2.3 Establish Funding & Support
Unless you are immensely lucky, you will likely need to find financial support to make your community archive a reality. In our case we pursued a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which is one of the largest government funders of libraries. In this section we help you to think through possible funding options, with an emphasis on external grant funding.
2.3.1 Identify Funding Sources
The first step in identifying a funding source is to determine exactly what you would like to do, how long it will take you to accomplish it, and how much funding it will require. This might seem like an obvious step, but it is really important in helping you to identify funding sources that
will actually give you money
will give you enough money to be successful.
At this stage, it can be beneficial to be creative. There are, unfortunately, relatively few funders that are primarily interested in funding community archives – or even public libraries, for that matter. However, the types of materials that you plan to collect and how you plan to use the archive may open additional funding opportunities for you.
As an example, if you plan to use your archive to better represent the histories of Black communities in your area, then you may be competitive for African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Or, if you plan to use the archive to provide programming for youth then it may be worthwhile to look at funders like the William T. Grant Foundation, who focus on funding projects that positively impact youth.
At this stage you might also explore whether some of your partners could produce funding opportunities for your project. For our project, for example, we chose to partner with a university that had significant experience applying for federal grants. This made it significantly easier to win the grant that ultimately funded our work.
It's also important to think widely about the types of resources that you will need to accomplish your goals. Depending on your goals, you may want to include some or all of the following in your project budget:
Salaries for existing staff
Salaries for creating new positions related to the archive
Software costs
Other technology costs (e.g., cameras or laptops)
Food costs for events associated with the archive
Supplies and materials for community events
Payments for vendors that might support the archive
Stipends for community members who support your project
Travel costs for workshops or conferences
When possible, you should also think about the long-term sustainability of your archive when putting together your budget. There is nothing worse than creating an incredible archive, and then realizing that you don’t have the ability to keep it functioning beyond the life of a temporary funding source. Think through what position at your library will continue to support the archive over the long run, and what ongoing costs might be associated with the archive’s maintenance and upkeep.
At this point you are ready to go out and look for funding opportunities. There are a range of different types of options, and it is often good for you to apply for several different types of opportunities.
If you are in a city or region that has a community foundation, then you might inquire with a program officer there. Many community foundations manage donor advised funds that often have flexibility in what they are willing to fund as long as it has a local focus. Developing a relationship with the community foundation also opens up the possibility that a future donor-advised fund or community-focused fund will be aware of your efforts in building a community archive.
Your state library agency may also be able to provide support. Each SLA receives federal funding through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and has flexibility in deciding how those funds will be allocated within the state. Some may choose to utilize a portion of the funding for archival programs. Talk with the appropriate staff person in the library development division at your state library agency. If your SLA doesn’t provide grant funding they might also have suggestions or assistance that they could provide for other funding sources.
Finally, you might look for funding from federal agencies, philanthropies, and other non-profit organizations. Examples include the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the National Archives, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, local and state historical societies, and much more.
Note that you can often combine funding from several grants to accomplish your project, if you feel that a larger funding source is out of reach. It can feel more manageable to start small and build towards larger grants.
2.3.2 Apply for Funding
Every funding source has its own rules and processes, so it is only possible for us to provide general suggestions in this section. When possible, one of the most useful things you can do is to speak with someone who has previously received funding from the source that you are considering. This could, for example, be another library or a local university. They may be willing to give you specific tips or even to share materials from their winning proposal. You should also do as much research as you can about the proposal process.
Many funding organizations will publish a Call for Proposals (CFP) or Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that includes all of the information that you will need to put in a proposal. Review this document closely, paying particular attention to due dates, the elements of the application, and what steps you need to take to submit the application. It can be helpful to create a checklist of all of the different elements of the proposal, to make sure that you don’t miss anything.
You should begin work by identifying any components of the proposal that rely on people or systems outside of your library, since you have less control over those elements. For example, if you know that you will need a letter of support from an outside organization, then you should ask for that as early in the process as possible.
Similarly, if you expect to be funding partners through a grant, it is important to begin budget conversations as soon as possible. More broadly, it is useful to start thinking about your budget as soon as possible—even without partners it is often surprising how long it can take to put together a realistic budget!
For some funding sources—and especially federal grant programs—your library or governing entity often needs to register for or provide information ahead of submitting the application. This can be a multi-step process and if your governing entity is not already registered, it can take 10 or more business days. Sometimes obtaining these accounts or finding who might already have them in your governing entity can take some time, so a key is starting early on the administrative side to make sure that all of these are in place. You may also have to have a different official from outside the library submit your application, so make sure you have communicated with them about the timeline and deadlines for your proposal. Lastly, make sure that they won’t be on vacation the day you need to submit your grant (yes, we have seen that happen!).
When beginning to write the application, it is important to keep the review criteria in mind. As silly as it may sound, I often italicize and bold keywords related to review criteria so that it catches the eye of my reviewers. Keep in mind that these reviewers are often reading many proposals over a relatively short period of time.
Anything you can do to make their job easier—and make your proposal stand out—will give you a better chance of getting money. Don’t underestimate the power of tables and images for summarizing ideas, if it is appropriate for the funding source.
Throughout the writing process, you should also reach out for support when possible. Many organizations have program officers who are willing to answer questions or even review materials. IMLS, for example, provides applicants with the opportunity to meet 1:1 with a program officer once you have moved to the second stage of their application process. This can be immensely helpful.
Note, also, that IMLS publishes portions of successful proposals on their website. See Appendix A for links to our preliminary and final proposals. You should review these, since they provide a nice model for your own proposal.
When you have all parts of the application together, you should review the materials one final time to ensure that you are following all of the guidelines of the funding opportunity. The last thing that you want is to have your proposal disqualified on a technicality!
At this stage it can also be helpful to ask other colleagues to review the proposal materials, to get an outside perspective. When everything is ready to go, be sure to submit the proposal on time!
After submission, you will likely have to wait anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to hear back from the funder. Try not to be too discouraged if you don’t receive funding from your very first application—in our case, TPL submitted multiple times to IMLS before receiving funding—it often takes a few tries to get everything just right. Make sure that you pay attention to any feedback that you get from reviewers, so that future iterations of your proposal are even better!
2.3.3 Other Ways to Support Your Project
We recognize that obtaining grant funding can be daunting, and may be out of reach for some organizations. Depending on the scale of your project, there may be ways to support your archive without obtaining large sources of external funding.
For example, you might be able to leverage partnerships with local colleges and universities to carry out your project, even without funding. Faculty are often looking for new project ideas, or looking for ways to involve their classes in community-based activities. Students are similarly often looking for volunteer or internship opportunities.
Our project did involve several interns, and you can find our internship advertisements in Appendix A. This can be a relatively affordable way to get support for your project, while also providing a hands-on learning opportunity for students.
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