Deadline: 12-Jan-23
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Preservation and Access is accepting applications for the Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections program.
This program helps cultural institutions meet the complex challenge of preserving large and diverse holdings of humanities materials for future generations by supporting sustainable conservation measures that mitigate deterioration, prolong the useful life of collections, and strengthen institutional resilience (i.e., the ability to anticipate and respond to disasters resulting from natural or human activity).
The SCHC program helps cultural institutions meet the complex challenge of preserving large and diverse holdings of humanities materials for future generations by supporting sustainable conservation measures that mitigate deterioration, prolong the useful life of collections, and strengthen institutional resilience (i.e., the ability to anticipate and respond to disasters resulting from natural or human activity).
You should incorporate best practices in sustainable and resilient collection care. Such practices may include:
- Defining preservation requirements based on an understanding of your collections, their conditions, and the particular risks that they face, rather than relying on prescriptive targets
- Understanding the characteristics and performance of the building that houses your collections, its envelope and its systems, and their role in moderating interior environmental conditions
- Considering the impact of the local climate on establishing relative humidity and temperature setpoints and managing interior environmental conditions
- Evaluating risks to collections associated with changes in average weather conditions, natural disasters, and/or other emergencies
- Weighing initial and ongoing energy use, costs, and environmental impacts of potential preservation strategies
- Prioritizing passive and nonmechanical ways to improve and manage collection environments and risks
- Developing solutions tailored to your organization’s capabilities and its staff
- Evaluating and measuring the effectiveness of a project’s results through the collection of data on conditions, energy use, and costs.
Funding Categories
- The SCHC program offers three levels of funding: Planning, Implementation Level I, and Implementation Level II.
- Planning
- The Planning category provides funding for institutions of any size to develop and assess sustainable preventive conservation strategies. These awards are up to $50,000 for a two-year period of performance.
- Implementation Level I
- The Implementation Level I category provides funding for institutions to implement preventive conservation projects.
- Implementation Level II
- The Implementation Level II category provides funding for institutions of any size that have completed interdisciplinary planning and are prepared to implement preventive conservation projects.
Funding Information
- If you are applying for a Planning award, you may request up to $50,000.
- If you are applying for a Level I Implementation award, you may request up to $100,000.
- If you are applying for a Level II Implementation award, you may request up to $350,000.
Period of Performance
- If you are applying for a Planning award, you may request a period of performance up to two years.
- If you are applying for an Implementation Level I award, you may request a period of performance up to two years.
- If you are applying for an Implementation Level II award, you may request a period of performance up to three years.
- You may request a period of performance start date between October 1, 2023, and January 31, 2024.
Eligibility Criteria
- To be eligible to apply, you must be established in the United States or its jurisdictions as one of the following organization types:
- A nonprofit organization recognized as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
- An accredited institution of higher education (public or nonprofit)
- A state or local government or one of their agencies
- A federally recognized Native American Tribal government
- If you are an eligible applicant, you may apply on behalf of a consortium of collaborating organizations. If NEH selects your proposal for funding, you will be programmatically, legally, and fiscally responsible for the award.
- To be eligible, you must not function solely as a fiscal agent for another entity and must make substantive contributions to the success of the project.
- Individuals and other organizations, including foreign and for-profit entities, are ineligible.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=344382
