Grant-in-Aid (GIA)

Contingent upon funding by the Alaska State Legislature, the Alaska State Museum (ASM) will award grants to Alaska museums for activities scheduled to take place between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024. The Grant-in-Aid (GIA) program is governed by Alaska State Statute AS 14.57.010 and Alaska Administrative Code 4 AAC 58.200.

All applicants are encouraged to contact Mary Irvine, Curator of Statewide Services, to discuss Grant-in-Aid projects prior to submitting applications.  Mary can be reached at (907) 465-4811.

• REGULAR GRANTS: Regular Grants of up to $12,000 are available to museums or museum-support organizations of any size. 
• MINI-GRANTS: Mini-Grants of up to $2,000 are available for museums with annual operating budgets of less than $100,000. 

This short video recorded previously in 2022 is a good overview of the FY23 Grant-in-Aid program.

The Alaska State Museum (ASM) provides Alaska museums with funding to enhance museum services through the annual Grant-in-Aid (GIA) program. ASM will offer Mini-Grants and Regular Grants in FY 2024 for projects scheduled to take place between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024.

Both grant programs support projects that supplement or improve the services that a museum provides. Organizations can use grant awards for projects related to collections, exhibits, education, outreach, and organizational development. Funds can be used to purchase supplies and equipment, pay for contractual services or personnel, or other items necessary to support and improve museum services and operations. The program will consider proposals that provide funding for professional development and training. No more than 10% of a project budget can fund administrative (in-direct) expenses.

GIA will NOT fund projects designed to restore historic sites and structures, for collection acquisitions, for costs incurred prior to the date of the grant award letter, or for re-granting purposes.

ELIGIBILITY:

To qualify, an applicant must:

1.  be a legally organized, permanent, non-profit organization, that is essentially educational in purpose; and

2.  own, care for, utilize and interpret tangible objects and exhibit them to the public; and

3.  was open and advertised to the public on a regularly scheduled basis for no less than 90 days total in 2019 or 2022; and

4.  have at least one person, or the full-time equivalent*, either paid or unpaid, responsible for museum operations, such as collections management, exhibits, and public programs; and

5.  maintain separate and distinct itemized budget records (if part of a parent organization); and

6.  have satisfactorily filed all previous year Grant-in-Aid accounting by June 30, 2023, if applicable; and

7.  not be a state or federal governmental entity, or be acting on behalf of a state or federal governmental entity;

-OR-

8.  be a legally organized, permanent, non-profit organization, the purpose of which is to augment and enhance statewide museum services, practices and education; and have satisfactorily filed all previous year Grant-in-Aid accounting, if applicable.

 * Full-time during the calendar period that the museum is open to the public. Part-time positions can be combined to equal one full-time position.

Please connect with the Curator of Statewide Services if you have questions about your museum's eligibility or proposal.

If an applicant would like feedback on a grant proposal prior to submitting it, email a draft to Mary Irvine by April 26, 2023 to receive feedback. Use a GIA template to submit your draft.

The deadline for grant submission is 11:59 PM on June 1, 2023.

ASM will send official notification of the funding decision sometime after July 1. The grant award letter may set stipulations on the content and/or cost of the project based on the application and panel review. Applicants might be asked to revise the grant budget to conform to the awarded amount.

Please visit the Alaska State Museum's Statewide Services page, or contact Mary Irvine, Curator of Statewide Services at 907-465-4811 or mary.irvine@alaska.gov.