IMLS: Museums for America CFDA 45.301

Museums for America is the Institute’s largest grant program for museums, supporting projects and ongoing activities that build museums’ capacity to serve their communities. Museums for America grants strengthen a museum’s ability to serve the public more effectively by supporting high-priority activities that advance the institution’s mission and strategic goals. Museums for America grants are designed to be flexible: funds can be used for a wide variety of projects, including: ongoing museum work, research and other behind-the-scenes activities, planning, new programs, purchase of equipment or services, and activities that will support the efforts of museums to upgrade and integrate new technologies. Grants are awarded in the following categories: Engaging Communities (Education, Exhibitions, and Interpretation); Building Institutional Capacity (Management, Policy, and Training); and Collections Stewardship. Applications are due by November 2, 2009


Document Type: Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number: MFA-FY10
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Posted Date: Aug 26, 2009
Creation Date: Aug 26, 2009
Original Closing Date for Applications: Nov 02, 2009
Current Closing Date for Applications: Nov 02, 2009
Archive Date: Dec 02, 2009
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Category of Funding Activity: Arts (see "Cultural Affairs" in CFDA) Humanities (see "Cultural Affairs" in CFDA)
Category Explanation:
Expected Number of Awards: 150
Estimated Total Program Funding: $17,000,000
Award Ceiling: $150,000
Award Floor: $5,000
CFDA Number(s): 45.301 -- Museums for America
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yes
Eligible Applicants
Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

Additional Information on Eligibility:
All types of museums, large and small, are eligible for funding. Eligible museums include aquariums, arboretums and botanical gardens, art museums, youth museums, general museums, historic houses and sites, history museums, nature centers, natural history and anthropology museums, planetariums, science and technology centers, specialized museums, and zoological parks. Federally operated and for-profit museums may not apply for IMLS funds.

An eligible applicant must be: either a unit of state or local government or a private not-for-profit organization that has tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code; located in one of the fifty states of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated states of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau; and a museum that, using a professional staff, (1) is organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational or aesthetic purposes; (2) owns or uses tangible objects, either animate or inanimate; (3) cares for these objects; and (4) exhibits these objects to the general public on a regular basis through facilities which it owns or operates.

An organization uses a professional staff if it employs at least one professional staff member, or the fulltime equivalent, whether paid or unpaid primarily engaged in the acquisition, care, or exhibition to the public of objects owned or used by the institution.

An organization “exhibits objects to the general public” if such exhibition is a primary purpose of the institution. Further, an organization which exhibits objects to the general public for at least 120 days a year shall be deemed to exhibit objects to the general public on a regular basis. An organization which exhibits objects by appointment may meet the requirement to exhibit objects to the general public on a regular basis, if it can establish, in light of the facts under all the relevant circumstances, that this method of exhibition does not unreasonably restrict the accessibility of the institution's exhibits to the general public. Please note that an organization which does not have as a primary purpose the exhibition of objects to the general public but which can demonstrate that it exhibits objects to the general public on a regular basis as a significant, separate, distinct, and continuing portion of its activities, and that it otherwise meets the museum eligibility requirements, may be determined to be eligible as a museum under these guidelines.

A museum located within a parent organization that is a state or local government or multipurpose non-profit entity, such as a municipality, university, historical society, foundation, or a cultural center, may apply on its own behalf, if the museum: (1) is able to independently fulfill all the eligibility requirements listed above; (2) functions as a discrete unit within the parent organization; (3) has its own fully segregated and itemized operating budget; and (4) has the authority to make the application on its own. When any of the last three conditions cannot be met, a museum may apply through its parent organization. Prospective applicants that cannot fulfill all of these requirements should contact IMLS to discuss their eligibility before applying. IMLS may require additional supporting documentation from the applicant to determine the museum’s autonomy. Each eligible applicant within a single parent organization should clearly delineate its own programs and operations in the application narrative. A parent organization that controls multiple museums that are not autonomous but which are otherwise eligible may submit only one application per grant program; the application may be submitted by the parent organization on behalf of one or more of the eligible museums.

http://www.imls.gov/applicants/grants/forAmerica.shtm

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Helping Johnny Walk to School: Sustaining Communities through Smart Policies Request for Proposal (Round 2)

Driven by concerns about the abandonment of older neighborhood schools and the siting of new schools outside of communities, the National Trust is offering a 12-month program to help organizations secure community-centered schools through implementation of state-level policies and practices. Through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Trust will select organizations in up to three states to receive a year of technical assistance and a $6,000 grant to: 1) research state policies and practices; 2) convene stakeholders to develop recommendations; 3) develop educational materials; and 4) publicly share policy findings. By participating in this program, organizations will help localities within their state site their schools in a way that not only achieves their educational objectives, but also anchors the local neighborhood, supports better public health, creates a cleaner environment, spurs economic development, and offers additional amenities to the community. Applications are due by September 16, 2009.

