Inspire! Grants for Small Museums (2024)

Background
Inspire! Grants for Small Museums is a special initiative of the Museums for America program. It is designed to support small museums of all disciplines in project-based efforts to serve the public through exhibitions, educational/interpretive programs, digital learning resources, policy development and institutional planning, technology enhancements, professional development, community outreach, audience development, and/or collections management, curation, care, and conservation. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) aims to advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. The grant aligns with IMLS's agency-level goals of championing lifelong learning, strengthening community engagement, and advancing collections stewardship and access.

Grant Details
The grant supports projects focusing on lifelong learning, institutional capacity, and collections stewardship and access. Projects are expected to focus on a key component of the institution’s strategic plan and reflect a thorough understanding of current practice and knowledge about the subject matter. The grant has significant potential to generate positive societal impact through project activities undertaken as part of the grant-funded work. The grant uses four performance measures as a basis for understanding how well the grant program is meeting its goals and how individual projects are being managed: effectiveness, efficiency, quality, and timeliness.

Eligibility Requirements
Eligible applicants include units of State, local or tribal government or private nonprofit organizations with tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code. Applicants must be located in one of the 50 States of the United States of America or other eligible territories. Eligible applicants must be museums organized on a permanent basis for educational, cultural heritage or aesthetic purposes; own or use tangible objects; care for these objects; and exhibit these objects to the general public on a regular basis through facilities that they own or operate. Public or private nonprofit agencies responsible for operating eligible museums may also apply.

Period of Performance
Projects must begin on September 1, 2024. The anticipated period of performance is from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2026. Project activities may be carried out for one to two years.

Grant Value
$2,600,000 is expected to be awarded through this announcement with an anticipated number of 60 awards. The average amount of funding per award experienced in previous years is $43,147. Small project awards range from $5,000 to $25,000 while large project awards range from $25,001 to $75,000.

Place of Performance
The specific geographic location(s) where the grant will be performed should be within one of the 50 States of the United States of America or other eligible territories.