Save America's Treasures grants are available for preservation and/or conservation work on nationally significant intellectual and cultural artifacts and nationally significant historic structures and sites. Projects must meet the program Selection Criteria.

Grants are awarded through a competitive process to eligible applicants. A dollar-for-dollar, non-Federal match is required. The minimum grant request for collections projects is $25,000 Federal share; the minimum grant request for historic property projects is $125,000 Federal share. The maximum grant request for all projects is $700,000 Federal share. In 2006, the average Federal grant award to collections was $132,000, and the average award to historic properties was $223,000.

• Federal Agencies funded by the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
• Other Federal agencies collaborating with a nonprofit partner to preserve the historic properties or collections owned by the Federal agency may submit applications through the nonprofit partner.
• Nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c), U.S organizations.
• Units of state or local government.
• Federally recognized Indian Tribes.
• Historic properties and collections associated with active religious organizations are eligible to apply for grants. They must meet the grant Selection Criteria, including national significance.

Preservation and/or conservation work on nationally significant intellectual and cultural artifacts and nationally significant historic structures and sites. Intellectual and cultural artifacts include artifacts, collections, documents, sculpture and works of art (hereinafter collections). Historic structures and sites include historic districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects (hereinafter historic properties).

• Acquisition (i.e. purchase in fee simple or interest) of intellectual and cultural artifacts, historic sites, buildings, structures or objects.
• Survey or inventory of historic properties or cataloging of collections.
• Long-term maintenance or curatorial work beyond the grant period.
• Interpretive or training programs.
• Reconstruction of historic properties (i.e. recreating all or a significant portion of a structure that no longer exists).
• Moving historic properties or work on historic properties that have been moved.
• Construction of new buildings.
• Historic structure reports and condition assessments, unless they are one component of a larger project to implement the results of these studies by performing work recommended by the studies.
• Cash reserves, endowments or revolving funds. Funds must be expended within the grant period, which is generally 2 to 3 years, and may not be used to create an endowment or revolving fund or otherwise spent over many years.
• Costs of fund-raising campaigns.
• Costs of work performed prior to announcement of award.
• For Federal agency grantees - Federal salaries, agency overhead or administrative costs.

• The collection or historic property must be nationally significant. Collections or historic properties not meeting this criterion will receive no further consideration.
• The collection or historic property must be threatened or endangered, and the application must document the urgent preservation and/or conservation need.
• Projects must substantially mitigate the threat and must have a clear public benefit (for example, historic places open for visitation or collections available for public viewing or scholarly research).
• The project must be feasible (i.e. able to be completed within the proposed activities, schedule, and budget described in the application), and the application must document adequately the required non-Federal match.