This is the second round of grants; in 2008, we provided six sub-grants to organizations in California, Illinois, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.

Through this grant and with help from the project’s Advisory Committee, the National Trust will provide grantees with the following technical assistance:

• up-to-date research on issues affecting community-centered schools;
• access to a network of policy experts and peer mentors;
• help with placing state policy and practices in a national context; and
• an in-state visit to your state by a policy expert or peer mentor to provide examples from other states and/or speak to a convening of stakeholders.

This program will help a nonprofit organization or coalition working on school policies, leverage their existing resources to:

• research and summarize state policies and practices that impact school siting decisions;
• create a network of interested stakeholders across the state;
• develop policy recommendations;
• develop a public information campaign to increase visibility of the issue statewide; and
• ensure state-level policies and practices encourage community-centered schools.
  

FINANCIAL COMMITMENT: Each grantee will receive 12 months (October 2009 – October 2010) of technical assistance and a $6,000 grant to help encourage community-centered schools through state-level policies and practices. Selected grantees will be required to:

• provide an in-kind match to cover costs of convening stakeholders (e.g., space rental, audio-visual equipment, catering, photo-copying, etc.);
• provide one-night of lodging for a mentoring visit by a policy expert or peer mentor (if such guidance is requested by sub-grantee, the National Trust will cover travel costs); and
• print and distribute educational materials (e.g., policy briefs, Fact Sheets, etc.).
  

This project is funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the conditions of which will be passed down to the successful grantee. Organizations unable or unwilling to comply with the standard conditions outlined in CFR40 Part 30, should not reply.

GRANTEE SELECTION PROCESS: To apply, organizations should submit the application form with supporting materials by September 16, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. eastern time.

For more information about this issue and details about applying for this new grant opportunity, visit preservationnation.org/issues/historic-schools
or contact Renee Viers Kuhlman, Director of Special Projects, Center for State and Local Policy, at Phone: 202-588-6234, e-mail: renee_kuhlman@nthp.org.

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NEH Collaborative Research Grants CFDA 45.161

Collaborative Research Grants support original research undertaken by a team of two or more scholars or research coordinated by an individual scholar that, because of its scope or complexity, requires additional staff and resources beyond the individual's salary. Eligible projects include: research that significantly adds to knowledge and understanding in the humanities; conferences on topics of major importance in the humanities that will benefit ongoing research; archaeological projects that include the interpretation and communication of results (projects may encompass excavation, materials analysis, laboratory work, field reports, and preparation of interpretive monographs); translations into English of works that provide insight into the history, literature, philosophy, and artistic achievements of other cultures; and research that uses the knowledge, methods, and perspectives of the humanities to enhance understanding of science, technology, medicine, and the social sciences. These grants support full-time or part-time activities for periods of one to three years. Support is available for various combinations of scholars, consultants, and research assistants; project-related travel; field work; applications of information technology; and technical support and services. All grantees are expected to communicate the results of their work to the appropriate scholarly and public audiences. Applications are due by October 29, 2009.

Providing Access to Grant Products As a taxpayer-supported federal agency, the NEH endeavors to make the products of its grants available to the broadest possible audience. Our goal is for scholars, educators, students, and the American public to have ready and easy access to the wide range of NEH grant products. For the Collaborative Research program, such products may include monographs, excavation reports, multi-authored volumes, Web sites, and the like. For projects that lead to the development of Web sites, all other considerations being equal, the NEH gives preference to those that provide free access to the public.


Document Type: Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number: 20091029-RZ
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Posted Date: Aug 11, 2009
Creation Date: Aug 11, 2009
Original Closing Date for Applications: Oct 29, 2009
Current Closing Date for Applications: Oct 29, 2009
Archive Date: Nov 28, 2009
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Category of Funding Activity: Humanities (see "Cultural Affairs" in CFDA)
Category Explanation:
Expected Number of Awards: 10
Estimated Total Program Funding:
Award Ceiling: $300,000
Award Floor: $0
CFDA Number(s):45.161 -- Promotion of the Humanities_Research
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: No

http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/Collaborative.html
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