Funding Opportunities
February 16, 2020
Dear Members, Partners and Friends:

U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service and Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program have opened the Tribal Wildlife Grants Program to fund planning, maping, conservation and restoration of habitat to increase fish and wildlife populations.

The National Endowment for the Arts Challenge America has funding for cultural tourism projects that market and promote cultural assets; guest artists engaged for a festival, exhibition, literary reading, musical, theatrical or multi-media performance, media screening, broadcast or lecture, as well as, funding for Public Art projects.

The USDA Rural Development program is taking applications for Rural Business Development Grants and the Value-Added Producer Grant program in several states.

The Rural Utilities Service, of the United States Department of Agriculture, announced a second round of funding for it ReConnect program. The Broadband ReConnect Program furnishes loans and grants for construction, improvement or acquisition of facilities and equipment needed to provide broadband service in eligible rural areas.

The Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development's National Tribal Broadband Grant program is soliciting proposals from Indian Tribes for funding to hire consultants to perform feasibility studies for deployment or expansion of high-speed internet.

The First Nations Development Institute's Native Youth and Culture Fund is supporting projects that preserve, strengthen and/or renew Native cultures and traditions among youth.

The Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation's Sustainable Forests and Communities Initiative supports projects that employ sustainable forest management, conservation, and ecological restoration; develop enterprise-based sustainable economic activities or use innovative business or policy models to better establish prices and markets for ecosystem services. (Forest ecosystem services can include providing aesthetic, educational and other cultural services.

AIANTA's next funding opportunities webinar features the National Endowment for the Arts. To register for a webinar, visit the AIANTA Webinar Series webpage and click the To Register button on the webinar of your choosing.

Here's to a great tourism season!
US Fish and Wildlife Service Announces Tribal Wildlife Program Funding Opportunity

Deadline: May 4, 2020
U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service and Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program have opened the Tribal Wildlife Grants Program for proposals.

The Tribal Wildlife Grants Program was created to support the development and implementation of programs for the benefit of wildlife and their habitats and species of Tribal cultural or traditional importance, including species that are not hunted or fished. 

The TWG Program provides opportunities for federally recognized Tribes to engage in fish and wildlife conservation efforts on their lands, many of which are located adjacent to DOI- managed lands. Many of the TWG Program-funded project activities increase fish and wildlife populations, allowing for hunting and fishing opportunities on and off Tribal lands.

Activities may include, but are not limited to:
  • Planning for conservation of fish and wildlife, and their habitats
  • Conservation management actions for fish and wildlife and their habitats
  • Natural history studies
  • Fish passage
  • Habitat mapping or evaluation
  • Field surveys and population monitoring
  • Restoration of habitat
  • Management of invasive species
  • Public education relevant to the proposed project

Previously funded Tribal Wildlife Grant projects range from comprehensive surveys of plants, fish and wildlife, to habitat and fish restoration, to development of new resource management plans and techniques. A report on projects awarded between 2003 and 2006 is now available online 

For More Information
For more information about the TWG Program, visit the program's website or contact your Regional Service Office, click here for list.
National Endowment for the Arts Challenge America Grant Opportunity

Deadline: April 9, 2020
The National Endowment for the Arts Challenge America program offers support to small and mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations -- those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics or disability. 

Challenge America grants are limited to the following types of projects:

  • Guest Artist: A guest artist is engaged specifically for the proposed project, and is not considered a regular company member, board member or staff of the applicant. Allowable guest artist public event activities are broad, and may include a festival, exhibition, literary reading, musical, theatrical or multi-media performance, media screening, broadcast or lecture.

  • Collaborative Marketing Campaigns: Cultural tourism projects that market and promote cultural assets to enhance public engagement with arts and culture in communities and to populations that have been historically underserved. Campaigns should involve a partnership promoting the work of several organizations, not a promotional project for a single organization. Unified promotion is defined as the professional assessment, design, and/or distribution of public relations and marketing tools (calendars, websites, radio and television, brochures, rack cards, signage, wayfinding, etc.) designed to benefit several local organizations in a community.

  • Public Art Projects: The Public Art project type is intended to support primarily visual arts projects, which may be temporary or permanent, such as murals, sculptures, multi-media or environmental art, developed through a meaningful community engagement process. Evidence of community involvement should be apparent in the planning, design or fabrication of the work, and should include a professional lead artist. See “Public Art Resources” for additional information.

For More Information
For more information, contact the Challenge America Specialists at (202) 682-5700 or challengeamerica@arts.gov.
USDA Rural Business Development and Value-Added Producer Grants

Deadline: Check with your State
USDA Rural Development program is committed to helping improve the economy and quality of life in rural America. Several states are taking applications for Rural Business Development Grants and the Value-Added Producer Grant program. Interested applicants need to view program information specific to their local or State office to learn about local application applications and deadlines.

The Rural Business Development program is designed to provide technical assistance and training for small rural businesses. Small means that the business has fewer than 50 new workers and less than $1 million in gross revenue. Some of the uses include:

  • Training and technical assistance, such as project planning, business counseling and training, market research, feasibility studies and more.
  • Acquisition or development of land, easements, or rights of way; construction, conversion, renovation of buildings; plants, machinery, equipment, access for streets and roads; parking areas and utilities.
  • Feasibility studies and business plans.
  • Rural business incubators.
  • Long-term business strategic planning.

The Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program helps agricultural producers enter into value-added activities related to the processing and marketing of new products. Funds can be used for planning activities or for working capital expenses related to producing and marketing a value-added agricultural product. For example, processing wheat into flour, corn into ethanol, slaughtering livestock or creating specialty items that would appeal to customers.

