Since 2002, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has provided more than $300,000 to develop, enhance, and expand the interpretation, education, and marketing at National Trust Historic Sites through its Interpretation and Education Fund . The next deadline for standard grants and training scholarships is Tuesday, February 17, 2009 (shifted due to the holiday) with $55,000 available.
- We received many thoughtful applications for training scholarships in 2008 so we will continue to offer these in 2009 to support staff training, attendance at professional conferences, and evaluating programming at similar Sites. Staff training is often one of the first victims of budget cuts even though we all agree that it is essential to maintain a professional staff and good working conditions. These grants provide up to $1,000 for costs related to registration, fees, and travel for staff who have a leadership role in developing or enhancing the visitor experience. To encourage participation, we accept applications twice a year on a simplified separate application form (it’s titled “Training Scholarships”).
- We are continuing to place a major emphasis on projects that offer strategic long-term benefits to the Site or the National Trust and are discouraging short-term, one-time, or unrelated projects. I strongly recommend proposals that are supported by written strategic plans or professional evaluations—they are much more competitive and convincing. Some staff members may find this requirement challenging so call me if you need assistance. Secondly, with this tightening economy, consider how the Fund may help you support staffing. The Fund does not pay for salaries and wages (it’s too complicated to manage for this small program) but it can support stipends for interns. No one has applied for this previously but I suspect that graduate-level internships for six months or more would be appealing (you don’t need to name the intern in the application, but you should provide a job description and qualifications and ensure it’s an open hiring process).
- Please be sure to use the current guidelines and forms—there are significant differences and the old applications will be rejected. If you’re unsure, look for the new NTHP logo and “January 2008” in the lower right corner (documents are NOT updated annually; it’s dated simply to identify the latest version). We received applications and annual reports on obsolete forms so double check! Everything you need is available on this blog (click on the “Funding” tab at the top; the password remains the same and was recently emailed to the Sites’ educators and marketing directors). There’s nothing secret or confidential here, but with a public blog it can be very confusing for the thousands of other historic sites who are anxious for funding.
- Whenever possible and appropriate, I will be posting the final report on this blog from projects supported by the IE Fund so their experiences are shared with everyone. We already have a couple examples from Drayton Hall and Montpelier (just click on their tags to see everything related to them).
If you have questions or concerns, please call me (just don’t wait until the last day!).
