Ambassador Funds for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) 2021
U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation 2021
AFCP 2021 Grants Program Application Guide
- Summary: The Cultural Heritage Center (“the Center”) in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is pleased to announce the start of the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) 2021 Grants Program. Note: The Center is implementing several important changes to the program during this cycle:
- a) The Center is combining the small and large grant programs into a single program. Pending availability of funds, awards will range from $10,000 to $500,000.
- b) To ease the administrative burden on embassies and potential grantees, the Center is dividing the application process into two rounds and reducing the amount of information required up front. The first streamlined round will collect project ideas from embassies in the form of concept notes, due November 30, 2020. In Round 2, the Center will invite embassies with promising ideas to submit full project applications, due March 22, 2021.
- c) The Center is posting a global Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) on Grants.gov. Doing so satisfies the full and open competition requirement for grants awarded through the AFCP program. Embassies may still conduct their own local competitions if they wish to attract additional project ideas.
- d) The Center is making the following adjustments to the review process. It will obtain regional bureau input early in the process and prioritize public diplomacy impact. In consultation with the regional bureaus, ECA and the Center will determine which ideas advance to Round 2 based on a project’s potential to advance U.S. public diplomacy, U.S. foreign policy objectives, and host-country or community objectives or aims.
- e) The Center has expertise in cultural preservation and is available to work with embassies and their prospective implementing partners to help them refine project concepts for resubmission to future cycles of the AFCP grants program or to help them transform promising ideas into effective project designs in preparation for a Round 2 submission. The Center’s team of cultural heritage preservation experts can provide direct, hands-on guidance and support or organize design workshops for embassy implementing partners, including new or small organizations with limited experience. (End Summary)
