Blog and Newsletter

There are two grant announcements from the National Archives. Administered by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), both grant programs present opportunities for archives and special collections to collaborate.

NHPRC's Major Collaborative Archival Initiatives program is for projects to:

• digitize and publish online historical records as a "virtual" collection around a common theme, organization, or important historical figure(s); or
• create and test new tools and methods for the archival field to enhance public access, especially for born-digital records

Awards will be between $150,000 and $350,000.

NHPRC's Archives Collaboratives program welcomes collaborations among three or more organizations that target institutional advancement for small and underserved communities. Archives Collaboratives may:

• be located in the same community, state, or geographic region
• be "virtual" or online collaboratives
• share affinities among the scope and subject matter of their collections
• have similar organizational missions
• serve similar types of user communities

Apply for a Planning Grant (up to $25,000) or an Implementation Grant (up to $100,000).

NHPRC hopes to expand the reach of the NHPRC, and particularly welcome those collections that focus on the voices and perspectives of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

You can find a contact person listed in each of the Grant Announcements. The program directors would be more than happy to listen to any new ideas for collaborative projects.

Native American Library Services Basic Grants Available for 2022 Application Deadline is March 1, 2022

WASHINGTON, DC—The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for Native American Library Services Basic grants through March 1, 2022. Native American Library Services Basic grants are noncompetitive one-year grants of $6,000 to $10,000, which can include up to $3,000 in eligible education and assessment activities or travel. The grants are available to federally recognized Native American tribes and Native Alaskan villages, corporations, and regional corporations and are designed to support existing operations and maintain core services of tribal and Native village libraries. Grants may be used to buy library materials, fund salaries and training, provide internet connectivity and computers, or develop public and private partnerships with other agencies and community-based organizations, for example. Libraries may request up to $3,000 for staff to attend library courses or training workshops; attend or present at conferences related to library services; or hire consultants for onsite professional library assessments. Application materials can be found on the grant program page. For more information, please visit the IMLS website. On-Demand Webinars To learn more, interested applicants are invited to view the recorded pre-application webinar. Photo: The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe's Heron Hall Library. (Photo courtesy of Jamestown S'Klallam Library)

The Maine Arts Commission (MAC) is offering a special grant opportunity that awards up to $15,000 to support public art projects and programming for cultural organizations. This is a great opportunity for Maine’s creative community.

The Arts Jobs Grant supports arts organizations, programs, and professionals at the local level, advancing economic recovery within a cultural sector devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

MAC encourage applications from all 501c3 organizations including those that serve populations whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by ethnicity, economics, geography, or disability. Projects with small and medium-sized budgets and from rural to urban parts of the state are encouraged to apply.

There are two grant opportunities available—one for ARTISTS, and one for ORGANIZATIONS. Non-arts organizations are welcome to apply if the organization can demonstrate their mission is connected to the purpose of the grant and aligns with the established activities of the applicant. 

APPLY BY NOVEMBER 18, 2021

If you have any questions, please contact the Maine Arts Commission at 207-287-2724. 

Kylie Goetz is a graduate student at Queens College, City University of New York, finishing an MLS and Certificate in Archives and Cultural Preservation. Their capstone project looks at changes to digitization, digital work, and remote access as a result of COVID-19 in archives located within the United States.  

Kylie is gathering data on this topic through a survey (linked below) to various professional archival associations.  The completion time will vary depending on how respondents answer certain questions. Responses to this survey are completely anonymous and will only be reported in the aggregate. The survey platform settings will not collect name and email address information before creating the resulting dataset, so at no point will these personally-identifiable data be attached to survey responses.  

Please find the survey link below.  

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc5AFBvOyu1wq1fDHzH6qPktAu40v5NTrD81fgLJhGWLjwsVw/viewform?usp=sf_link  

At the 2020 Maine Archives and Museums conference, a session of the same title presented current efforts to create access to manuscript collections at multiple repositories. Can Maine build such a system which will cater to the different resources of repositories at historical societies, public libraries, academic institutions, and government agencies? 

