African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund: Frequently Asked Questions
If this page doesn’t answer your question, please send it to us at grants@savingplaces.org.
Tips and Tricks for the AACHAF
AACHAF Best Practices Exchange (PastForward 2020)
Are grants from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund available to applicants from any state?
Yes, the Action Fund accepts applications from projects from all U.S. states and territories.
I have so many ideas for potential projects! Can I submit more than one Letter of Intent?
Yes, you can submit more than one LOI. You can submit up to four, one for each category of the grant program (Capital Projects, Organizational Capacity Building, Project Planning, and Programming and Interpretation). If you have more than one project in a category, you should submit the project you feel is stronger.
How do I know if I have a strong project?
That’s a tough question, since we haven’t read any LOIs yet. Take a look at the grant guidelines to be sure all parts of your project are eligible, then look at the criteria we’ll be considering them against. If one of your projects meets all of the criteria and the other does not, you should probably submit the first one. When in doubt, if it’s not an ineligible project (look at those guidelines again), go ahead and submit an LOI. The only thing you’re losing at this point is a little bit of your time.
My project doesn't seem to fit the guidelines. Should I apply anyway?
If your project doesn't fit the guidelines of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, it may be worth checking out some of our other grant funds. Our Preservation Fund Grant program has a deadline of February 1, and the Johanna Favrot Fund and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund are due March 1. We have a number of other funds with various deadlines throughout the year as well.
Can I receive two grants?
No, only one type of grant will be awarded per organization in any grant round. You could submit a second project later on. Only one type of grant will be awarded for each project phase.
Do I need matching funds for this grant?
A match is not required for a grant; however, a match (either cash or in-kind) will be looked upon favorably as grants are reviewed.
Once I submit my Letter of Intent, when will I know if I received a grant?
The LOI is the first step. We hope to review all the LOIs in about ten weeks (by late March). Once that happens, we’ll let you know if you’re invited to submit a full application or not. If you are, that would be due approximately five weeks later (May 1). Grant winners would be notified sometime in July.
Now accepting nominations for the 2024 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places! Letters of Intent are due September 29, 2023.
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