The Moe Family Fund for Statewide and Local Partners supports current dues-paying members of the National Preservation Partners Network (NPPN) with grants focused on priority issues for the preservation field. For 2022, grant-funded projects must address one of the four Preservation Priorities:

1. Diversity, inclusion, and racial justice
2. Affordable housing and density
3. Sustainability and climate action
4. Historic preservation trades training and workforce development

Applicants are encouraged to embark on projects and activities outside the existing scope of their work, but the Fund also will support initiatives that take existing programs to a new level. Priority will be given to impactful and replicable projects and special consideration will be given to initiatives that focus on policy, advocacy, and practice. Priority also will be given to projects that have the potential to leverage additional financial support for the proposed work, and to projects that encourage collaboration and innovative partnerships. Projects may stand alone or be part of a larger initiative.

Through the Fund, a maximum of $50,000 will be awarded in 2022 with a limit of $10,000 per grant award.

The review process will be completed within eight weeks of the application deadline, and applicants will be notified by e-mail when the review process is complete. The 2022 application deadline is July 1, 2022.

Preservation Priorities

The Moe Family Fund for Statewide and Local Partners encourages preservation organizations to envision and test creative, “break-through” ideas and strategies.

For 2022, grants will be awarded to projects that fall under the four Preservation Priorities identified in the Preservation Education and Advocacy Pilot Partnership between the National Trust for Historic Preservation and NPPN. These four priorities are:

1. Diversity, inclusion, and racial justice: The national outpouring of anger, grief, and frustration following the shocking death of George Floyd has launched a new movement for racial justice across the country. As stewards of historic places and stories, historic preservation organizations can play a critical role in making our communities more inclusive and equitable. To do this effectively, however, the NTHP and NPPN recognize that we must look closely at inequitable practices within our own movement, past and present.
2. Sustainability and climate action: Clear messaging and effective policy recommendations are needed, particularly at the local level, to demonstrate preservation’s contribution to climate change mitigation. Technical guidance and examples of local and state innovation are needed to demonstrate alternative approaches to climate change adaptation. Overall messaging is also needed to unify the preservation movement around this urgent issue, which can seem both overwhelming and daunting to individual organizations. The involvement of key partners is essential.
3. Affordable housing and density: The NTHP and NPPN agree that there is an opportunity to reframe the public understanding of and discourse about historic preservation and affordable housing, thereby positioning preservation as a solution, rather than a barrier, to retaining and increasing the supply of affordable housing. Shared messaging will help clarify preservation’s role in this complex and hotly debated topic, which includes issues such as density and equitable development. Guidance, specific examples, and case studies on strategies (including policy solutions to facilitate preservation’s utility in this arena) are also needed, particularly at the state and local level.
4. Historic preservation trades training and workforce development: The lack of skilled building trades workers is a long-standing concern among preservationists. The coronavirus pandemic and the need for jobs and economic activity has brought urgency as well as opportunity to this issue. The NTHP as well as several NPPN member organizations have active preservation trades training programs. NTHP and NPPN agree to work together to better understand the needs and potential of the marketplace for this work and to collectively recommend strategies to create employment opportunities while addressing the inadequate number of skilled craftsmen needed for historic preservation projects. This effort will build on and collaborate with the newly formed Traditional Trades Training Task Force of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), as well as more established groups such as the Preservation Trades Network who are actively working on this issue. Both the NTHP and individual NPPN member organizations are part of the ACHP task force.

While recognizing there are interconnections between the priorities, applicants must select one main priority for the project. Applicants can describe overlapping aspects with a second category in the application.

Eligible Applicants

Dues-paying members of the National Preservation Partners Network are eligible to apply for grants from the Moe Family Fund for Statewide and Local Partners. If two or more NPPN member organizations are jointly working on a project, please select one organization to serve as the applicant and fiscal agent for the project. Applicants that have received previous or current National Trust financial assistance are eligible provided that all grant requirements are currently being met. Only one grant will be awarded per organization in any grant round, and only one grant from this fund will be awarded to an organization within a two-year period.

Grant Conditions

• A dollar-for-dollar cash match is required and can come from new or upgraded private or public sources contributed especially for this project. The match also can come from income earned from registration fees or fundraising activities specifically for this project.
• Donated materials and services, staff salaries, and organizational overhead costs are not eligible sources of a match. Other funding from the National Trust may not be used to match the grant.
• Grants or matching funds cannot be used directly or indirectly to influence a member of Congress to favor or oppose any legislation or appropriation.
• Any documents or plans for preservation work that result from the project must conform to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
• Grantee agrees that all procurement of goods and services for the Project shall be conducted in a manner that provides maximum open and free competition and consideration of minority and women-owned business enterprises. Grantee must also maintain adequate procedures to ensure that the procurement of goods and services, including consultant services, do not present a conflict of interest.
• Grant recipients must include appropriate acknowledgement of National Trust financial support in all printed materials generated for the project.

Selection Criteria

The selection committee will select grant recipients by considering, among other factors, the following criteria:

• Degree to which the proposed project will address one of the four identified Preservation Priorities
• Creativity and innovation above and beyond the organization’s existing programs, or the extent to which an existing program is being taken to a new level
• Extent to which the project or activity is “breaking new ground,” including innovations to already existing programs or the preservation field
• Evidence that the activity or project would probably not be undertaken without this seed money
• The projected outcome of the project and the potential for catalytic effect
• Potential for demonstrable short-term and long-term impact
• Replicability and transferability, i.e., potential for the project or activity to be a model for other Partner organizations
• The project’s budget and the applicant’s proven ability to secure a match
• Potential to leverage additional funds for the project
• Realistic timeline for the project
• Qualifications of the key personnel, including consultants
• Demonstrated ability of the applicant to complete preservation projects

Eligible Expenses

Eligible expenses that can be funded through this grant include:

• Nonprofit applicants may include staff salaries for staff members directly working on the grant-funded project
• Consultant fees and travel expenses
• Speaker or writer fees and expenses
• Research costs
• Professional development and training
• Contracted professional expertise and services
• Computer software and programs
• Costs associated with community workshops, seminars, and forums
• Public relations and/or media campaign expenses
• Material and services, such as printing, photographs, and supplies (with the exception of publication projects, these costs must not to exceed 10 percent of the project budget)

Ineligible Expenses

Ineligible expenses include:

• Other organizational overhead
• Catering, food, beverage, and entertainment
• Brick and mortar construction expenses
• Computer hardware
• Website design and development
• Acquisition of real property or objects
• Historic resource surveys to create inventories or list resources in the National Register
• Expenses incurred prior to the grant award dates

How to Apply

Complete an application for the Moe Family Fund for Statewide and Local Partners here. (Please note: you will be taken to our grants application system where you will create a user profile for your organization. This is a separate login than your National Trust login.) If you have questions please email us.

The application access code is “Moe Fund”.