U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation Grants to Safeguard Global Cultural Heritage

The U.S. Embassy in Dhaka is now accepting Concept Notes for the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) fiscal year 2023 competition. The deadline for the announcement to submit the concept notes to the U.S. Embassy is 11:59 p.m. Bangladesh Standard Time on Thursday, December 22, 2022. Submissions received after this date will not be considered. Selected applicants will be asked to submit full project proposals shortly after.

AWARD INFORMATION:

•       Funding Instrument Type: Grant, Cooperative Agreement (as appropriate)

•       Length of Performance Period: 12 to 60 months

•       CFDA Number: 19.025

•       Ceiling on Amount of Awards: $500,000 per project

The AFCP Grants Program supports the preservation of archaeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, museum collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression, such as indigenous languages and crafts. Appropriate project activities may include:

·       Anastylosis (reassembling a site from its original parts)

·       Conservation (addressing damage or deterioration to an object or site)

·       Consolidation (connecting or reconnecting elements of an object or site)

·       Documentation (recording in analog or digital format the condition and salient features of an object, site, or tradition)

·       Inventory (listing of objects, sites, or traditions by location, feature, age, or other unifying characteristic or state)

·       Preventive Conservation (addressing conditions that threaten or damage a site, object, collection, or tradition)

·       Restoration (replacing missing elements to recreate the original appearance of an object or site, usually appropriate only with fine arts, decorative arts, and historic buildings)

·       Stabilization (reducing the physical disturbance of an object or site)

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING SITES AND OBJECTS THAT HAVE A RELIGIOUS CONNECTION: The establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution permits the government to include religious objects and sites within an aid program under certain conditions. For example, an item with a religious connection (including a place of worship) may be the subject of a cultural preservation grant if the item derives its primary significance and is nominated solely on the basis of architectural, artistic, historical, or other cultural (not religious) criteria.

ELIGIBLE PROJECT APPLICANTS: The Cultural Heritage Center defines eligible project applicants as reputable and accountable non-commercial entities that can demonstrate they have the requisite capacity to manage projects to preserve cultural heritage. Eligible implementers may include non-governmental organizations, museums, educational institutions, ministries of culture, or similar institutions and organizations, including U.S.-based education institutions and organizations subject to Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code.

INELIGIBLE PROJECT APPLICANTS: The AFCP will not award grants to individuals, commercial entities, or past award recipients that have not fulfilled the objectives or reporting requirements of previous awards.

INELIGIBILE ACTIVITIES AND UNALLOWABLE COSTS: AFCP will NOT support the following activities or costs, and applications involving any of the activities or costs below will be deemed ineligible:

a.     Preservation or purchase of privately or commercially owned cultural objects, collections, or real property, including those whose transfer from private or commercial to public ownership is envisioned, planned, or in process but not complete at the time of proposal submission;

b.    Preservation of natural heritage (physical, biological, and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants, fossils, etc.);

c.     Preservation of hominid or human remains;

d.    Preservation of news media (newspapers, newsreels, radio and TV programs, etc.);

e.     Preservation of published materials available elsewhere (books, periodicals, etc.);

f.      Development of curricula or educational materials for classroom use;

g.    Archaeological excavations or exploratory surveys for research purposes;

h.    Historical research, except in cases where the research is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project;

i.      Acquisition or creation of new exhibits, objects, or collections for new or existing museums;

j.      Construction of new buildings, building additions, or permanent coverings (over archaeological sites, for example);

k.    Commissions of new works of art or architecture for commemorative or economic development purposes;

l.      Creation of a new or modern adaptation of existing traditional dances, songs, chants, musical compositions, plays, or other performances;

m.  Creation of replicas or conjectural reconstructions of cultural objects or sites that no longer exist;

n.    Relocation of cultural sites from one physical location to another;

o.    Removal of cultural objects or elements of cultural sites from the country for any reason;

p.    Digitization of cultural objects or collections, unless part of a larger, clearly defined conservation or documentation effort;

q.    Conservation plans or other studies, unless they are one component of a larger project to implement the results of those studies;

r.      Cash reserves, endowments, or revolving funds (funds must be expended within the award period [up to five years] and may not be used to create an endowment or revolving fund);

s.     Costs of fund-raising campaigns;

t.      Contingency, unforeseen, or miscellaneous costs or fees;

u.    Costs of work performed prior to announcement of the award unless allowable per 2 CFR 200.458 and approved by the Grants Officer;

v.    International travel, except in cases where travel is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project or to provide project leaders with learning and exchange opportunities with cultural heritage experts;

w.  Individual projects costing less than US $10,000 or more than $500,000;

x.    Independent U.S. projects overseas.