Museums for America

The Museums for America (MFA) program invests in museums of all sizes and disciplines in project-based efforts to serve the public through educational programs and exhibits, community partnerships, and collections stewardship activities. The goals

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 are expected to 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; developing 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 Museums for America or its initiatives 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.

Public and private non-profit museums. Through activities and projects funded, beneficiaries include the general public.

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; equipment to improve collections storage and exhibit environments; third-party costs; publication design and printing; program evaluation; staff and volunteer training; paid internships/fellowships; and indirect or overhead costs.

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.

Museums for America, Museums Empowered, and Inspire! Grants for Small Museums projects must begin on September 1, 2025, and project activities may be carried out for one to three years.

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. Funded and non-funded applicants are notified by email after all deliberations are complete.

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 2026.

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

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.