Editor's note: Please double check deadlines and availability.
The Internal Revenue Service has issued a notice and request for comments on tax-exempt organization forms, notably Forms 990, 990-EZ, 990-N, and 990-PF, as well as regulations, notices, and Treasury Decisions affecting tax-exempt organizations. Specifically, the IRS is seeking input on taxpayer compliance burdens that the Service defines as “the time and money taxpayers spend to comply with their tax filing responsibilities.” These include “recordkeeping, tax planning, gathering tax materials, learning about the law and what you need to do, and completing and submitting the return,” plus out-of-pocket costs. Public comments are due November 30, 2021.
Unique Entity ID
In April 2022, the federal government will transition from the use of the DUNS Number to a new SAM.gov Unique Entity ID (UEI) as the primary means of entity identification, which is required to apply for and receive federal awards. If you are registered in SAM.gov, you’ve already been assigned a new Unique Entity ID. For more information, go to the FAQ page available via SAM.gov »
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
More nonprofit employees relying on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program should have greater and easier access to student loan forgiveness as the result of short-term revisions announced by the U.S. Department of Education. The temporary expansion, implemented to rectify past problems in the program, is expected to help more than a half a million borrowers, many of whom work at charitable nonprofit organizations. It reportedly will reduce student debt by $1.74 billion in the near term. The plan includes a limited waiver to count all prior payments by borrowers (regardless of loan program), improved automation, simplified qualified payments and application processes, and expanded outreach and communication to eligible borrowers. Separately, some additional applicants who previously were denied relief will automatically have their cases reviewed by the Department under a settlement agreement reached in related litigation. Nonprofit workers who believe they are eligible for forgiveness or wish to have their employment at their current charitable nonprofit employer certified should take action through the PSLF Help Tool, available at www.StudentAid.gov/PSLF and can learn more at Good News for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Borrowers.
Museum Assessment Program (MAP)
The Museum Assessment Program is supported through a cooperative agreement between the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the American Alliance of Museums. It is designed to help museums assess their strengths and weaknesses, and plan for the future. A MAP assessment requires members of the museum staff and governing authority to complete a self-study. After completion of the self-study, a site visit is conducted by one or more museum professionals, who tour the museum and meet with staff, governing officials, and volunteers. The reviewers work with the museum and MAP staff to produce a report evaluating the museum's operations, making recommendations, and suggesting resources. Deadline: February 1, 2022.
New Guidelines and Books for 2022-23 Grant Program of NEA Big Read
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read will feature 15 titles for 2022–2023 programming, with books that represent a diverse range of contemporary themes, voices, and perspectives. A partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read supports community reading programs held around the country, each designed around a single NEA Big Read book selection, with the goal of inspiring meaningful conversations, artistic responses, and new discoveries and connections in each community. Visit Arts Midwest’s website for complete grant guidelines and to apply. The deadline for applications is January 26, 2022.
Disability Design: Summary Report from a Field Scan
The National Endowment for the Arts released a new report, Disability Design: Summary Report from a Field Scan, in October. To better understand current trends in the disability design field, the NEA commissioned a field scan, which included a review of recent research and news articles as well as interviews with key subject matter experts. This report provides a summary of the field scan, sharing current trends and making recommendations for disability design in public spaces and for the human body and mind. Read the report here.
National Visitation Report
The 2021 National Visitation Report is now available from AASLH's Public History Research Lab. Assessing the impact of last year's disruptions, we found visitation to history organizations declined nearly 70 percent in 2020, affecting organizations of all types, all sizes, and in all regions. To download our infographic and the full report for free, click here.
New Technical Assistance to Field Starts with Digital Accessibility Series
The Vermont legislature has allocated new funding to the Arts Council for technical assistance and digital capacity grants to help our sector's recovery from the impact of Covid-19. The pandemic has made clear that a strong digital foundation is essential to our future. Thanks to this new funding, we're debuting a new grant program in 2022, and this fall we're partnering with Inclusive Arts Vermont to offer a nine-part workshop series, "Digital Access: Key Elements for Inclusion of Disabled People." Digital Access workshops will be held on the first Tuesday of each month from November 2021 to July 2022. Participation is FREE to Vermont arts and culture nonprofits, whether registering for a single workshop or the whole series. Learn more about the Digital Access series.
1772 Foundation Grants
Several preservation organizations throughout New England are partnering with the 1771 Foundation to provide preservation grants.
- Preservation Massachusetts will accept Letters of Inquiry through December 1, 2021.
- PreserveRI the first submission is due on December 6, 2021.
- Preservation Trust of Vermont the deadline for receiving Letters of Interest is February 1, 2022.
- Preservation Connecticut is accepting inquiries on a rolling basis but must be received by December 31, 2021.
Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund
The MassDevelopment Board of Directors has approved the launch of the 2022 Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund (CFF) grant round, a state program that provides capital and planning grants to nonprofits, colleges, and municipalities that own or operate facilities primarily focused on the arts, humanities, and sciences. CFF awards invest in the acquisition, design, repair, renovation, expansion, and construction of nonprofit and municipal cultural facilities. Applications for the 2022 CFF grant round are due January 14, 2022 at 11:59pm (ET). https://massculturalcouncil.org/organizations/cultural-facilities-fund/application-process/
AHA-NEH Grant Opportunity for Small History Organizations
The American Historical Association's Grants to Sustain and Advance the Work of Historical Organizations Program range from $10,000 to $75,000 and fund short-term projects that explore new ideas or build on experiments initiated during the pandemic—from virtual programming or online publications to using new technologies or expanding audiences and accessibility. Learn more about eligibility, join the pre-application webinar, and apply by the December 14 deadline.
American Rescue Plan: Humanities Grants for Native Cultural Institutions and Their Partners
With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the Association for Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM) will distribute over $3.3 million to help Native cultural organizations as they emerge from the pandemic. Eligible organizations include non-tribal organizations partnering with tribes (including eligible museums), tribal governments with cultural programs, and tribal non-profits. Read about the application process for grants ranging from $5,000-$50,000, and apply by December 13. To learn more, register for ATALM's November 4 informational webinar.
Grants for Telling the Full History
National Trust for Historic Preservation’s “Telling the Full History Preservation Fund” began offering grants this week to help interpret and preserve historic places of importance to underrepresented communities including, but not limited to, women, immigrants, Asian Americans, Black Americans, Latinx Americans, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and LGBTQA communities. Approximately 60-80 eligible organizations will receive $25,000 and $50,000 grants. Applications are due December 15, 2021. Questions? E-mail TellingtheFullHistory@savingplaces.org. Click here for grant guidelines, application form, and FAQ.
Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections
NEH’s Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections (SCHC) program helps cultural institutions meet the complex challenge of preserving large and diverse holdings of humanities materials for future generations by supporting sustainable conservation measures that mitigate deterioration, prolong the useful life of collections, and support institutional resilience: the ability to anticipate and respond to natural and man-made disasters. Deadline is January 13, 2022.
Public Humanities Projects
NEH’s Public Humanities Projects program supports projects that bring the ideas and insights of the humanities to life for general audiences through in-person programming. Projects must engage humanities scholarship to analyze significant themes in disciplines such as history, literature, ethics, and art history. Public Humanities Projects supports projects in three program categories (Exhibitions, Historic Places, and Humanities Discussions), and at two funding levels (Planning and Implementation). Regardless of proposed activity, NEH encourages applicants to explore humanities ideas through multiple formats. Deadline is January 12, 2022.
Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions
NEH's Preservation Assistance Grants help small and mid-sized institutions — such as libraries, museums, historical societies, archival repositories, cultural organizations, town and county records offices, and colleges and universities — improve their ability to preserve and care for their significant humanities collections. These may include special collections of books and journals, archives and manuscripts, prints and photographs, moving images, sound recordings, architectural and cartographic records, decorative and fine art objects, textiles, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, furniture, historical objects, and digital materials. Deadline is January 13, 2022.
Landmarks of American History and Culture
NEH's Landmarks of American History and Culture program supports a series of one-week workshops for K-12 educators across the nation to enhance and strengthen humanities teaching at the K-12 level. The program defines a landmark as a site of historic importance within the United States and its territories. Landmarks could include historic homes, museums, presidential libraries, and sites memorializing literary, artistic, or architectural achievements. Projects could take place in public spaces and neighborhoods, major waterways, national parks, or other locations of historic importance. Deadline is February 15, 2022.