A Maine union manuscript catalog would benefit both users and repositories. The very fact that 23 states have created shared systems proves their value.

The Maine Union Catalog Survey seeks information on repositories in Maine (where, type), existing access systems, and what description elements they want in a shared system. Using this data, we can build a shared access system that will serve repositories as they exist now.

Please fill out the survey form below. It only takes 5 minutes. If you have trouble accessing google form, please let us know.

https://forms.gle/bhtGoLW4vJaSAed86

The Greater Rumford Area Historical Society received the email below from a company offering to help them file form 990n with the IRS for a fee of $200.  The treasurer almost went through with the offer before they realized they were going to be charged money for something they can easily do for free directly through the IRS. 

Please be wary of such offers your organization may receive via email.

Hello Jane Peterson, This email offer is to reference that in order for GREATER RUMFORD AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, EIN- 51-0172464 to maintain your 501(c) status you are required to file a Form 990 series return on an annual basis to the IRS. If you have not already filed, you may now file for the year ending 09/30/2021. IMPORTANT NOTICE: You are NOT required to purchase anything from this company and the company is NOT affiliated, endorsed, or approved by any governmental entity. The item offered in this advertisement has NOT been approved or endorsed by any governmental agency, and this offer is NOT being made by an agency of the government. Organizations who typically receive UNDER $50,000 of gross receipts annually, may file the 990n form with our assistance and through our website. To file your annual 990n series with our assistance please click the link below: 501(C)(3) Center's Form 990n Series Filing Organizations who receive OVER $50,000 of gross receipts annually, may file the longer 990 Form with our assistance and fill out our online questionnaire by clicking the link below. Please click here for more information. Please do not wait to file as depending on the type of filing you are required to submit, the IRS will automatically revoke your tax exempt status for failing to file for 3 years and you may be subject to monetary penalties for late filing.  501(C)(3) Center, Inc. has developed a quick and convenient  filing platform, and our experts review your submissions to ensure information is as accurate as possible and submitted timely. We not only assist in preparing and submitting your returns but we also save you the trouble of creating an IRS account and we keep all submitted returns on file in case you ever need a copy.  For these mentioned services we do charge a fee. Please visit our website at http://www.501center.com/ to see more services we provide or feel free to contact us at info@501c3center.com or if you have any questions. Sincerely, The 501c3 Center Team www.501c3center.com Helping Organizations Obtain and Maintain Their Tax Exempt Status IRS CIRCULAR 230 DISCLOSURE. To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Service, we inform you that any advice with respect to tax matters contained in this communication (including any attachments) was neither written nor intended by the sender or 501c3 Center, Inc., to be used and cannot be used, by any person for the purpose of: (i) avoiding tax-related penalties: or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed in this communication. This offer serves as a solicitation for services. We are not affiliated or associated with the Internal Revenue Service or any other Governmental Agency.

501(C)(3) Center Inc

PO Box 880568, Boca Raton, FL 33488

2022 Maine Historic Preservation Matching Grants  

for Private Non-Profit Organizations  

 

The 1772 Foundation, in partnership with Maine Preservation, has announced that funding in the form of 1:1 matching grants of up to $10,000 will be made available for historic preservation projects. Maine Preservation is honored to partner with the 1772 Foundation and is grateful for its continued support of all types of historic preservation projects in Maine.  

To demonstrate the sustainability of historic sites, applicants will be required to submit a cyclical maintenance/stewardship plan, and a condition assessment, with, if needed, project phasing detail that has been prepared or updated within the last five years. If an appropriate plan does not exist, the Foundation will consider providing support for the development of a plan on a case-by-case basis.  

All organizations that wish to be considered should complete our online Letter of Inquiry form.  

Letters of inquiry will be accepted until November 5, 2021.  

Invited applications will be due ****  

Not all letters of inquiry will result in invitations to submit full applications.  

To be eligible to apply, organizations must have a 501(c)(3) IRS designation.  

Organizations also must have closed any previously awarded matching grant to be eligible to apply.  

Funding will not be provided for buildings currently used as schools or houses of worship.  

The Foundation will consider the following:  

 

· Matching grants for exterior painting, finishes and surface restoration  

· Matching grants to install or upgrade fire detection, lightning protection and security systems  

· Matching grants for repairs to/restoration of porches, roofs and windows  

· Matching grants for structural foundation and sill repair/replacement  

· Matching grants for chimney and masonry repointing  

· Matching grants for structural foundation and sill repair/replacement  

Museums and related organizations across the United States have six opportunities in the coming months to apply for grants from the nation’s primary source of federal funding for museum services. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for six grant programs:

• Museums for America
• Inspire! Grants for Small Museums
• Museums Empowered
• National Leadership Grants for Museums
• Museum Grants for African American History and Culture
• Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services

Applications for all six programs are due on November 15, 2021. Applicants should review the notices of funding opportunity carefully to understand each program’s specific goals and objectives, which are newly formulated this year to reflect the agency’s focus on championing lifelong learning, strengthening community engagement, and advancing collections stewardship and access.

“IMLS is committed to supporting the advancement of the museum field through our funding programs,” said Laura Huerta Migus, Deputy Director of the Office of Museum Services. “Museums—regardless of size, geography, and discipline—have always been valuable community resources for creating connection and creativity. IMLS looks forward to continue supporting exemplary programs, activities, and partnerships that showcase the transformative potential of museums.”

Prospective grant applicants are invited to view webinars on how to choose the appropriate funding opportunity and to learn more about each grant program. Visit the IMLS website for a listing of on-demand webinars.

For questions or guidance, please contact the staff members listed on the grant program web pages.

Dear MAM members,

I am writing to share information about a public humanities project planned for fall 2021 that may be of interest to your organization. The project, Freedom and Captivity, is a statewide coalition-based, public humanities project to explore abolitionist visions for Maine. We are interested in exploring the connections between historic and current forms of abolitionist organizing and visioning, and in opening spaces for considering the kind of future society we want to build toward in Maine.  Our particular focus is on how to envision a society that reduces harm and incarceration through greater equity, justice, and mutual care.

Freedom and Captivity currently has over 50 collaborating organizations and includes several components:  exhibitions,  performances, and programming offered by participating organizations; an online exhibition on Art on Abolition juried from a national open call; documentary projects and workshops in prisons; a podcast; linked courses taught across eight Maine college and university campuses, and more.  

The Freedom and Captivity website will feature this work and promote the programming and exhibitions being offered by the participating organizations.  The website will also offer a lot of background material. I am attaching a project description.

Please be in touch if your organization would like to participate by offering a webinar, performance, exhibition, or other programming. We'd love to work with you.

Best regards,

Catherine Besteman

Coordinator, Freedom and Captivity

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced two programs to distribute American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds. These programs are open to nonprofit arts and culture organizations and local arts agencies, regardless of whether they have received NEA funding in the past.  Funding Details There are two funding opportunities available—one for arts and culture organizations, and one for local arts agencies to subgrant. (Local arts agency applicants must be an arts agency that is a unit of city or county government or a nonprofit arts service organization officially designated to operate as an arts agency on behalf of its local government.) All applications will be reviewed by panelists from around the country, including artists, administrators, and laypeople from diverse backgrounds. No grants will be awarded on a “first come, first served” basis. The NEA application deadline for Maine arts and cultural organizations is August 12, 2021. Read the organization guidelines for full details. The NEA application deadline for local arts agencies for subgranting is July 22, 2021. Read the local arts agencies subgranting guidelines for full details. The NEA is developing a suite of technical assistance tools including videos, and FAQs. Today, June 30, Arts Endowment staff is hosting a free webinar at 4 p.m. EST. American Rescue Plan: Grants to Organizations Webinar Jun 30, 2021 04:00 pm ~ 05:00 pm

REGISTER FOR WEBINAR

*Additionally, the Maine Arts Commission received $758,600 in ARP funding which is expected to be available through current and upcoming grant opportunities in August 2021. To read the full press release click here.