FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- Who may apply for SAT grants?
- Is my property or collection eligible for SAT grant funding?
- What is the National Register of Historic Places and how do I determine if my property is listed at the national level of significance?
- Are religious properties eligible for SAT funding?
- How soon after applying are grant awards announced?
- What are the rules for the required matching share?
- What type of work is eligible for funding?
- SAT grant recipients are required to obtain a 50-year preservation easement on the property. What is a preservation easement and how is it obtained?
- What conditions are included in an SAT grant agreement?
- May I see a sample of a funded SAT application?
- What is Grants.gov?
- Do I need special software to complete a Grants.gov application?
- Scanning Tips
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1. Who may apply for SAT grants? Top
State Historic Preservation Offices, Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, Certified Local Governments, educational institutions, nonprofit 501c organizations and federal, state, and local governments may apply for Save America's Treasures grants.
Individuals and for-profit businesses are not eligible for funding.
2. Is my property or collection eligible for SAT grant funding? Top
Properties
Properties must be listed in the National Register of Historic Places at the national level of significance or be designated as a National Historic Landmark at the time of application in order to be eligible for Save America's Treasures grants. (For more information on the National Register, see below.
Properties currently "determined eligible" for listing in the National Register of Historic Places or as National Historic Landmarks are not eligible for funding.
Collections
A determination of a collection's significance is made by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities or the Institute of Museum and Library Services. If you have questions regarding the eligibility of a collection please contact one of these agencies.
3. What is the National Register of Historic Places and how do I determine if my property is listed at the national level of significance? Top
The National Register of Historic Places is the Nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. Authorized under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Register is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect our historic and archeological resources. Properties listed in the Register include districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that are significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture. The National Register is administered by the National Park Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Each property listed in the National Register is determined to have a specific level of significance - local, state or national significance. To qualify for a Save America's Treasures grant, the property must be listed at the national level of significance.
There are a several ways to find out if your property is listed on the National Register and, if so, its level of significance:
For more information about National Register listings, please contact the National Register of Historic Places directly.
4. Are religious properties eligible for SAT funding? Top
Yes, religious properties are eligible for Save America's Treasures grant funding provided that they are listed in the National Register of Historic Places at the national level of significance.
5. How soon after applying are grant awards announced? Top
Typically, announcements are made six to eight months after the applications are received.
6. What are the rules for the required matching share? Top
Save America's Treasures is a matching grant program. For every dollar of federal funds awarded, the grantee must supply a dollar for dollar match of nonfederal funds.
The basic rule regarding matching share (of cash or of necessary non-cash donations of services, equipment use, or supplies) is that it must be necessary to achieve the objectives of the project and must share the cost of performing the grant-assisted work. The matching share requirement is essential because it creates a strong partnership that financially connects the grant-recipient to achieving the work of the project.
Costs and matching share contributions must be incurred during the grant period, unless an exception is approved by the Federal grantor agency to allow what are termed "pre-award costs," or "pre-agreement costs." These costs hinge upon the requirement that matching share must be: 1) directly related, 2) necessary, and 3) reasonable for the proper and efficient accomplishment of project objectives. NPS customarily allows costs contributed or incurred up to one year preceding the award of the grant as being reasonable and allowable pre-award costs.
7. What type of work is eligible for funding? Top
Preservation and conservation work on nationally significant intellectual and cultural collections and nationally significant historic properties are eligible for Save America's Treasures funding. Intellectual and cultural artifacts and collections include artifacts, collections, documents, sculpture, and other works of art. Historic properties include historic districts, buildings, sites, structures and objects
Save America's Treasures grants do not fund:
- Acquisition (i.e. purchase in fee simple or interest) of collections or historic properties.
- 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 historic property that no longer exists).
- Moving historic properties or work on historic properties that have been moved.
- Construction of new buildings.
- Historic structure reports and collection 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.
8. SAT grant recipients are required to obtain a 50-year preservation easement on the property. What is a preservation easement and how is it obtained? Top
A preservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement that protects a significant historic, archaeological, or cultural resource. An easement provides assurance to the owner of a historic or cultural property that the property's intrinsic values will be preserved through subsequent ownership. Under the terms of an easement, a property owner grants a portion of, or interest in, their property rights to an organization whose mission includes historic preservation. Once recorded, an easement becomes part of the property's chain of title and usually "runs with the land" in perpetuity, thus binding not only the owner who grants the easement but all future owners as well.
Grantees who accept SAT funding must agree to obtain a preservation easement on the property. It must run for no less than 50 years from the date it is registered with the county and must cover the entire property (unless the NPS feels that a partial easement would be acceptable, though this is unusual). Most easements are held by the State Historic Preservation Office in which the property is located; however, NPS will approve other entities if they are determined capable of holding and enforcing an easement. Download a sample preservation easement (PDF format).
9. What conditions are included in an SAT grant agreement? Top
Historic property projects grant agreements are administered by the National Park Service. Download a sample historic property grant agreement (PDF format).
Collections projects grant agreements are administered by the the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities or the Institute of Museum and Library Services. For a sample collections agreement, please contact one of these agencies.
10. May I see a sample of a funded SAT application? Top
Historic property projects are administered by the National Park Service. Download a sample historic property grant application (PDF format). In 2008, Forms have been changed to work with Grants.gov.
Collections projects are administered by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities or the Institute of Museum and Library Services. For a sample collections grant application, please contact one of these agencies.
11. What is Grants.gov? Top
Grants.gov is a central Federal Grant service. All discretionary grants offered by the 26 federal grant-making agencies can be found on Grants.gov. In order to submit a completed application, an applicant (individual or organization) must be “registered.” Note: the registration process may take from two to four weeksto complete. However, once your organization is registered you can “authorize” any number of people to submit grant applications on your behalf. The process is entirely electronic. For tutorials and FAQs specific to using Grants.gov, see
Applicant Resources.
12. Do I need special software to complete a Grants.gov application? Top
Yes, but it’s free! You must complete the application and submit using Adobe Reader 8.1.2. The software is free from
Adobe. To verify that Adobe Reader version is compatible, follow the instructions to download a test package at Grants.gov.
13. Scanning Tips Top
There are a lot of “parts” to the appplication – please follow the instructions and “attach” the required forms in both the order and correct filename. (It will help us to process all the “parts” correctly.) If you are starting with a number of paper sources, i.e. staff resumes on paper – you can scan all the resumes into a single .pdf If you have printed images (i.e. 4x6 inch) -- you can print out the SAT_images.pdf form, tape/glue the photo prints to the boxes and scan the pages to create the required .pdf
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