Grant program guidelines are made available approximately 90 days before the grant deadline. Until that time, guidelines from the previous year are available for your reference, but you must use the current fiscal year application when you apply.

For the fiscal year 2009 application, plus examples of how this program can benefit your institution and more information, please visit the Heritage Preservation Web site.

FY 2010 Deadline:

December 1, 2009

Heritage Preservation Contact:

Sara Gonzales
1012 14th Street, NW, Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202/233-0800
E-mail: sgonzales@heritagepreservation.org

Program Overview
The Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) is supported through a cooperative agreement between the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Heritage Preservation. The general conservation assessment (unlike a detailed collection survey) provides an overview of all of the museum’s collections as well as its environmental conditions and policies and procedures relating to collections care.

The program supports a two-day site visit by a conservation professional to perform the assessment. For museums located in historic structures, the grant supports a two-day site visit by a preservation architect. Assessment reports are then provided later.

CAP also helps institutions with living animal collections, such as zoos and aquariums, that do not have an assessment of the animals’ physical conditions and habitats. Institutions with fully surveyed living animal collections (such as those accredited by the American Zoological Association) may use the grant to assess the conservation needs of their material collections only. Botanic gardens and arboretums may assess the conservation needs of both their living and material collections.