Grants Available for African American Historic Places

A third round of grants will be available in 2011 to improve and enhance the interpretation of African American historic places.  These Partnership-in-Scholarship Grants will award up to $5,000 in 1:1 matching grants to support collaborative projects between institutions of higher education and African American historic places that enhance cultural programs to help sustain current or attract new audiences at historic sites, or enhance the interpretation of challenging topics at historic sites.  Application deadline is Friday, April 29, 2011.

Examples of Eligible Projects

• Hosting a public history field school for graduate students, developing outdoor interpretive signs, and building an interactive Web site on the research process and discoveries on the life of an African American businesswoman in a frontier town that is now a major tourist destination.
• Installing outdoor exhibits and providing a research workshop for graduate students on a twentieth-century suburban African American community that is now a popular neighborhood park.
• Developing biographies of the African American officers who trained at an historic military school for a scholarly essay, new exhibits, and an expanded Web site.
• Developing outdoor exhibit panels and a cell-phone tour of an historic segregated cemetery in consultation with scholars, with an emphasis on interpreting the place in a regional context.

Ineligible Programs and Expenses

Not eligible are general operations and indirect expenses (e.g., overhead, maintenance, utilities, insurance); endowment; capital improvements; renovation, restoration, rehabilitation, or construction (also known as “bricks and mortar” projects); acquisition of historic artifacts for collections; preserving or cataloging collections; purchasing major equipment (over $500) that can be used in other non-educational projects; fulfilling degree requirements; research not directly related to improving education and interpretation at the site; and fictional works, such as novels or plays, even if they are based on historical subjects.

For Additional Information

For ideas on successful projects, review the award announcements from 2009 and 2010.  The Partnership-in-Scholarship Grant Guidelines 2011 and Partnership-in-Scholarship Application 2011 are available here, from any NTHP Regional Office, and soon on the NTHP Web site at PreservationNation.org/forum/african-american-historic-places.

If you are interested in applying or have a project idea that you’d like to discuss to determine its eligibility, please contact:

Max A. van Balgooy, Director
Interpreting African American Historic Places Project
aahp@nthp.org

Frequently Asked questions (Updated April 21)

The Grant Program Guidelines and an earlier post include answers to Frequently Asked Questions.  In addition, I’ll post responses to new FAQs below.

Q.  I’m confused about the matching requirement.  The Guidelines suggests that “partners’ contribution to the project, such as staff salaries” can be counted towards the match but the Application clearly states that, a “1:1 cash match is required; donated materials and services, staff salaries, and overhead expenses are not eligible sources of a match.”

A.  Yes, this is confusing–we’ll have to clarify this in the next round.  Here’s our thinking for a successful partnership program:  everyone needs to have some “skin in the game”  so that no one is taking all the risk and no one gains all the benefits.  The National Trust is willing to meet you halfway, that is, provide 50 percent of the expenses up to $5,000.   You need to come up with the other half in a way that shows you’re just as seriously committed.  Cash is certainly the easiest way to provide the match, but I’m willing to consider reasonable and non-controversial forms of match (but it’s subject to approval and requires documentation). If I have to choose among two equally strong applications and one is committing cash and other is offering only an intern’s time and office supplies, I’ll favor the one with cash nearly every time.

Another way to look at this:  your project needs to cost $10,000 or less.  The National Trust will provide 50% of the costs, up to $5,000; you pay for the balance.  Instead, I often see applicants who are excited about a $5,000 grant, and then develop a budget with “staff salaries” and “donated materials” that aren’t actually provided or are inflated (“let’s just say our volunteers are worth $25 an hour”).   It’s difficult to argue about the value of cash whereas we can quibble about timesheets or the value of a donated two-year old computer.  Again, the match shows your contribution to the project; putting your own cash on the line just like the National Trust shows we’re both equally committed.

Fundraising is difficult but having a matching grant should make it easier.  After all, your donors’ gifts will go twice as far.  Use the match as a way to entice existing and new donors to your project, especially if it’s a serious one that based on a partnership between a significant historic place, a local college/university, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.