Save America's Treasures
The National Park Service is pleased to announce that the Save America's Treasures (SAT) grant program is now accepting applications. Grants are available to fund two type of projects: "Collections" and "Preservation". Collections projects must be determined to be of national significance based on the supportive description of its significance within the application. Collections include artifacts, documents, sculptures, and other works of art. Preservation projects fund planning and "bricks and mortar" preservation/conservation work on historic buildings and structures. Applications are due December 14, 2021.
History of Equal Rights Grant Program
The National Park Service is proud to announce a new competitive civil rights grant program. The History of Equal Rights Grant Program (HER) will preserve sites related to the struggle to achieve the ideal of equal rights in America. HER Grants are funded by the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), administered by the NPS, and will fund a broad range of pre-preservation planning activities and physical preservation work for historic sites that are listed in or determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or as a National Historic Landmark. Grants are available for planning and "bricks and mortar" preservation/conservation work on historic buildings and structures. Eligible costs for preservation projects include: architectural services, historic structure reports, preservation plans, and physical preservation to structures. Grants will be awarded through a competitive process and do not require non-Federal funding match. Applications will be due December 1, 2021
African American Civil Rights Grant Program
The National Park Service announces availability of grant funding through African American Civil Rights Grant Program (AACR). The program will document, interpret, and preserve sites and stories telling the full story of the long struggle for African American civil rights from the transatlantic slave trade onwards across two separate grant funding opportunities. The NPS 2008 report, Civil Rights in America, A Framework for Identifying Significant Sites, will serve as the reference document in determining the appropriateness of proposed projects and properties. Applications are due December 1, 2021.
Maine Humanities Council Major Grants
Funding to non-profit organizations in Maine for larger humanities programs and projects – things like exhibits, films, conferences, initiatives – that have broad public outreach. Maine Humanities Council are excited to support programs and projects with rich, well-developed humanities content, strong participation from a scholar or topic expert, and robust support from partners in the community. Deadline: January 31, 2022.
Maine Humanities Council Mini Grants
For projects that use the humanities to connect people across physical distance, whether they make use of digital technologies or use ways of connecting those without access to digital tools. Upcoming deadlines: Applications open February, 2022; Proposals due March, 2022.
Arts and Humanities
The Maine Arts Commission and the Maine Humanities Council collaborate to provide Arts & Humanities grants that assist organizations in Maine to investigate and present stories and cultural expressions of the state, its communities and its people. Deadline April 7, 2022.
Maine Arts Council’s Organization Development Grants
The Organization Development grant is designed to support organizations in capacity-building projects. Funds can help address issues that include positioning of the organization, board and staff development, planning, financial management, marketing, and more. Deadline is February 7, 2022.
New Hampshire Community Project Grants
New Hampshire Humanities Council awards two types of Community Project Grants. Mini Grants offer up to $1,000 to support simple, single-event or short-series projects, and are available on a rolling basis. Major Grants of up to $10,000 enable organizations to design and carry out larger projects that attract diverse audiences, engage minds, and stimulate meaningful community dialogue. Draft proposal deadline: December 15, 2021 with a final application of January 15, 2022.
Rhode Island Mini Grant Program
Rhode Island Council for the Humanities' Mini Grant Program for requests up to $2,000 invites individual researchers, nonprofit organizations, and schools to apply for funding in support of public humanities projects. Deadline: February 1, 2022.
Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant
The Preservation Trust of Vermont is pleased to announce the opening of the 2020 Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization grant round. This project is supported through a grant from the Historic Revitalization Subgrant Program (Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants) as administered by the National Park Service Department of the Interior. PTV has $525,000 available to preserve and restore buildings and community gathering spaces of economic and social significance in rural communities. Examples of work we support include roof repair or replacement, structural repairs, window and door restoration, and fire safety improvements. Grants will be made in increments of $50,000-$100,000. Applications will be evaluated by Preservation Trust of Vermont staff. Selection will be made based on regional distribution, variety of project type, community and economic development potential and the capacity of the active, local working group. The deadline for submitting applications is December 15, 2021.
Connecticut Humanities Quick Grants
Quick Grants support a wide range of community-oriented, public programs that help us understand and appreciate human history, culture, values, and beliefs. Quick Grants may fund implementation of small exhibitions, discussion-based public programs, local history tours, and community reading projects. Upcoming deadlines: December 1, 2021, and February 2, 2022.