Small, medium, or large institutions—one issue unites museums and cultural institutions of all sizes: where do you get support or funding for your special projects, conservation, preservation, interpretive planning, and collection maintenance activities? This quick guide (shout out to all the historians who helped pull together this data) offers a few insights in a tidy package so that you can spend less time worrying about funding and more time getting funding.
The Whitesbog Preservation Trust funded a number of projects with HAI through grant opportunities, including the interpretive evaluation conducted by Certified Interpretive Planner Scott Vierick.
How do you request money from individuals?
Individual and foundational philanthropy can be instrumental in funding activities at your organization. According to a recent webinar given by The Curtis Group, individual donors have given nearly 2 trillion dollars to organizations in the last five years alone – they remain the biggest philanthropic contributors. Just five megadonors contributed over eight billion in gifts. With that being said, small monthly contributions are the stable lifeblood of organizations that depend on these funds.
While The Curtis Group acknowledges that there are tax benefits to philanthropy, the main driver for giving is mission driven. How does your institution’s stated and future mission align with the values of the donors you are approaching? Find donors who ideologically align with where your cultural institution is striving to go. Establishing relationships with these donors may look like setting up recurring donations or arranging for a bequest from their future estate. According to The Curtis Group, up to 33% of donors would consider making a planned gift/bequest from their estate if they were asked to do so.
How do you request money from organizations (aka grants)?
This section on grant funding is not definitive or all-inclusive, but there are a couple granting organizations to highlight. The grant awards offered by these organizations (and even the other organizations not specified here) are often competitive and require specialists in grant writing. To be explicit, HAI is not a grant writing organization. That being said, we are familiar with the grant process and can create technical work plans and solutions that can be used in the development of the grant alongside a grant writer who can speak to the particular responsibilities beyond a work plan.
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
Competition is often stiff for NEH grants. Depending on the program, applicant success rates vary from six to forty percent. Award value varies widely from $1,000 up to $750,000. Federal funding and its flexibility increased during the years of the pandemic. There are several different grant programs and NEH has a searchable grant menu to allow you to home in on what grant program might most benefit your organization. Our team often contributes technical solutions and approaches for grants in the Humanities Collections and Reference Resources program and the Public Humanities Projects program.
The Humanities Collections and Reference Resources program looks to extend the life of materials held by different cultural institutions and increase access. The Public Humanities project seeks to aid institutions to develop content that will resonate with general audiences through programming, be it exhibitions, interpretive programs, and humanities discussions.
The Sugarland Ethno-History Project and the Maryland Humanities Council, along with support from Heritage Montgomery, Archaeological Society of MD Mid-Potomac Chapter, Montgomery College, and the Ottery Group, funded our work with the Dorsey Archaeology Project team. Here, the team sorted bits of ephemera unearthed during their digs.
For these two grants, NEH acknowledges that there is planning to do before the full-scale implementation of any effort. They’ve split the funding accordingly into two categories: planning and implementation.
Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
IMLS divides eligibility into two larger categories: museum and library services. IMLS grant funding varies by fiscal year. The data for Fiscal Year 2022, for example, IMLS made 959 awards for $257.2 million in funding across four main areas: grants to state libraries, library services, museum services, and other initiatives. While 435 applications were received for library services of $442,470,000, IMLS gave 224 awards valued at $28,400,000. The success rate for the IMLS grant applications varied from about 35% to 99% in three of the four areas, with grantees getting some or all requested funding across the three areas.
As with NEH grants, there are several different programs, including:
- 21st Century Museum Professionals Program
- American Latino Museum Internship and Fellowship Initiative
- IMLS American Rescue Plan
- Collections Assessment for Preservation
- Community Catalyst Initiative
- Digital Humanities Advancement Grants
- Grants to State Library Administrative Agencies
- IMLS CARES Act Grants for Museums and Libraries
- IMLS CARES Act Grants for Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum and Library Services
- Inspire! Grants for Small Museums
- Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program
- Museum Assessment Program
- Museum Grants for African American History and Culture
- Museum Grants for American Latino History and Culture
- Museums Empowered
- Museums for America
- National Leadership Grants for Libraries
- National Leadership Grants for Museums
- Native American Library Services: Basic Grants
- Native American Library Services: Enhancements Grants
- Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services
- Native Hawaiian Library Services
- Save America’s Treasures
Archivist Brandon Werts working on-site at Niagara Falls Public Library, an effort aided by grant funding. The work was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
How can you find additional funding sources?
While we dove into some federal funding sources, there are a lot of granting institutions at the state-level and there are private foundations as well. There are a few different grant databases that can help your institution find funding through a variety of organizations. InfoED Global has their SPIN database which monitors funding opportunities, grants, fellowships, training opportunities, and more. Candid offers information services like a Foundation Directory Online (requiring paid subscription) and a Philanthropy News Digest. GrantStation is another database that collects funding opportunities for nonprofits, small businesses, and more.
Are there any other considerations?
Matching funding sources with those looking for help can be tricky. Sometimes, projects need to be reimagined to fit the constraints of a given grant funded opportunity. For example, a museum might consider digitizing and publishing content on a new exhibit website rather than digitizing alone.
If there is an opportunity to learn more from the granting institution, take advantage of it! NEH has opportunities for educational sessions. They will also provide a review of your institution’s draft grant application. Let them tell you how to strengthen your case!
While not one-size fits all, most successful grants include:
- Title
- Table of Contents
- Proposal Summary or Abstract
- Statement of Need
- Goals and Objectives
- Project Narrative
- Evaluation
- Management
- Resources Requested (budget)
This short blog is meant as a starting point in your funding journey. If your institution could use help with defining a technical approach for the work you are interested in performing, please reach out to HAI (and let them know that Megan sent you). Learn more about collections management here.
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