AFCP 2019 LARGE GRANTS PROGRAM – Round 1
The U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria is currently accepting proposal abstracts for Round 1 of the 2019 Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) Large Grants Program.
The AFCP Large Grants Program supports the preservation of major ancient archaeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, and major museum collections that are accessible to the public and protected by law in the host country.
Appropriate project activities may include:
- Preventive conservation (addressing conditions that damage or threaten the site)
- Stabilization (reducing the physical disturbance [settling, collapse, etc.] of a site)
- Conservation (addressing damage or deterioration to a collection or sites)
- Consolidation (connecting or reconnecting elements of a site)
- Anastylosis (reassembling a site from its original parts)
- Restoration (replacing missing elements to recreate the original appearance of a site, usually appropriate only with fine arts, decorative arts, and historic buildings)
Eligible Project Applicants: The Center defines eligible project applicants as reputable and accountable non-commercial entities, such as non-governmental organizations, museums, ministries of culture, or similar institutions and organizations, able to demonstrate that they have the requisite experience and capacity to manage projects to preserve cultural heritage.
Ineligible Activities and Unallowable Costs: AFCP does not support the following activities or costs, and the Center will deem applications involving any of these activities or costs ineligible:
- Preservation or purchase of privately or commercially owned cultural objects, collections, or real property, including those whose transfer from private or commercial to public ownership is envisioned, planned, or in process but not complete at the time of application
- Preservation of natural heritage (physical, biological, and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants, fossils, etc.)
- Preservation of hominid or human remains
- Preservation of news media (newspapers, newsreels, radio and TV programs, etc.)
- Preservation of published materials available elsewhere (books, periodicals, etc.)
- Development of curricula or educational materials for classroom use
- Archaeological excavations or exploratory surveys for research purposes
- Historical research, except in cases where the research is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project
- Acquisition or creation of new exhibits, objects, or collections for new or existing museums
- Construction of new buildings, building additions, or permanent coverings (over archaeological sites, for example)
- Commissions of new works of art or architecture for commemorative or economic development purposes
- Creation of new or the modern adaptation of existing traditional dances, songs, chants, musical compositions, plays, or other performances
- Creation of replicas or conjectural reconstructions of cultural objects or sites that no longer exist
- Relocation of cultural sites from one physical location to another
- Removal of cultural objects or elements of cultural sites from the country for any reason
- Digitization of cultural objects or collections, unless part of a larger, clearly defined conservation or documentation effort
- Conservation plans or other studies, unless they are one component of a larger project to implement the results of those studies
- Cash reserves, endowments, or revolving funds (funds must be expended within the award period [up to five years] and may not be used to create an endowment or revolving fund)
- Costs of fund-raising campaigns
- Contingency, unforeseen, or miscellaneous costs or fees
- Costs of work performed prior to announcement of the award unless allowable per 2 CFR 200.458 and approved by the Grants Officer
- International travel, except in cases where travel is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project
- Travel or study outside the host country for professional development
- Individual projects costing less than $200,000
- Independent U.S. projects overseas
Ineligible Project Applicants: AFCP does not award grants to individuals, commercial entities, or past award recipients that have not fulfilled the objectives or reporting requirements of previous AFCP awards.
Application and Submission Information: The application process for the AFCP Large Grants Program consists of two rounds: Round 1 (project abstract) and Round 2 (full application). U.S. embassies in eligible countries shall submit completed Round 1 abstracts electronically on behalf of applicants through the AFCP application website. The Center considers each abstract on its own merit. If invited to submit full applications to Round 2, the AFCP Program Office will include detailed instructions on how to do so in the Round 2 invitations.
The amount of each individual award must be no less than US $200,000 per project and no greater than US $800,000 per project. Last year’s project awards ranged from US $200,000 to US $600,000.
Project abstracts must include or address the following in Word Format:
- Project basics, including title, project dates, location, and site
- Project applicant information, including contact information,
- Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs
- Special designations (national monument, World Heritage Site, etc.)
- Law(s) protecting the site or collection (citations only)
- Project purpose that summarizes the project objectives and desired results
- Statement of importance highlighting the historic, architectural, artistic, or cultural (non-religious) values of the site or collection
- Photographs of the site in Jpeg format
Application Deadline for Round 1 abstracts is December 14, 2018. Please send all proposals in English and electronically to: SofiaGrants@state.gov PLEASE SPECIFY IN THE SUBJECT LINE THAT YOU ARE APPLYING FOR THE AFCP 2019 LARGE GRANTS PROGRAM. If necessary to compress very large files, please send only ZIP files. RAR files will not be accepted!
PLEASE NOTE: Only short-listed applicants will be contacted individually.
