Opportunities for Funding

The voices of Indigenous peoples, both youth and elders, have long been marginalized by a colonial capitalist project grounded in an ideology of white supremacy, which has led us to the brink of climate catastrophe and the sixth great extinction.

Indigenous peoples have been fighting back against this genocidal and ecocidal system for centuries, preserving more sustainable ways of living. We support their ongoing fight for a livable future where all our relations are respected.

We understand that climate change and vulnerability to it grow out of a long and complex history of imperial domination and exploitation, and that climate change intersects with and exacerbates existing injustices.

As such, we aim to highlight the connections between climate change and struggles for racial justice, gender equality, freedom of movement, and self-determination. For example, we encourage projects that highlight the role of climate change and imperial violence in driving immigration.

The foundation seeks to fund broadly the very best proposals across all relevant disciplines and as such focus areas can include basic, pre-clinical, clinical research and clinical care. While there are no strict limits, fellowships are generally intended to support PhD, MD/PhD and MD physician scientists at earlier stages of their careers to enable them to establish/develop independent programs and compelling careers in breast cancer research.

Cultural institutions, including libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations, face a complex challenge: to preserve humanities collections for future generations through environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies to reduce energy consumption and costs as well as to strengthen institutional resiliency in the face of a changing climate. Cultural institutions can accomplish this work most effectively through managing collections’ environment, including aspects such as temperature, relative humidity, pollutants, and light; providing protective storage enclosures and systems for collections; and safeguarding collections from theft, fire, floods, and other disasters. By using environmentally sustainable methods, institutions reduce reliance on fossil fuels and ensure collections are better protected from current and future disasters.

There are three levels of funding. Planning (up to $50,000) provides funding for institutions to develop and assess environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies in collection spaces. Implementation Level I (up to $100,000) provides funding for institutions to implement environmentally sustainable preventive care projects that address specific, discrete preservation challenges that have been identified through an assessment. Implementation Level II (up to $350,000) provides funding for institutions to implement environmentally sustainable preventive care projects that address large or multifaceted preservation challenges that have been identified through assessments and planning conducted by a multidisciplinary collaborative professional team appropriate to the goals of the project.

For more information on the funding levels and supported activities, please see the link to the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Register for Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections Webinar here.

For more information about the Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections program and the 2025 Notice of Funding Opportunity, you may contact the division’s staff at preservation@neh.gov and request a consultation with a program officer.

The Southwest Border Resource Protection Program (SWBRPP) provides financial assistance to NPS units, as well as educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, tribes, and local and state agencies to improve resource stewardship, achieve international cooperation, provide meaningful interpretation and conduct scientific research, which will lead to increased appreciation and understanding of our shared natural and cultural heritage along our international border with Mexico.

Several National Parks located along the U.S. border with Mexico have recently experienced serious resource damage due to illegal cross border activities including drug traffickers and undocumented persons traversing the parks. Other national park units within the desert southwest have also experienced impacts to their natural and cultural resources. Thousands of miles of unauthorized roads and trails have been created, major ecological processes and the migration patterns of wildlife have been disrupted, important historic sites have been vandalized, and archaeological sites have been looted. Program funding is available for conducting scientific research and monitoring of species, as well as conservation, interpretation and preservation projects designed to help protect and preserve natural and cultural resources located near or along our international border.

Applicants must work with and benefit an NPS unit in the Intermountain Region along the U.S. – Mexico border as well as a protected area in Mexico by addressing cultural or natural resource issues shared by both countries. These parks include Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Big Bend National Park, Amistad National Recreation Area, Palo Alto National Historic Site, Padre Island National Seashore, Saguaro National Park, Tumacacori National Historical Park, Chamizal National Memorial, Coronado National Memorial, and Chiricahua National Monument.

Please note that applicants can work with other Intermountain Region parks near the U.S. Mexico Border, or not otherwise listed to support cultural or natural resource issues shared by both countries.

The projects and activities will be individually authorized by separate awards, with each project or activity having a separate work plan and budget developed cooperatively between the NPS and the cooperator. Project categories include:

Research & Monitoring
o Cultural Resource examples:
 Identification, research, and evaluation of archeological and historic sites
 National Register of Historic Places nominations
 National Historic Landmark nominations
o Natural Resource examples:
 Wildlife habitat management
 Inventory and monitoring of invasive plants and animals
 Impacts from climate change to endangered species
 Assessments of the effects of border activities on threatened and endangered species
Conservation & Preservation
o Cultural Resource examples:
 Stabilization, rehabilitation, and restoration of historic structures, archeological sites, trails and landscapes
 Conservation of collections
o Natural Resource examples:
 Reestablishment of natural processes and ecological systems
 Monitoring of resource damage caused by human developments
 Protection and conservation endangered and threatened species
 Integrated pest management planning
 Restoration of native wildlife and vegetation, including removal of exotic species
Interpretation, Education & Tourism
o Professional training and exchange such as:
 Student intern programs
 Workshops, seminars, symposia, training programs
 Binational conferences
 Informational network gatherings
 Development of interpretive materials, programs, workshops
 Geotourism

