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, 2021 and June 30, 2022. The Grant-in-Aid (GIA) is a governed by Alaska State Statute AS 14.57.010 and Alaska Administrative Code 4 AAC 58.200.

All applicants are encouraged to contact Anjuli Grantham, Curator of Statewide Services, to discuss Grant-in-Aid projects prior to submitting applications.

• RELIEF GRANTS: Relief Grants of up to $7500 are available to fund museum operations. 
• MINI-GRANTS: Mini-Grants of up to $2000 are available for projects.

The eligibility requirements for each grant are different. Please read the eligibility requirements below. 

ASM is not offering the Internship Grant or Regular Grant at this time. 

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

You can submit a draft of a grant application to receive feedback on your proposal prior to submitting your final application. Submit the draft to Anjuli Grantham by May 4 to receive feedback. Use a GIA template to submit your draft.

The deadline for grant submission is 11:59 PM on June 1, 2021.

ASM will send official notification of the funding decision 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.

ASM provides Alaska museums or museum-support organizations with Mini-Grants of up to $2000 for 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. Mini-Grant 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. Mini-Grants provide funding for professional development and training opportunities. No more than 10% of a project budget can fund administrative (in-direct) expenses.

Mini-Grants 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, to replace or offset employee payroll that would otherwise be paid, or for re-granting purposes.

MINI-GRANT ELIGIBILITY:

To qualify, a Mini-Grant 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.  be open and advertised to the public on a regularly scheduled basis for no less than 90 days total, in the fiscal year for which a grant is requested; 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, 2021, 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 the museum is open to the public. Part-time positions can be combined to equal one full-time position.

Relief Grants of up to $7500 are available to assist museums maintain activities essential to their operations. 

These funds are explicitly to support critical museum operations including retaining essential staff, maintaining facilities, maintaining hours of operation, and purchasing essential supplies.

Relief Grants are only available to museums with measurable impacts to revenue and/or expenses resulting from COVID-19. Such revenue impacts include loss in admissions, program fees, special event revenue, rental income or other earned income sources due to closure, a decrease in tourism, and/ or a known decrease in appropriation from local, tribal, state, or federal government resulting from COVID-19. 

These grants may not be used to expand programs or for projects.

RELIEF GRANT ELIGIBILITY:

To qualify, a Relief Grant 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 to the public on a regularly scheduled basis for no less than 90 days in 2019; and

4.  employed at least one full-time, paid staff person on March 1, 2020; and 

5.  charge admission; and 

6.  regularly track visitation; and

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

8.  have satisfactorily filed all previous year Grant-in-Aid accounting by June 30, 2021; and

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

-OR-

1.  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.

Please visit the Alaska State Museum's Statewide Services page, or contact Anjuli Grantham, Curator of Statewide Services at 907-465-4806 or anjuli.grantham@alaska.gov.