For More Information
Check with your state or local USDA office for applications and deadlines, to find your local office, visit https://www.rd.usda.gov/contact-us/state-offices. For more information, contact the USDA Grants Division, Cooperative Programs, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, MS 3253, Room 4008-South, Washington, DC 20250–3253, or call (202) 690–1374. 
National Tribal Broadband Grants Available from the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Deadline May 8, 2020
The Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development's National Tribal Broadband Grant program is soliciting proposals from Indian Tribes for funding to hire consultants to perform feasibility studies for deployment or expansion of high-speed internet (broadband) transmitted, variously, through digital subscriber line (DSL), cable modem, fiber, wireless, satellite and broadband over power lines (BPL).

IEED anticipates award of approximately twenty-five (25) to thirty (30) National Tribal Broadband grants ranging from $40,000 to $50,000.

NTBG grants may be used to fund:
  • an assessment of the current broadband services, if any, that are available to an applicant's community;
  • an engineering assessment of new or expanded broadband services;
  • an estimate of the cost of building or expanding a broadband network;
  • a determination of the transmission medium(s) that will be employed;
  • identification of potential funding and/or financing for the network; and,
  • consideration of financial and practical risks associated with developing a broadband network.

For More Information
To view the announcement, click here. Contact James R. West, National Tribal Broadband Grant (NTBG) Manager, Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, Room 6049-B, 12220 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, Virginia 20191; telephone: (202) 595-4766; email: jamesr.west@bia.gov.
USDA Rural Development Broadband ReConnect Opens Second Round of Funding

Deadline: March 16, 2020
The Rural Utilities Service, a Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, announced a second round of funding for it ReConnect program.

The Broadband ReConnect Program furnishes loans and grants to provide funds for the costs of construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment needed to provide broadband service in eligible rural areas. Seneca Nation received funding in the first round to deploy a fiber-to-the-premise broadband network throughout the their territory.

Award Funds may be used to pay:

  • To fund the construction or improvement of buildings, land, and other facilities that are required to provide broadband service.
  • To fund reasonable pre-application expenses that do not exceed five percent of the award amount.
  • To fund the acquisition and improvement of an existing system that is currently providing insufficient broadband service.
  • To fund terrestrial-based facilities that support the provision of satellite broadband service.

For More Information:
For more information, contact your General Field Representative or State office. A list of GFRs, their service areas, and their contact information can be found here: www.rd.usda.gov/contact-us/telecom-gfr/all; State office contact information can be found here: www.rd.usda.gov/contact-us/state-offices.
Native Youth And Culture Fund Grant Opportunity 2020

Opens: March 12, 2020
The First Nations Development Institute works to strengthen American Indian economies to support healthy Native communities by investing in and creating innovative institutions and models that strengthen asset control and support economic development for American Indian people and their communities.

The Native Youth and Culture Fund partners with tribes, Native nonprofit organizations and Native community groups working in rural and reservation-based communities and seeking ways to preserve, strengthen and/or renew Native cultures and traditions among youth. Grant awards are expected to be between $5,000 and $19,500 for projects of no longer than one year in length.

The fund supports projects in the following priority areas:

  • Preserving, strengthening or renewing cultural and/or spiritual practices, beliefs and values.
  • Engaging both youth and elders in activities that demonstrate methods for documenting traditional ecological knowledge systems, practices and/or beliefs.
  • Increasing youth leadership and their capacity to lead through integrated educational or mentoring programs.
  • Increasing access to and sharing of cultural customs and beliefs through the use of appropriate technologies (traditional and/or modern), as a means of reviving or preserving tribal language, arts, history or other culturally relevant topics.

For More Information
Visit the First Nations website, call (303) 774-7836 or contact info@firstnations.org.

The Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation Sustainable Forests and Communities Initiative Grants

Deadline: March 1, 2020
The Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation has operated the Sustainable Forests and Communities Initiative for fifteen years. The initiate seeks proposals that respond to the needs in forest communities for forest conservation, economic development and healing deep rifts that Federal reductions in timber cuts opened. 

The Sustainable Forests and Communities Initiative gives priority to projects that support the following outcomes:

  • Environment: Employ sustainable forest management, conservation, and ecological restoration.
  • Economy: Develop and encourage enterprise-based sustainable economic activities.
  • Community: Use innovative business or policy models to better establish prices and markets for ecosystem services. (Forest ecosystem services can include, but are not restricted to, carbon sequestration, forests' role in the carbon, nutrient, and water cycles, providing habitat to support biodiversity, and providing aesthetic, educational, and other cultural services.)

The Foundation supports activities in the regions where the family’s business interests originated: Idaho, Oregon, Washington, northern California, western Montana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Average grants are $25,000 or less.

For More Information
For more information, visit the Foundation's website or contact Larry Dressler, Program Consultant, at (303) 440-0425.
AIANTA Webinar Series Provides Funding Opportunities that Support Cultural Tourism Development
AIANTA has joined with our partners to provide a webinar series on resource development opportunities and tips for success. Each webinar is designed to introduce and equip organizations with the knowledge needed to find and apply for funding opportunities to support cultural heritage tourism development. To register for a webinar, visit the AIANTA Webinar Series webpage and click the To Register button on the webinar of your choosing.


National Endowment for the Arts
Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Program staff from the Arts Endowment will introduce a range of grant opportunities and the National Heritage Fellowship program. Staff will feature an overview of each program, examples of successful projects and things to consider when submitting an application or nomination.

For More Information:
To register for a webinar, visit the AIANTA Webinar Series webpage and click the To Register button on the webinar of your choosing. For more information, contact Glenda Toledo at (505) 433-2120 or gtoledo@aianta.org, or Sherrie Bowman at (505) 209-2479 or sbowman@aianta.org.

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