Purpose of this Announcement

1. This Announcement seeks to identify applicant organizations that propose to host and, as applicable, serve as consortium partners for a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC) in the regions indicated below, and to determine if their proposed science, partnership, and program support activities and strategies are appropriate to serve in the following roles:
• Northeast, Pacific Islands, and South Central Climate Adaptation Science Centers. The geographic footprints for potential hosts of these CASCs are indicated in the map below (see Attachment A). The high-level climate science focus areas anticipated for these CASCs are described in Attachment C.

2. Once selected, the recipient will be established as the Host Institution for the respective regional CASC. As a Host, an institution will be the sole entity eligible to receive funding to conduct follow-on research/science projects anticipated as a part of this Program Announcement. Host Institutions may engage with other institutions, including by subaward, as part of these projects.

Program Description - The USGS Climate Adaptation Science Center Network

1. USGS has established a network of geographically dispersed Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASC) (see Learn About the Regional CASCs | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov)). The USGS, through the National Climate Adaptation Science Center (NCASC), manages the CASCs (see Climate Adaptation Science Centers | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov)). CASCs are based at organizations (hereafter termed Hosts or Host Institutions) that provide suitable facilities, partnerships, science, capacity building, communications, and programmatic capabilities, either alone or in combination with other partners (“consortium partners”). At the national level, USGS (through the National CASC) provides executive staffing and administrative support, conducts a program to link and synthesize CASC research activities, and provides communication data management, and information technology strategy coordination.

2. The goal of each CASC is to work with regional managers of land, water, fish and wildlife, as well as nearshore, coastal, and cultural heritage resources in order to identify high priority resource management and decision needs for which information on climate change, impacts, and adaptation is needed. As an objective, each CASC works to deliver scientific information and tools that can help resource managers develop strategies, policies, programs, and activities for responding to climate change.

3. Each regional CASC has a Host institution component and a federal component. They have distinct funding, personnel, and work plans but work together with a collaborative approach towards a common mission. In general, the federal component’s focus is on developing science priorities and a science agenda, as well as longer-term research and synthesis activities – especially when these span multiple funding cycles. The Host institution component’s focus is generally on science implementation, communications, and outreach. Specifically, the primary functions of CASCs – including the Host institutions and the federal component together – are to:

a. Identify priority management needs through ongoing interactions with resource management entities within the region and identify scientific information and tools that may inform these management challenges. Wherever possible, this should involve an appropriate level of co-development, which entails processes and relationship-building to frame management questions, understand the objectives of managers and other key stakeholders, develop science/research plans to address management questions, and ensure the appropriate transfer and use of information to improve management of natural and cultural resources in a changing climate.

b. Identify impacts of climate change and current management strategies on priority species, habitats/ecosystems, ecosystem goods and services, and other natural and cultural resources within the region, as guided by the management priorities identified above.

c. Translate, integrate, aggregate, and synthesize existing or new scientific information to meet key information needs identified in conjunction with natural and cultural resource managers.

d. Work with partners to identify, evaluate, and provide science to design, implement, and evaluate adaptation strategies to address identified climate impacts (along with other stressors such as land use or land cover change) on priority resources.

e. Provide student researchers or post-doctoral researchers at each CASC experiences that help them understand high-priority resource management challenges, the management objectives of key stakeholders, how science can provide information about the impacts of potential policies on these management challenges and objectives, and how to interface with a broad variety of community and resource related groups.

f. Foster development and use of research products by conducting capacity-building activities.

g. Provide science translation, leading communities of practice, holding scientific workshops and forums, and developing scientific outreach materials for or with resource managers and relevant partners in the region.

h. Provide information management capacity and infrastructure for the Center’s research activities. This does not include the development of regionally specific data portals, repositories, or online data management systems. CASCs should leverage the infrastructure developed and supported by NCASC (See Section D2.2.B. Proposal Contents – Technical Proposal Narrative, for details).

The USDA Forest Service, State, Private & Tribal Forestry is requesting applications for the Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program (Community Forest Program or CFP), authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill. CFP is a competitive grant program that provides financial assistance to Indian Tribes, local governments, and qualified conservation non-profit organizations to establish community forests through the fee simple acquisition of private forest land.

