Alaska Humanities Forum: Stories Grants

_NOTE: To receive feedback on proposals, drafts must be submitted by the draft review deadline. Please contact the Grants Manager. Please note UEI and SAM.gov registration can take several weeks or longer to process, so we recommend getting started as soon as possible. (see requirement below)_

The Alaska Humanities Forum

The Alaska Humanities Forum is a non-profit organization that serves Alaska as one of 56 state and territorial councils supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

Strengthening Communities Grants Program: Stories Grants

There are many stories that make up Alaska – many voices, many cultures, many identities. At the Alaska Humanities Forum, we believe that stories – and in particular stories that reflect a more inclusive narrative of our state – have the power to help bridge difference and spark connection by deepening our understanding of others, ourselves, and our communities. This means that stories are not only central, but critical, to the work of strengthening communities across the state.

This grant seeks to invest in projects that share and give space to stories that need to be told, and especially those stories, voices and experiences that have been underrecognized or excluded from public discourse. By doing so, we hope this grant can contribute to building a deeper, more complex, and more inclusive narrative of Alaska’s past and present.

Stories Grants provide flat $10,000 funding for projects working to build a more inclusive narrative of Alaska’s past and present by amplifying stories that have been underrecognized or excluded from the public discourse.

Stories Grants seek to fund projects that are:

• Timely
  • Projects share stories that need to be told.
• Rooted
  • Projects are responsive to, based in, and shaped by local knowledge and lived experience.
• Collaborative
  • Storytellers, community members, and project partners co-create the project at each stage (this could include designing the project, implementing the project, evaluating the project, determining what happens with the final product, etc.).
  • Where appropriate, we strongly encourage use of grant funds as honoraria to compensate collaborators.
• Accessible
  • The grant project must be made publicly accessible in some way.
• “Sparks”
  • We prioritize projects that include a meaningful strategy for reaching audiences and sparking audience engagement.

Examples of projects we fund include:

• Written articles for print or digital distribution;
• Oral histories, podcasts, and other audio projects;
• Documentary-based photography and short video/film projects; and
• Multimedia, web-based, and other digital projects.

We intend to award eight $10,000 grants. This grant is intended to be offered once annually.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

• Applicants must be Alaska-based nonprofit organizations or state, local, and federally recognized tribal governments.
• Applicants must have a UEI (Unique Entity ID) number and be registered in the SAM.gov system at the time of award.
• Allowable Expenses
  • Requested Forum funding may support project-related expenses including, but not limited to, the following:
  • Project personnel costs.
  • Contractual services.
  • Honoraria and stipends.
  • Where appropriate, we strongly encourage use of grant funds as honoraria/stipends to compensate storytellers.
  • Domestic travel.
  • Supplies and materials (including equipment under $5,000 per unit).
  • Printing and shipping.
  • Facilities rental for project-specific needs.
  • Project publicity.
  • An indirect cost rate of 10% de minimis applies for overhead operating expenses, unless the grantee has an alternative pre-approved federal indirect rate and can provide documentation.

Ineligibility

• Due to the federal origin of this funding, please note that projects funded through this grant cannot be used to advocate for specific policies, candidates or pieces of legislation.
• For-profit organizations are not eligible to apply.
• At this time, we cannot fund individuals.
  • Individuals may partner with organizations to apply for grant funding, but please note we cannot award pass-through entities; the grantee organization must play a meaningful role in the project design, implementation, and/or distribution.
• Unallowable Expenses
  • The following project types are not eligible for funding through this grant:
  • Projects that influence an audience toward a single position or present a one-sided, uncritical treatment of an issue (i.e., if public policy issues are involved, discussion must be balanced).
  • Projects whose purpose is for promotion, advertising, or marketing of an organization, service, or product.
  • Projects whose primary purpose is archival work.
  • Design, development, and construction of museum exhibits.
  • However, this grant DOES fund the development of stories intended to inform museum exhibits.
  • Curriculum development.
  • However, this grant DOES fund the development of stories intended to inform curriculum.
  • Story-sharing events.
  • Feature-length films or post-production costs (this grant DOES fund short films).
  • Theatrical productions and performances in the arts.
  • Creation of non-documentary art.
  • Profit-making projects.
  • Fundraising events.
• Additionally, this grant does not fund:
  • Projects that are not based in Alaska and/or do not serve an Alaskan audience.
  • Acquisition of equipment that costs $5,000 or more per unit.
  • Costs accrued prior to the grant funding period: the grant funding period begins after the grant has been officially awarded and the Letter of Agreement has been signed by both the Alaska Humanities Forum and the grant’s Authorizing Official.
  • Costs for providing alcoholic beverages during travel, at events, or during any projects involved with the grant.
  • International travel.
  • Work for academic credit or toward the completion of a formal degree, including travel to professional meetings and academic conferences.
  • Library or museum acquisitions and capital equipment projects.
  • Endowments, loans or building construction, acquisition, or restoration (including historic preservation).
  • Projects that are not open to the public.
  • Projects NOT centrally concerned with the humanities.