The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that are now accepting project proposals for the 2023 Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) – (US $10,000 to US $500,000) program.
Sites and Objects Having a Religious Connection
The Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution permits the government to include religious objects and sites within an aid program under certain conditions. For example, an item with a religious connection (including a place of worship) may be the subject of a cultural preservation grant if the item derives its primary AFCP 2023 Grants Program significance and is nominated solely on the basis of architectural, artistic, historical, or other cultural (not religious) criteria.
Funding Areas
The AFCP Grants Program supports the preservation of archaeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, museum collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression, such as indigenous languages and crafts.
Appropriate project activities may include:
Anastylosis (reassembling a site from its original parts)
Conservation (addressing damage or deterioration to an object or site)
Consolidation (connecting or reconnecting elements of an object or site)
Documentation (recording in analog or digital format the condition and salient features of an object, site, or tradition)
Inventory (listing of objects, sites, or traditions by location, feature, age, or other unifying characteristic or state)
Preventive Conservation (addressing conditions that threaten or damage a site, object, collection, or tradition)
Restoration (replacing missing elements to recreate the original appearance of an object or site, usually appropriate only with fine arts, decorative arts, and historic buildings)
Stabilization (reducing the physical disturbance of an object or site)
Funding Information
Total Amount Available: US $10,000 to US $500,000.
Eligible Project Implementers
The Center defines eligible project implementers as reputable and accountable non-commercial entities that can demonstrate they have the requisite capacity to manage projects to preserve cultural heritage.
Eligible implementers may include non-governmental organizations, non-for-profit museums, or similar institutions and organizations, including U.S.-based educational institutions and organizations subject to Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. The AFCP will not award grants to individuals, commercial entities, or past award recipients that have not fulfilled the objectives or reporting requirements of previous awards.
Potential implementers must be registered and active in the U.S. government’s System for Award Management (SAM) to receive U.S. federal assistance. If an embassy’s project idea is advanced to Round 2 and the anticipated implementer is not registered in SAM
The Embassy reserves the right to vet potential implementers for eligibility, suitability, and reputable performance in cultural preservation or similar activities and ensure that they are able to receive U.S. federal assistance.