The purpose of the program is to establish community forests by protecting forestland from conversion to non-forest uses and provide community benefits including public recreation, environmental and economic benefits, and forest-based educational programs. Public access is required for all projects.

Eligible Uses of Funding
Allowable project costs include the purchase price for the property as well as transactional costs related to its acquisition. This includes:
1. Appraisals and appraisal reviews;
2. Land surveys;
3. Legal and closing costs;
4. Development of the Community Forest Plan;
5. Title examination
Note: Costs must conform to 2 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR 200) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.
Ineligible Uses of Grant Funds
Project costs cannot include:
1. Long-term operations, maintenance, and management of the land;
2. Construction of buildings or recreational facilities;
3. Research;
4. Existing liens or taxes owed;
5. Costs associated with preparing this application (except for any of the allowable project costs specified above)

The U.S. Department of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation, administers the Small Surface and Groundwater Storage Program (Small Storage Program) to promote Federal assistance to enhance water storage opportunities for future generations in support of the Department’s priorities. Reclamation leverages Federal and non-Federal funding to support stakeholder efforts to stretch scarce water supplies and avoid conflicts over water.
Congress enacted the BIL on November 15, 2021, with Title IX—Western Water Infrastructure to address water storage infrastructure critical to the Nation’s economic growth, health, and competitiveness. Section 40903 authorizes Reclamation to provide funding for small surface water storage and groundwater storage projects.

Water storage projects are an important part of Reclamation and the Department’s priorities. Surface water and groundwater storage are essential tools in stretching the limited water supplies in the Western United States. Water storage projects enhance and increase the reliability of municipal and irrigation water supplies, provide opportunities to enhance groundwater management and provide water quality improvements and ecosystem benefits. These projects will provide Western communities with new sources of water and increase water management flexibility. Water storage projects help water managers increase resilience to climate change and are directly aligned with Executive Order (EO) 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. Further, EO 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, calls on agencies to advance equity through identifying and addressing barriers to equal opportunities across policies and programs, including grant opportunities. The Small Storage Program will advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative. Established by EO 14008, the Justice40 Initiative establishes a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments, such as climate, clean energy, and other areas, flow to disadvantaged communities that are overburdened by pollution and marginalized by underinvestment.

The objective of this NOFO is to invite sponsors of small surface water and groundwater storage projects to request cost-shared funding for the planning, design, and/or construction of those projects.

This Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcement (NOFO) solicits resource grant applications for projects that will provide accurate, useful, usable, and understandable health information to populations that experience health disparities and their health care providers. This NOFO supports the development of resources that can be used to improve health and well-being and that lead to reductions in health disparities. Access to accurate, useful, usable, and understandable health information is an important factor when managing health and health care. Proposed projects should harness the capabilities of information technology and medical or health libraries to disseminate clear, evidence-based health-related information in formats used by individuals and their health care providers. Proposed projects should emphasize the development and deployment of new information resources or services, or expand and improve an existing resource or service, to meet the needs of populations experiencing health disparities and to promote health equity.

Resource Project Objectives
The G08 program supports resource projects that use information technology to improve the organization and management of health-related information, with a broad range of usability, user and personal access factors considered. Strategies proposed to achieve NLM’s G08 programmatic goals should be scalable, sustainable, generalizable and have the potential to provide useful information to communities that experience health disparities and those who provide health care for these communities, including doctors, nurse practitioners, midwives, hospitals, health centers, and clinics.

Applications submitted to this notice of funding opportunity must provide evidence that the intended audience is a population with health disparities or a health care provider for one of these populations. A population that experiences health disparities must have a significant disparity in the overall disease incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality, or survival rates in the population compared to the health status of the general population. Proposals that do not address a health disparity will be withdrawn for non-responsiveness.

In planning, applicants must include evidence of a collaboration with a medical or health library to ensure that materials developed have generalizability and are capable of being disseminated through medical or health libraries and their instrumentalities. Applicants are expected to present evidence of their demonstrated commitment to the needs of communities that experience health disparities. This NOFO requires the inclusion of a resource evaluation plan and evidence of resource sustainability. An evaluation plan that measures the value of the resource, usability, and user experience, should be provided in the application. Evaluations that meet the definition of a clinical trial are not allowed under this funding mechanism and will be withdrawn for non-responsiveness.

