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National Leadership Grants

Funding agency: IMLS
Website: http://www.imls.gov/applicants/grants/nationalLeadership.shtm

IMLS National Leadership Grants support projects that have the potential to elevate museum and library practice. The Institute seeks to advance the ability of museums and libraries to preserve culture, heritage and knowledge while enhancing learning. IMLS welcomes proposals that promote the skills necessary to devlop 21st century communities, citizens, and workers.

Successful proposals will have national impact and generate results—new tools, research, models, services, practices, or alliances—that can be widely adapted or replicated to extend the benefit of federal investment. The Institute seeks to fund projects that have the following characteristics:

Strategic Impact—Proposals should address key needs and challenges that face libraries and museums. They should expand the boundaries within which libraries and museums operate, show the potential for far-reaching impact, and influence practice throughout the museum and/or library communities.

Innovation—Proposals should demonstrate a thorough understanding of current practice and knowledge about the project area, and show how the project will advance the state of the art of museum and library service.

Collaboration—While partners are not required in all National Leadership Grant categories, the Institute has found that involving carefully chosen partners with complementary competencies and resources can create powerful synergies that extend project impact. Proposals should show understanding of the challenges of collaboration and propose means for addressing them.

Applications may be submitted in the following categories: Advancing Digital Resources, Research, Demonstration, and Library and Museum Collaboration Grants.

Collaborative Planning Grants are also available in any of the four categories to enable project teams from more than one institution to work together to plan a project for a National Leadership Grant.

http://www.imls.gov/applicants/grants/nationalLeadership.shtm

FY 2010 Deadline:

February 1, 2010

Grant
Amount:

$50,000–$1,000,000; up to
$100,000 for planning grants
21st Century Museum Professionals

Funding agency: IMLS
Website: http://www.imls.gov/applicants/grants/21centuryMuseums.shtm

Museum professionals need high levels of knowledge and expertise as they help create public value for the communities they serve. The purpose of the 21st Century Museum Professionals program is to increase the capacity of museums by improving the knowledge and skills of museum professionals in multiple institutions. 21st Century Museum Professionals grants are intended to reach broad groups of museum professionals throughout a city, county, state, region, or the nation.

Grants fund a wide range of activities, including the development and implementation of classes, seminars, and workshops; resources to support leadership development; collection, assessment, development, and/or dissemination of information that leads to better museum operations; activities that strengthen the use of contemporary technology tools to deliver programs and services; support for the enhancement of pre-professional training programs; and organizational support for the development of internship and fellowship programs. IMLS also welcomes proposals that promote the skills necessary to develop 21st century communities, citizens, and workers.

FY 2010 Deadline:

March 15, 2010

Grant Amount:

$15,000-$500,000

 

National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance Sustainable Vision Grants

Funding Agency: National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance
Website: http://nciia.org/grants/sustainablevision

The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance's Sustainable Vision Grants program promotes technology innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education to create experiential learning opportunities for students and support successful, socially beneficial businesses. Successful Sustainable Vision grant proposals apply breakthrough technologies to address basic human needs such as health, food security, clean water, and affordable energy. The program has both a domestic and global outlook. To date, twenty-four U.S. universities have received funding through the program to develop, commercialize, and disseminate technologies in twenty-three countries throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America. To receive a grant, inventions and technologies must be commercially viable with an economically sustainable business model that can be replicated. The program may begin by addressing needs at the household or village level, but should have the potential for regional, national, or even global impact. Programs should further inform and expand curricula and in-the-field opportunities offered to students. Projects must be sustainable beyond the length of the grant and should provide a structure for ongoing collaboration and education. Faculty from NCIIA member institutions are eligible to apply.

Next Deadline: October 15, 2010

Awards will range from $10,000 to $50,000 each for programs of one to three years.

Guidelines and NCIIA membership information are available at Complete RFP on the NCIIA Web site.