.S. dollars, budget justification narrative, resumes for key personnel, letters of support from partners, proof of nonprofit status, and proof of registration. Evaluation criteria include program quality and feasibility, organizational capacity, planning strength, budget quality, monitoring and evaluation, and sustainability. Applications are reviewed competitively by a technical review panel, and applicants are generally notified within 120 days following the application deadline. Applications must be submitted by email to GrantsPoland@state.gov no later than June 14, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Central European Time. The funding opportunity number is WAW-NOFO-FY26-01 and applicants are instructed to include both the funding title and opportunity number in the subject line of the submission email. Questions regarding the process may be directed to grantspoland@state.gov. The funding opportunity appears to be part of a recurring annual public diplomacy grant initiative associated with major diplomatic priorities and anniversary programming, suggesting future rounds may occur in subsequent years with similar thematic priorities tied to bilateral cooperation and American public diplomacy objectives.

Align proposals closely with Freedom 250 themes and U.S.-Poland partnership priorities; include measurable objectives and a strong monitoring plan; clearly define implementation timelines and partner roles; demonstrate organizational capacity and fiscal management strength; projects engaging youth and audiences beyond Warsaw and Krakow may be viewed favorably