Federal grant programs / Department of State

U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (19.025)

Also known as AFCP, USAFCP

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$23.8 million
• Grant awards111
• Typical award$200,000
• Awarded in FY 2025$1.5 million
• Size rank1258 of 1824
• Type of assistanceProject grants (discretionary)

Key findings

• Annual funding fell from $6.8 million in fiscal 2021 to $1.5 million in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 1258th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 63% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 13 states and territories.

What the program funds

1) Support the preservation of cultural heritage overseas 2) Increase U.S. favorability 3) Counter false narratives about the United States 4) Support U.S. diplomatic objectives and foreign policy goals

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

The U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation supports the preservation of cultural heritage in the following countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Democratic Republic), Congo (Republic), Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Bahamas,...

Continue reading on SAM.gov

What the money can and cannot pay for

The U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation supports activities that contribute to the preservation of cultural sites, cultural objects and collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression (intangible heritage). These activities may involve: in the case of CULTURAL SITES, restoration of an historic building, an archaeological survey as a component of a preservation plan, preservation management planning for a site, or documentation of sites in a region for preservation purposes; in the case of CULTURAL OBJECTS AND COLLECTIONS, conservation treatment for an object or collection of objects; needs assessment of a collection with respect to its condition and strategies for improving its state of conservation; inventory of a collection for conservation purposes; the creation of safe environments for storage or display of collections; or specialized training in the preservation and protection of oollections; in the case of FORMS OF TRADITIONAL CULTURAL EXPRESSION, documentation and audiovisual recording of traditional music and dance forms for preservation and eventual dissemination, or support for training in the preservation of traditional arts or crafts that are threatened by extinction. An appropriate preservation activity is one that protects the values of the site, object or collection, or form of traditional cultural expression as they are understood by stakeholders.

Continue reading on SAM.gov

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Deadlines

Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines Contact the Public Diplomacy Section at the U.S. embassy for application deadlines.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

Awards in Fiscal Year 2021 ranged from $16,000 to $500,000 with an average award amount of $179,000.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

Nonprofits received 37% of the money, colleges and universities 9.0% and individuals 1.0%.

By state

2 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards. They are New York and Virginia.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.