National Leadership Grants for Museums – United States

Deadline: 15-Nov-24

The National Leadership Grants for Museums program (NLG-M) is offering grants to support projects that address critical needs of the museum field and that have the potential to advance practice in the profession to strengthen museum services for the American public.

Goals and Objectives

• Goal 1: Advance the museum field’s ability to empower people of all ages and backgrounds through experiential and cross-disciplinary learning and discovery.
  • Objective 1.1 Support the development, implementation, and dissemination of model programs that facilitate adoption by museums across the field.
  • Objective 1.2 Support research focusing on the role of museums in engaging learners of all types.
  • Objective 1.3 Support forums that convene experts and stakeholders, including those from adjacent fields as appropriate, to explore current and emerging issues and inform the field.
• Goal 2: Advance the museum field’s ability to maximize the use of museum resources to address community needs through partnerships and collaborations.
  • Objective 2.1 Support the development of new and innovative methods for addressing community challenges through partnerships, services, processes, or practices for use across the museum field.
  • Objective 2.2 Support research focusing on museums’ roles in engaging diverse audiences and fostering civic discourse.
  • Objective 2.3 Support forums that convene experts and stakeholders, including those from adjacent fields as appropriate, to explore current and emerging issues and inform the field.
• Goal 3: Advance the museum field’s ability to identify new solutions that address high priority and widespread collections care or conservation issues.
  • Objective 3.1 Support the development, implementation, and dissemination of new tools or services that facilitate access, management, preservation, sharing, and use of museum collections.
  • Objective 3.2 Support research focusing on any broadly relevant aspect of the management, conservation, and preservation of collections.
  • Objective 3.3 Support forums that convene experts and stakeholders, including those from adjacent fields as appropriate, to explore current and emerging issues and inform the field.

Funding Information

• Total amount of funding IMLS expects to award through this announcement: $5,800,000
• Expected amount of individual awards: $50,000 – $750,000
• Anticipated number of awards 15

Project Types 

• The NLG-M Program has two project types. You must designate one for each application you submit.
  • Non-research projects: 1-3 years; $50,000 – $750,000
    • Non-research projects:
      • address critical needs of the museum field;
      • have the potential to advance practice in the profession so that museums can improve services for the American public;
      • generate results such as models, new tools, services, practices, and/or alliances that can be widely used, adapted, scaled, or replicated.
  • Research projects: 1-3 years; $50,000 – $750,000
    • Research projects:
      • investigate key questions important to museum practice;
      • result in findings that have the potential to advance the profession so that museums can improve services for the American public;
      • address clearly articulated research questions; and
      • feature appropriate methods, including relevant theoretical or conceptual approaches, data collection, and analysis.
    • They will consider applications submitted for Research projects incomplete if they do not include Data Management Plans that explain how you will manage, share, preserve, document, and enable reuse of the information and research products created during the project.
    • You should plan to broadly share findings and their implications for museum service and practice throughout the grant period, rather than exclusively at the conclusion of the project.
    • Proposals focused on evaluation are not appropriate for the Research project type and should be submitted to the Non-research project type.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible for an award under the NLG-M program, your organization must meet all three of the following eligibility criteria. Your organization must be:
  • a unit of State, local, or Tribal government; or
  • a private, nonprofit organization that has tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended (you will need to include proof of this if applicable to your organization.
• Your organization must be located in:
  • one of the 50 States of the United States of America,
  • the District of Columbia,
  • the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
  • the U.S. Virgin Islands,
  • Guam,
  • American Samoa,
  • the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
  • the Republic of the Marshall Islands,
  • the Federated States of Micronesia; or
  • the Republic of Palau.
• Your organization must qualify as one of the following:
  • A museum that:
    • uses a professional staff;
    • is organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational, cultural heritage, or aesthetic purposes;
    • owns or uses tangible objects, including living collections;
    • cares for these objects; and
    • exhibits these objects to the general public on a regular basis through facilities that it owns or operates.
• A museum located within a parent organization that is a State, local, or Tribal government or multipurpose nonprofit entity, such as a university, historical society, foundation, or cultural center, may apply on its own behalf if the museum:
  • can independently fulfill all the eligibility requirements listed in the above three criteria;
  • functions as a discrete unit within the parent organization;
  • has its own fully segregated and itemized operating budget; and
  • has the authority to make the application on its own. When any of the last three conditions cannot be met, a museum may only apply through its parent organization.
• They may determine that a nonprofit organization affiliated with a museum is eligible for this program if:
  • its sole mission is to support the specified museum;
  • it is able to administer the project; and
  • it can ensure compliance with the terms of this Notice of Funding Opportunity and the applicable law, including the IMLS Assurances and Certifications.
• They require that you provide an agreement from the museum that details the activities the applicant and museum will perform and binds the museum to the statements and assurances in the application.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.