Embassy of the United States

The Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) 2010

Excavation at Tham Lod Rockshelter, Mae Hong Son

Call for Proposals

The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State are pleased to announce the 2010 call for proposals for the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation.

The Fund was established to help countries preserve their cultural heritage and to demonstrate U.S. respect for other cultures.  Since its inception in 2001, the Fund has helped preserve cultural sites, practices, and objects that are historically or culturally significant in Thailand and around the world.  The deadline for submitting proposals is December 10, 2009. 

Proposals may be submitted in support of the following three types of projects:
 
A. CULTURAL SITES includes (but is not limited to) historic buildings and sites, sacred places, monuments, and archaeological sites.  Examples are restoration of a historic building, an archaeological survey as part of a preservation plan, preservation management planning for a site, or documentation of sites in a region for preservation purposes.

B. CULTURAL OBJECTS AND COLLECTIONS from a museum, site or similar institution and includes archaeological and ethnographic objects, paintings, sculpture, manuscripts, photographic and film collections, and general museum conservation activities.  Examples are conservation treatment for an object or collection of objects; needs assessment of a collection’s condition and strategies for improving it; inventory of a collection for conservation purposes; the creation of safe environments for storage or displays; or specialized training in preservation of collections.

C. FORMS OF TRADITIONAL CULTURAL EXPRESSION includes traditional music, rituals, knowledge, languages, dance, drama, and crafts.  Examples may involve documenting and audiovisual recording of traditional music and dance forms as part of a traditional expression and making the information and recordings available, 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 expressions as they are understood by stakeholders.  Stake holders may include national, regional, or local cultural authorities, the local community, and others with vested interests in the site and the outcome of a project.  Note that only Thai non-governmental organizations, museums, or similar institutions are eligible to apply for the Fund.

The Fund can NOT be used to support the following:

1. preservation or purchase of privately or commercially owned cultural objects, collections, or real property, including those whose transfer from private or commercial to public ownership is envisioned, planned, or in process but not complete at the time of proposal submission;
2. preservation of natural heritage (physical, biological, and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants, fossils, etc.);
3. Preservation of hominid or human remains;
4. Preservation of news media (newspaper, newsreels, etc.);
5. Preservation of published materials available elsewhere (books, periodicals, etc.);
6. Archaeological excavations or surveys for research purposes;
7. Historical research, except in cases where historical research is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project;
8. Acquisition or creation of new collections for new or existing museums;
9. Construction of new buildings;
10. Commissions of new works of art or architecture for commemorative or economic development purposes;
11. Creation of replicas or re-creation of cultural objects or sites that no longer exist;
12. Relocation of cultural sites from one physical location to another;
13. Removal of cultural objects or elements of cultural sites from the country for any reason;
14. Digitalization of cultural objects or collections, unless part of a larger clearly defined conservation effort;
15. Conservation plans or other studies, unless they are one component of a larger project to implement the results of those studies;
16. Cash reserves, endowments or revolving funds; funds must be expended within the grant period and may not be used to create an endowment or revolving fund or otherwise spent over many years;
17. Costs of fund-raising campaigns;
18. Operating expenses, i.e. expenses incurred during the day-to-day operational activities of an organization, such as office rent, utilities, license fees, and other costs for administrative time, services, or materials not directly related to performing project work;
19. Contingency, unforeseen, or miscellaneous fees;
20. Costs of work performed prior to announcement of the award;
21. International travel, except in cases where travel is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project, which will be considered on a case-by-case basis;
22. Individual project costing less than US$10,000; or
23. Awards to individuals or commercial entitles.

Suggested guidelines for proposal preparation and information to be provided are below.  Each project proposal must be in English and should be emailed to bangkokpd@state.gov.

SUGGESTED INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN PROPOSALS [Please note that all information must be submitted in English].

• Project Title
• Recipient Information (name of organization, address, phone, fax, e-mail, website)
• Project Purpose & Summary
• Detailed Project Description
• Time frame (sequence and duration of activities; or attach a timeframe sheet in separate attachment)
• Statement of Significance of the Resource
• Statement of Urgency
• Rationale for U.S. support
• Detailed Project Budget in US$, calculate by US$1 = 33 Baht (no less than $10,000) to include: 
  • Personnel
  • Fringe Benefits
  • Travel & Per Diem
  • Equipment
  • Supplies
  • Contractual
  • Construction
  • Other Direct Costs
  • Cost Sharing/Other Funding Sources (if any)  
• Resumes of the Project Director and Professional Staff (please attach
• Official Permission such as from a National or Local Authority to Undertake the Project (please attach)
• At least three Digital Images in JPEG format or audio-visual files of the site, object, or form of expression to be addressed in the proposed project (please attach)
• Other organizations you applied to with the same project and status of your application