AFCP 2024 Grants Program | AFCP FY24 ARM 04

Opportunity Information: Apply for AFCP FY24 ARM 04

The AFCP 2024 Grants Program is a U.S. Embassy in Armenia funding opportunity under the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation, administered through the Cultural Heritage Center in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It provides grant support for projects that preserve significant cultural heritage in Armenia, with the 2024 cycle giving particular priority to proposals that help safeguard the intangible cultural heritage of ethnic Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh. Projects are expected to focus on preservation outcomes rather than religious promotion, and all submissions must be prepared in English.

Funding is offered as a discretionary grant, with awards ranging from $10,000 to $500,000 per project. The embassy anticipates making around three awards. Applicants can propose projects lasting up to 60 months (five years). If selected, projects must start after September 30, 2024, and must finish no later than September 30, 2029. The opportunity encourages cost-sharing from non-U.S. government sources, including in-kind contributions, and applicants are advised to account for exchange-rate fluctuations when building budgets.

AFCP supports proposals in three main preservation categories. The first is cultural sites, which can include conserving historic or ancient buildings, preserving archaeological sites, or documenting sites across a region to support future protection and preservation. The second is objects or collections of objects, which can cover conservation treatment, conducting a needs assessment to improve collection care, inventorying collections for protection purposes, upgrading storage or display environments to be safer, or providing specialized training in collection care and preservation. The third category is intangible forms of traditional cultural heritage expression, where eligible work can include documenting and producing audiovisual recordings of oral histories, language, traditional music and dance, arts, culinary practices, rituals, and similar living traditions, with an emphasis on broad dissemination as a way to teach and sustain them. It can also include training to preserve traditional applied arts or crafts that are at risk of disappearing.

Across all three categories, the program recognizes several common activity types that can fit a preservation project. These include documentation (capturing condition and defining features in analog or digital formats), preventative conservation (reducing threats that cause deterioration or loss), anastylosis (reassembling a site using original components), conservation (addressing existing damage or deterioration), consolidation (reconnecting or reinforcing elements), inventory work (systematically listing sites, objects, or traditions), restoration (replacing missing elements to recreate original appearance, typically suited to fine or decorative arts and historic buildings), and stabilization (reducing ongoing physical disturbance). Documentation and preventative approaches are highlighted as especially relevant for intangible heritage, where the goal is often to record, transmit, and sustain knowledge and practice in addition to protecting any related materials.

The application process is split into two rounds and does not use a single standard application form. In Round 1, applicants submit a concept note due December 13, 2023. The concept note must provide basic project information such as a working title, proposed duration (up to 60 months), location or site, and a cost estimate showing the amount requested from AFCP in U.S. dollars. It must identify the project implementer and include a brief scope of work (up to 2,000 characters) that summarizes both (1) the preservation goals and planned activities and (2) any broader host-country or community goals beyond preservation and how the project will achieve them. Applicants also need to explain why U.S. government support is warranted, and must submit five high-quality JPEG images or relevant audio/video files that show what will be preserved, its condition, and why the work is urgent or necessary.

In Round 2, the embassy invites selected applicants from Round 1 to submit a full application, due March 29, 2024 (the announcement also notes invitations would be issued by March 13, 2024). Full applications must present a complete and detailed plan, including proposed project dates; a statement of importance describing the historical, artistic, or cultural (non-religious) value of the heritage; and a revised, detailed scope of work with clear goals, logically sequenced activities, milestones, and target dates. Applicants must also provide proof of official permission from the entity responsible for the site or collection, a public awareness plan describing how AFCP-supported activities will be highlighted through media and outreach, and a maintenance plan explaining how documentation, knowledge, or skills gained will be preserved and disseminated after the project ends. Additional required elements include resumes or CVs for the project director and key staff, a detailed multi-year budget broken into one-year periods with standard cost categories, a budget narrative explaining how costs were calculated, and standard federal forms (SF-424, SF-424A, SF-424B, and SF-LLL if applicable). Supporting technical materials such as historic reports, restoration studies, and conservation assessments should be included, along with additional images or audiovisual documentation if requested or useful for demonstrating need and urgency. The embassy also flags file submission limits, noting that it does not accept transfers via WeTransfer, Google.doc formats, or RAR archives.

Eligibility is limited to reputable, accountable, non-commercial entities such as NGOs, museums, state non-profit organizations, and similar institutions that can demonstrate the experience and capacity to manage cultural heritage preservation projects. Individuals and commercial entities are not eligible, and past AFCP award recipients that did not meet previous objectives or reporting requirements are excluded. Organizations that advance to Round 2 must be registered and active in the U.S. government System for Award Management (SAM) to receive federal assistance; because SAM registration can take several weeks, applicants who are not already registered are expected to start the process immediately if they are invited to submit a full application. The opportunity is issued by the U.S. Mission to Armenia (Funding Opportunity Number AFCP FY24 ARM 04; CFDA 19.025), and it sits within the arts and cultural preservation funding area.

• The U.S. Mission to Armenia in the arts sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "AFCP 2024 Grants Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.025.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-11-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-12-13. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for AFCP FY24 ARM 04

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: