U.S. 2020 Ambassador Fund for Cultural Preservation Large Grant Program

Deadline: 9 December 2019

The Cultural Heritage Center (“the Center”) in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is currently seeking project applications for the 2020 Large Grants Program of the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP).

The Department of State established the AFCP in 2000 at the request of Congress (Conference Report 106-1005 accompanying H.R. 4942). At the time, the Senate noted that the preservation of cultural heritage “offers an opportunity to show a different American face to other countries, one that is non-commercial, non-political, and non-military.” AFCP projects strengthen civil society, encourage good governance, and promote political and economic stability around the world.

Proposed projects must demonstrate that their goal is to strengthen civil society, encourage good governance, and/or promote political and economic stability.

Funding Information

Awards may range from $200,000 to $800,000;
7 Awards Anticipated Worldwide(dependent on amounts).

Funding Areas

The AFCP Large Grants Program supports the preservation of major ancient archaeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, and major museum collections that are accessible to the public and protected by law in the host country. Appropriate project activities may include:

Preventive conservation (addressing conditions that damage or threaten the site);
Stabilization (reducing the physical disturbance [e.g., settling, collapse] of a site);
Conservation (addressing damage or deterioration to a collection orsites);
Consolidation (connecting or reconnecting elements of a site);
Anastylosis (reassembling a site from its original parts);
Restoration (replacing missing elements to recreate the original appearance of a site, usually appropriate only with fine arts, decorative arts, and historic buildings).

Priorities

Applications for projects that do one or more of the following will receive additional consideration in FY 2020:

Support U.S. treaty or bilateral agreement obligations;
Support U.S. Embassy Integrated Country Strategy (ICS) goals;
Support disaster risk reduction for cultural heritage in disaster-prone areas;
Support post-disaster cultural heritage recovery;
Preserve World Heritage sites;
Partner, connect with or feed into other ECA programs.

Eligibility Criteria

The Center defines eligible project applicants as reputable and accountable non-commercial entities that are registered and active in SAM.gov and able to demonstrate that they have the requisite experience and capacity to manage projects to preserve cultural heritage;
This may include non-governmental organizations, museums, ministries of culture, or similar institutions and organizations, including U.S.- based organizations subject to Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code;
Applicants will be vetted by the Embassy Review Panel for eligibility, suitability, and reputable performance in cultural preservation or similar activities and ensure that the applicants are able to receive U.S. federal assistance;
Past AFCP award recipients may submit applications for continuation funds under this opportunity;
The AFCP will not award grants to individuals, commercial entities, or past award recipients that have not fulfilled the objectives or reporting requirements of previous AFCP awards. Preference will be given to projects that align with the Embassy goals.

Ineligible Activities

AFCP does not support the following activities or costs, and the Center will deem applications involving any of these activities or costs ineligible:

Preservation or purchase of privately or commercially owned cultural objects, collections, or real property, including those whose transfer from private or commercial to public ownership is envisioned, planned, or in process but not complete at the time of application;
Preservation of natural heritage (e.g., physical, biological, and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants,fossils)
Preservation of hominid or human remains;
Preservation of news media (e.g., newspapers, newsreels, radio and TV programs);
Preservation of published materials available elsewhere (books, periodicals, etc.)
Development of curricula or educational materials for classroom use;
Archaeological excavations or exploratory surveys for research purpose;
Historical research, except in cases where the research is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project;
Acquisition or creation of new exhibits, objects, or collections for new or existing museums;
Construction of new buildings, building additions, or permanent coverings(over archaeological sites, for example);
Commissions of new works of art or architecture for commemorative or economic development purposes;
Creation of new or the modern adaptation of existing traditional dances, songs, chants, musical compositions, plays, or other performances;
Creation of replicas or conjectural reconstructions of cultural objects or sites that no longer exist;
Relocation of cultural sites from one physical location to another;
Removal of cultural objects or elements of cultural sites from the country for any reason;
Digitization of cultural objects or collections, unless part of a larger, clearly defined conservation or documentation effort;
Conservation plans or other studies, unless they are one component of a larger project to implement the results of those studies;
Cash reserves, endowments, or revolving funds (funds must be expended within the award period [up to five years] and may not be used to create an endowment or revolving fund);
Costs of fund-raising campaigns;
Contingency, unforeseen, or miscellaneous costs or fees;
Costs of work performed prior to announcement of the award unless allowable per 2CFR 200.458 and approved by the Grants Officer;
International travel, except in cases where travel is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project;
Travel or study outside the host country for professional development;
Individual projects costing less than US $200,000 or more than $800,000;
Independent U.S. projects overseas.

How to Apply

All submissions must be received electronically. Hard copy applications will not be accepted. Please email completed proposals at the address given on the website.

Eligible Countries: Botswana, United States

For more information, please visit https://bw.usembassy.gov/education-culture/cultural-programs/ambassador-fund-for-cultural-preservation/