Small Grants Opportunity!
Call for Proposals:
The U.S. Embassy Pristina and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State (ECA) are pleased to announce the 2017 call for proposals for the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation.
Program Objectives: The Embassy and ECA’s Cultural Heritage Center (“the Center”) request proposals for funding in FY 2017 for projects to preserve cultural heritage in Kosovo through the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP). The deadline for submitting a proposal in English is Thursday, January 05, 2017.
Award Information: Floor on Amount of Individual Awards: US $10,000 per project. Ceiling on Amount of Individual Awards: $200,000 per project.
Proposals may be submitted targeting the following criteria:
- CULTURAL SITES—such as, but not limited to, historic buildings and archaeological sites;
- CULTURAL OBJECTS AND COLLECTIONS from a museum, site, or similar institution—that include, but are not limited to, archaeological and ethnographic objects, paintings, sculpture, manuscripts, and general museum conservation needs; and,
- FORMS OF TRADITIONAL CULTURAL EXPRESSION—such as traditional music, indigenous languages, and crafts.
Funding Priorities — General
AFCP will recommend for funding those proposals that include project activities in adherence to the following guidelines and to international standards for the preservation of cultural heritage. These activities may include:
- CULTURAL SITES: conservation of an ancient or historic building, preservation of an archaeological site, or documentation of cultural sites in a region for preservation purposes.
- CULTURAL OBJECTS AND COLLECTIONS: conservation treatment for an object or collection of objects; needs assessment of a collection with respect to its condition and strategies for improving its state of conservation; inventory of a collection for conservation and protection purposes; the creation of safe environments for storage or display of collections; or specialized training in the care and preservation of collections.
- FORMS OF TRADITIONAL CULTURAL EXPRESSION: documentation and audiovisual recording of traditional music and dance forms for broad dissemination as the means of teaching and further preserving them, or support for training in the preservation of traditional applied arts or crafts in danger of extinction.
Proposals for projects that meet one or more of the following criteria will receive additional consideration in FY 2017:
- Directly support U.S. treaty or bilateral agreement obligations, such as cultural property protection agreements;
- Support the preservation of inscribed UNESCO World Heritage sites;
- Support disaster risk reduction for cultural heritage and post-disaster cultural heritage recovery in seismically active and other disaster-prone areas; and
- Engage women, youth, or under-served communities.
To apply, please refer to the following documents and the additional information below:
- Guidelines to submit proposals
- Budget worksheet to be used
- Additional Information
For more information about the AFCP Program click here: https://eca.state.gov/cultural-heritage-center/ambassadors-fund-cultural-preservation
Information on previous awards click here: http://exchanges.state.gov/heritage/afcp.html
For more information, please contact Enis Rexhepi, Cultural Assistant, rexhepieh@state.gov
Additional Information
ELIGIBLE PROJECT APPLICANTS: The Center defines eligible project applicants as reputable and accountable non-commercial entities, such as non-governmental organizations, museums, ministries of culture, or similar institutions and organizations that are able to demonstrate that they have the requisite experience and capacity to manage projects to preserve cultural heritage.
Before submitting a proposal, make sure your organization has DUNS (Data Universal Numbering System). Applicants requesting $25,000 or more in federal assistance must have a Dun & Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, a NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) code, and be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to submitting applications. NOTE: This process can take weeks/months, especially for non-U.S. applicants. Applicants may acquire DUNs numbers at no cost by calling the dedicated toll-free DUNs number request line at 1-866-705-5711 or by requesting a number online at http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform. SAM is the official, free on-line registration database for the U.S. Government. SAM.gov replaced the Central Contractor Registration (CCR), the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA), and the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) in July 2012. SAM.gov collects, validates, stores, and disseminates data in support of federal agency acquisition and grant award mission. Registration in SAM is free: https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/
INELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES AND UNALLOWABLE COSTS: AFCP program will NOT support the following activities or costs, and applications involving any of the activities or costs below will be deemed ineligible:
- 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 application;
- Preservation of natural heritage (physical, biological, and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants, fossils, etc.);
- Preservation of hominid or human remains;
- Preservation of news media (newspapers, newsreels, radio and TV programs, etc.);
- Preservation of published materials available elsewhere (books, periodicals, etc.);
- Development of curricula or educational materials for classroom use;
- Archaeological excavations or exploratory surveys for research purposes;
- Historical research, except in cases where the research is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project;
- Acquisition or creation of new exhibits, objects, or collections for new or existing museums;
- Construction of new buildings, building additions, or permanent coverings (over archaeological sites, for example);
- Commissions of new works of art or architecture for commemorative or economic development purposes;
- Creation of new or the modern adaptation of existing traditional dances, songs, chants, musical compositions, plays, or other performances;
- Creation of replicas or conjectural reconstructions of cultural objects or sites that no longer exist;
- Relocation of cultural sites from one physical location to another;
- Removal of cultural objects or elements of cultural sites from the country for any reason;
- Digitization of cultural objects or collections, unless part of a larger, clearly defined conservation or documentation effort;
- Conservation plans or other studies, unless they are one component of a larger project to implement the results of those studies;
- 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);
- Costs of fund-raising campaigns;
- Contingency, unforeseen, or miscellaneous costs or fees;
- Costs of work performed prior to announcement of the award unless allowable per 2 CFR 200.458 and approved by the grants officer;
- International travel, except in cases where travel is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project;
- Travel or study outside the host country for professional development;
- Individual projects costing less than $10,000;
- Independent U.S. projects overseas.
INELIGIBLE PROJECT APPLICANTS: AFCP does not award grants to individuals, commercial entities, or to embassies or past award recipients which have not fulfilled the objectives or reporting requirements of previous AFCP awards.
COST SHARING AND OTHER FORMS OF COST PARTICIPATION: There is no minimum or maximum percentage of cost participation required for this competition. When cost sharing is offered, it is understood and agreed that the applicant must provide the amount of cost sharing as stipulated in its proposal and later included in an approved agreement. The applicant will be responsible for tracking and reporting on any cost share or outside funding, which is subject to audit. Cost sharing may be in the form of allowable direct or indirect costs
ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS: All awards will be made with terms and conditions subject to OMB Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200): Cost Principles, Audit, and Administrative Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR Chapter I, Chapter II, Part 200, et al.) unless otherwise specified in the AFCP Award Guidance cable following the announcement of AFCP 2017 awards. Potential applicants should be familiar with these requirements. Other requirements and guidance are incorporated by reference in the Notice of Award.
DISCLAIMER: Explanatory information provided by the Center that contradicts published language is not binding. Issuance of this Notice of Funding Opportunity does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the U.S. Government. The Center reserves the right to waive program formalities and to reduce, revise, or increase proposal budgets in accordance with the needs of the program and the availability of funds. Awards made will be subject to periodic reporting and evaluation requirements as specified above and in the Notice of Award.