Topics that are responsive to this grant program include, but are not limited to:
Developing or upgrading health information resources or services to meet the information needs of groups that experience health disparities.
Providing health information resources or services to community organizations who serve populations that experience health disparities.
Developing novel information strategies to facilitate the implementation of innovative patient-centered care and precision medicine for diverse communities.
Developing information resources that enable persons from populations that experience health disparities to make informed decisions regarding research participation, such as providing culturally tailored clinical trial education materials.
Facilitating the use of library resources to identify population needs related to types and forms of information, including information visualizations, displays and interfaces to access information, to assist in making health-related decisions.
Applications Not Responsive to the NOFO
The following types of projects are non-responsive to the scope of NLM's Information Resource Grants to Reduce Health Disparities and Promote Health Equity program:

Projects that do not address a population that experiences health disparities.
Projects that do not include a medical or health library.
Evaluations that meet the NIH definition of a clinical trial.
Installation of online library catalogs.
Electronic health record systems, single-purpose or closed clinical information systems such as a stand-alone laboratory system or picture archiving system (PACS).
Digitization of print materials.
Projects that duplicate NLM products and databases such as biomedical literature indexing projects.
Non-responsive applications will not be reviewed.

Consult with the scientific contact to discuss responsiveness of your project.

See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.

What does this program do?
This program provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area, and does not include private, commercial or business undertakings.

Who may apply for this program?
Eligible borrowers include:

Public bodies
Community-based non-profit corporations
Federally-recognized Tribes
What is an eligible area?
Rural areas including cities, villages, townships and towns including Federally Recognized Tribal Lands with no more than 20,000 residents according to the latest U.S. Census Data are eligible for this program.

How may funds be used?
Funds can be used to purchase, construct, and / or improve essential community facilities, purchase equipment and pay related project expenses.

Examples of essential community facilities include:

Health care facilities such as hospitals, medical clinics, dental clinics, nursing homes or assisted living facilities
Public facilities such as town halls, courthouses, airport hangars or street improvements
Community support services such as child care centers, community centers, fairgrounds or transitional housing
Public safety services such as fire departments, police stations, prisons, police vehicles, fire trucks, public works vehicles or equipment
Educational services such as museums, libraries or private schools
Utility services such as telemedicine or distance learning equipment
Local food systems such as community gardens, food pantries, community kitchens, food banks, food hubs or greenhouses
For a complete list see Code of Federal Regulations 7 CFR, Part 1942.17(d) for loans; 7 CFR, Part 3570.62 for grants.

What kinds of funding are available?

Low interest direct loans
Grants
A combination of the two above, as well as our loan guarantee program. These may be combined with commercial financing to finance one project if all eligibility and feasibility requirements are met.
What are the funding priorities?

Priority point system based on population, median household income
Small communities with a population of 5,500 or less
Low-income communities having a median household income below 80% of the state nonmetropolitan median household income.
What are the terms?

Funding is provided through a competitive process.

Direct Loan:

Loan repayment terms may not be longer than the useful life of the facility, state statutes, the applicants authority, or a maximum of 40 years, whichever is less
Interest rates are set by Rural Development, contact us for details and current rates
Once the loan is approved, the interest rate is fixed for the entire term of the loan, and is determined by the median household income of the service area and population of the community
There are no pre-payment penalties
Contact us for details and current interest rates applicable for your project
Grant Approval:

Applicant must be eligible for grant assistance, which is provided on a graduated scale with smaller communities with the lowest median household income being eligible for projects with a higher proportion of grant funds. Grant assistance is limited to the following percentages of eligible project costs:Maximum of 75 percent when the proposed project is:
Located in a rural community having a population of 5,000 or fewer; and
The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 60 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.
Maximum of 55 percent when the proposed project is:
Located in a rural community having a population of 12,000 or fewer; and
The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 70 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.
Maximum of 35 percent when the proposed project is:
Located in a rural community having a population of 20,000 or fewer; and
The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 80 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.
Maximum of 15 percent when the proposed project is:
Located in a rural community having a population of 20,000 or fewer; and
The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 90 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income. The proposed project must meet both percentage criteria. Grants are further limited.
Grant funds must be available
Are there additional requirements?

Applicants must have legal authority to borrow money, obtain security, repay loans, construct, operate, and maintain the proposed facilities
Applicants must be unable to finance the project from their own resources and/or through commercial credit at reasonable rates and terms
Facilities must serve rural area where they are/will be located
Project must demonstrate substantial community support
Environmental review must be completed/acceptable
How do we get started?

Contact your local office to discuss your specific project
Applications for this program are accepted year round
Program resources are available online (includes forms needed, guidance, certifications)
Request a Unique Entity ID number if your organization doesn’t already have one. It should not take more than a few business days to get your number.
Register your organization with the System for Award Management (SAM) if you aren’t already registered. The registration is free, but you need to complete several steps.