Deadline: 15 December 2019
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) Cultural Heritage Center (“the Center”) is accepting project applications for the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) 2020 Small Grants Competition.
AFCP heritage “offers an opportunity to show a different American face to other countries, one that is non-commercial, non-political, and non-military.” The projects recommended for funding advance U.S. foreign policy goals and show American respect for cultural heritage.
Cultural preservation is effective public diplomacy that resonates deeply with opinion leaders and local communities, even in countries where ties may be otherwise limited. AFCP projects strengthen civil society, encourage good governance, and promote political and economic stability around the world.
Funding Information
- Floor on Amount of Individual Awards: US $10,000 per project;
- Ceiling on Amount of Individual Awards: US $200,000 per project.
Funding Areas
The AFCP 2020 Small Grants Competition supports the preservation of cultural sites, cultural objects and collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression. Appropriate project activities may include:
- In the case of cultural sites: conservation of an ancient or historic building, preservation of an archaeological site, or documentation of cultural sites in a region for preservation purposes;
- In the case of cultural objects and collections: conservation needs assessments and treatment, inventory of a collection for conservation purposes, the creation of safe environments for storage or display of collections, or specialized training in the care and preservation of collection;
- In the case of forms of traditional cultural expression: documentation and audiovisual recording of traditional music, indigenous languages and dance forms for broad dissemination as the means of teaching and further preserving them, or support for training in the preservation of traditional applied arts or crafts in danger of extinction.
Priorities
Applications for projects that directly support 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;
- Preservation of World Heritage sites.
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;
- Embassies must vet applicants 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 posts that place their AFCP project in the context of a greater PD programming arc promoting a specific foreign policy goal, and show they continue to monitor and utilize previous AFCP project sites.
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 (physical, biological, and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants, fossils, etc.);
- Preservation of hominid or human remains;
- Preservation of news media (newspapers, newsreels, radio and TV programs, etc.);
- 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 purposes;
- 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 2 CFR 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 $10,000;
- Independent U.S. projects overseas.
How to Apply
Applications must be submited electronically via given website.
Eligible Countries: El Salvador, United States.
For more information, please visit https://sv.usembassy.gov/education-culture/ambassadors-fund-small-grants/