CSA Small Museum Collection Care Grant

CSA Small Museum Collection Care Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Costume Society of America
Amount: US $1,500
Last Updated: October 15, 2025

Summary

The CSA Small Museum Collection Care Grant provides $1,500 to support small museums in preserving their costume and textiles collections. This grant aids institutions with limited budgets and staff, allowing for the care, conservation, and exhibition of significant items. Annual awards since 2003 focus on projects that enhance the collection's maintenance and public accessibility, ensuring these cultural artifacts are preserved for future generations.

Overview

A CSA Small Museum Collection Care Grant of $1,500 is intended to assist the costume and textiles collection of a small museum (including historical societies, historic houses or sites, and other similar institutions) that has a very limited budget and staff. Funding may be used to support the care, conservation, and/or exhibition of costume and textiles that have historic, regional, or other significance and are intended for preservation. First awarded in 2003, one or more Small Museum Collection Care Grants are awarded annually. These grants may be used for appropriate supplies or display items, the services of a consultant or specialist, or other projects that relate directly to the institution’s costume collection and foster the care or use of the collection at a level appropriate to the particular collection’s most pressing needs. This grant does not permit an “overhead” or “operational cut” that many colleges and universities typically take from grant funds they receive.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. A CSA Small Museum Collection Care Grant is intended to make a dramatic, beneficial impact on the receiving institution’s costume collection. Institutions must:Be a small museum, historical society, historic house or sites, or other similar institution;Have a collection of tangible costume objects;Have a very limited budget ($300,000 or less) and staff (5 or fewer) to support the costume collection who perform multiple responsibilities;Utilize volunteers to perform key staff functions;Be a non-profit organization as recognized under IRS Section 501;Be regularly open to the public for a minimum of forty days a year;Propose a project relating to maintaining the costume and textile collection;To accept a grant, an institution must be or become a Library (formerly Institutional) or Museum and Association Member of the Costume Society of America or have an active staff member who is an Individual CSA Member. You must be a member of this organization to apply for this award - become a member. To accept a grant, an institution must be or become an Institutional Member of the Costume Society of America or have an active staff member who is an Individual CSA member.

Ineligibility

An institution is not eligible to receive a grant more than once in three years.