Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections
Division of Preservation and Access
THE DEADLINE FOR THIS CYCLE HAS PASSED.
Updated guidelines will be posted in advance of the next deadline. In the meantime, please use these guidelines to get a sense of what is involved in assembling an application.
Grant Snapshot
Maximum award amount
Implementation Level I: $100,000
Implementation Level II: $350,000
Funding Opportunity for
Expected output
Period of performance
Application available (anticipated)
Next deadline (anticipated)
Expected notification date
Project start date
Cultural institutions, including libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations, face a complex challenge: to preserve humanities collections for future generations through environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies to reduce energy consumption and costs as well as to strengthen institutional resiliency in the face of a changing climate. Cultural institutions can accomplish this work most effectively through managing collections’ environment, including aspects such as temperature, relative humidity, pollutants, and light; providing protective storage enclosures and systems for collections; and safeguarding collections from theft, fire, floods, and other disasters. By using environmentally sustainable methods, institutions reduce reliance on fossil fuels and to ensure collections are better protected from current and future disasters.
There are three levels of funding. Planning (up to $50,000) provides funding for institutions of any size to develop and assess environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies in collection spaces. Implementation Level I (up to $100,000) provides funding for small to mid-sized institutions to implement environmentally sustainable preventive care projects that address specific, discrete preservation challenges that have been identified through an assessment. Implementation Level II (up to $350,000) provides funding for institutions of any size to implement environmentally sustainable preventive care projects that address large or multifaceted preservation challenges that have been identified through assessments and planning conducted by a multidisciplinary collaborative professional team appropriate to the goals of the project.
For more information on the funding levels and supported activities, please see the link to the Notice of Funding Opportunity.
For more information about the Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections program and the 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity, you may refer to the pre-recorded webinar below. Captions are provided. You may also contact the division’s staff at @email.
Read the Notice of Funding Opportunity to ensure you understand the expectations and restrictions for projects delivered under this program and are prepared to write the most effective application.
Application Materials
Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections Notice of Funding Opportunity 2024 (PDF)
Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections Grants.gov application package
Program Resources
Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections FAQs 2024 (PDF)
List of Recently Funded Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections projects
Sample Application Narratives
Planning Projects:
Autry Museum of the American West, Planning a Sustainable Preservation Environment
Buffalo Bill Memorial Association, Preserving Collections at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West
Implementation Projects:
Philbrook Museum of Art, Inc., Sustainable HVAC Stabilization Phase 1
Shelburne Museum, Inc., Shelburne Museum Stagecoach Inn Renovation Project
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Follow the instructions outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity and in the Grants.gov instructions.
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