Grant-in-Aid (GIA)

Contingent upon funding by the Alaska State Legislature, the Alaska State Museum (ASM) will award grants to Alaska museums for projects and activities scheduled to take place between September 2025 and June 30, 2026. 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.  

• 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 webinar was recorded on May 3, 2024.

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 2026 for projects scheduled to take place between September 2025 and June 30, 2026.

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 other items necessary to support and improve museum services and operations. Museums are encouraged to submit project proposals in support of consultations with Tribes as required under the new NAGPRA regulations.  The program may consider proposals that provide funding for professional development and training. No more than 10% of a project budget can fund administrative (in-direct) expenses.  Applicants should not request GIA funding for permanent staff salaries.

GIA will NOT fund projects designed to restore historic sites and structures in any way, or 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 the previous calendar year; 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, 2025, 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-

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 project proposal.  You are welcome to request a meeting to discuss or brainstorm your ideas until June 1, when grant submissions are due.  

If you would like feedback on a written project proposal prior to submitting it, you may send a draft to Mary Irvine by May 15, 2025 to receive feedback. Use the applicable GIA template (Word document) to submit your draft.

The deadline for grant submission is 11:59 PM on June 1, 2025.

ASM will send official notification of the funding decision in September 2025. 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.