Inspire! Grants for Small Museums is a special initiative of the Museums for America program. It is designed to support small museums of all disciplines in project-based efforts to serve the public through exhibitions, educational/interpretive programs, digital learning resources, policy development and institutional planning, technology enhancements, professional development, community outreach, audience development, and/or collections management, curation, care, and conservation.
Donor Name: Institute of Museum and Library Services
State: All States
County: All Counties
Territory: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/15/2022
Size of the Grant: $50,000
Grant Duration: 2 years
Details:
Inspire! has three project categories:
- Lifelong Learning
- Institutional Capacity
- Collections Stewardship and Access
The choice of program goal also informs the choice of project category (i.e., Lifelong Learning, Institutional Capacity, and Collections Stewardship and Access), which is requested in the IMLS Museum Program Information Form.
- Goal 1, Lifelong Learning: Empower people of all ages and backgrounds through experiential and cross-disciplinary learning and discovery.
- Objective 1.1: Support public programs, adult programs, family programs, and early childhood programs.
- Objective 1.2: Support exhibitions, interpretation, and digital media.
- Objective 1.3: Support in-school and out-of-school programs.
- Goal 2, Institutional Capacity: Build the capacity of small museums to serve their communities.
- Objective 2.1: Support policy development, institutional planning, and technology enhancements.
- Objective 2.2: Support training and professional development for museum staff and volunteers
- Objective 2.3: Support evaluation, audience development, and community outreach.
- Goal 3, Collections Stewardship and Access: Advance the management and care of collections and their associated documentation.
- Objective 3.1: Support cataloging, inventorying, and registration; collections information management; and collections planning.
- Objective 3.2: Support conservation and environmental improvement and/or rehousing; conservation surveys; and conservation treatment.
- Objective 3.3: Support database management, digital asset management, and digitization.
Funding Information
- Award Ceiling: $50,000
- Award Floor: $5,000
- Anticipated period of performance September 1, 2023 – August 31, 2025. Project activities may be carried out for one to two years.
Eligibility Criteria
- To be eligible for an award under this Inspire! Grants for Small Museums Notice of Funding Opportunity, your organization must meet all three of the following criteria:
- Must be either a unit of State, local, or tribal government or be a private, nonprofit organization that has tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code;
- 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; and
- Eligibility of Museums Located within a Parent Organization: A museum located within a parent organization that is a State, local, or tribal government or multipurpose nonprofit entity, such as a municipality, university, historical society, foundation, or cultural center, may apply on its own behalf if the museum:
- is able to 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.
- Eligibility of Nonprofit Organization Affiliated with a Museum: IMLS may determine that a nonprofit organization that is affiliated with a museum is eligible for this program where the organization can demonstrate that it has the ability to administer the project and can ensure compliance with the terms of this Notice of Funding Opportunity and the applicable law, including the IMLS Assurances and Certifications. The applicant organization must submit an agreement from the museum that details the activities that the applicant and museum will perform and binds the museum to the statements and assurances made in the grant application.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
