Museums for America

To strengthen the ability of an individual museum to serve the public more effectively by supporting high-priority activities that advance its mission, plans, and strategic goals and objectives. Museums for America (MFA) has three project categories: Lifelong Learning, Community Anchors, and Collections Stewardship and Access. Museums Empowered, a special initiative of the MFA grant program, supports staff capacity-building projects that use professional development to generate systemic change within a museum. Museums Empowered has four project categories: Digital Technology, Diversity and Inclusion, Evaluation, and Organizational Management. Inspire! Grants for Small Museums is a special initiative of the MFA program designed to help small museums implement projects that address priorities identified in their strategic plans. Inspire! has three project categories: Lifelong Learning, Community Anchors, and Collections Stewardship and Access.

Museums for America supports museums of all sizes and disciplines in strategic, project-based efforts to serve the public through exhibitions, educational/interpretive programs, digital learning resources, professional development, community debate and dialogue, audience-focused studies, and/or collections management, curation, care, and conservation. Projects should focus on a key goal identified in the institution's strategic plan, reflect a thorough understanding of current practice and knowledge about the subject matter, and generate measurable results that tie directly to the need or challenge addressed. Museums Empowered projects may include training programs for museum staff; fellowships, internships, and mentoring programs; and/or the development of recruitment and retention programs as elements of professional development. Inspire! Grants for Small Museums offers MFA support to institutions considered small based on attributes identified in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

An applicant to FY2021 Museums for America must meet geographic and governance criteria and qualify as one of the following types of organizations: 1. A museum that, using a professional staff, is organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational, cultural heritage, or aesthetic purposes; owns or uses tangible objects, either animate or inanimate; cares for these objects; and exhibits these objects to the general public on a regular basis through facilities that it owns or operates. 2. A public or private nonprofit agency that is responsible for the operation of a museum that meets these criteria. Applicants should consult the Notices of Funding Opportunity for MFA and the special initiatives for more details.

Grant funds must be used for the purposes outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity, and in accordance with the Institute of Museum and Library Services General Terms and Conditions. Examples of allowable costs include personnel salaries, wages, and fringe benefits for project staff; travel expenses for key project staff and consultants; materials, supplies, software, and equipment related directly to project activities; third-party costs; publication design and printing; staff and volunteer training; student tuition and fees; internships/fellowships; and indirect or overhead costs.

Museums for America and Museums Empowered projects must begin on September 1, 2021, and project activities may be carried out for one to three years. Inspire! Grants for Small Museums projects must begin on September 1, 2021, and project activities may be carried out for one to two years.

1. Ensure that required registrations are active and user names and passwords are in place. 2. Read the Notice of Funding Opportunity carefully to get all the information required for applying. 3. Compose the complete application, using resources available through www.imls.gov (e.g. live and on-demand webinars, instructions, Sample Applications, Outcome Based Evaluations, Shaping Outcomes tutorial, Reviewer Resources). 4. Contact an IMLS staff member to ask any questions about the application and review process. 5. Submit the application via Grants.gov by the deadline.

Successful applications in this grant program are structured to address a key goal identified in the institution's strategic plan; reflect a thorough understanding of current practice and knowledge about the subject matter; present a work plan consisting of a set of logical, interrelated activities tied directly to addressing the key need or challenge identified in the application; and are designed to generate measurable results that tie directly to the identified need or challenge.

IMLS staff review applications for eligibility and completeness. IMLS uses a peer review process to evaluate all eligible and complete applications. Peer reviewers are experts in the field with relevant knowledge and expertise in the types of project activities identified in the applications. IMLS instructs reviewers to evaluate applications according to the review criteria outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. Peer reviewers must comply with Federal ethics and conflicts of interest requirements. The IMLS Director takes into account the input provided by the review process and makes final funding decisions consistent with the purposes of the agency's mission and programs.

IMLS will not release information about the status of an application until the applications have been reviewed and all deliberations are concluded. IMLS expects to notify both successful and unsuccessful applicants of the final decisions by email by August 2021.

IMLS may extend particular grants at the discretion of the Director.

IMLS will provide copies of reviewer comments and scores to all unsuccessful applicants and invite them to consult with specific IMLS staff when determining whether to revise the proposal and submit it again to IMLS or another funding agency.