21st Century Museum Professional Program

21MP has two program goals and two objectives associated with each goal: GOAL 1, Support the professional development of the museum workforce. Obj 1.1: Develop new or enhanced professional development and training programs for the museum workforce.

The 21st Century Museum Professional (21MP) grant program supports projects that build career pathways, strengthen professional networks, and identify and share effective workforce education and training practices in the museum field. The goals of the program are to: • Support the professional development of the current museum workforce; and • Recruit and train future museum professionals. The primary audiences for this program are museums, museum service organizations and affiliated nonprofits, and museum professionals. Secondary audiences include museum visitors and future museum professionals. Eligibility is restricted to organizations that are: • Located in the United States or any U.S. Territories or freely associated States; AND • A unit of state, local or Tribal government or a private, nonprofit organization; AND • A museum, an organization or association related to the museum field, an institution of higher education.

Museums, museum consortia and associations, institutions of higher education (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 9165(b)), and other entities that the IMLS Director determines appropriate.

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; adaptive and/or assistive technologies and other resources and services to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities; third-party costs; publication design and printing; program evaluation; staff and volunteer training; student tuition and fees; paid internships/fellowships; and indirect or overhead costs. Examples of unallowable costs include general fundraising costs; contributions to endowments; general operating support; acquisition of collections; general advertising or public relations costs designed solely for promotional activities other than those related to the specific project; construction or renovation of facilities; and social activities, receptions, or entertainment.

Unallowable costs include general fundraising costs, such as development office staff or other staff time devoted to general fundraising, contributions to endowments, general operating support, acquisition of collections, general advertising or public relations costs designed solely for promotional activities other than those related to the specific project, construction or renovation of facilities (generally, any activity involving the construction trades is not an allowable cost), social activities, receptions, or entertainment, and research projects.

Projects are anticipated to begin on July 1, 2025, and may be carried out for one to three years. Money awarded must be obligated within the approved period of performance specified in the Official Award Notification.

Successful applications in this grant program will reflect a thorough understanding of current practice related to training museum professionals; employ inclusive outreach strategies to reach target audiences at multiple institutions; engage museum staff, leadership, and volunteers at any stage of career development; follow a set of logical, interrelated activities tied directly to addressing a key need or challenge; and generate measurable results.

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, but IMLS anticipates notifying both successful and unsuccessful applicants of final funding decisions by email by August 2026.

IMLS may extend particular grants at the discretion of the Director. Awardees may request no-cost extensions of up to a year.

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