(a) Grant program goals. The Division of Arkansas Heritage has set these goals for Arkansas Heritage Grants:

1. (1) Promote awareness and enjoyment of Arkansas’s heritage;
2. (2) Increase community-based and nonprofit groups’ abilities to create Arkansas heritage-related programs;
3. (3) Make heritage-related programs possible where they would otherwise not occur;
4. (4) Foster cooperative efforts among organizations, businesses, and government to increase the size or scope of events; and
5. (5) Create ongoing components to heritage-related celebrations, such as a curriculum or teaching tool, exhibits, displays, a lively event or festival that can recur, a photographic essay, a roadside exhibit, etc.

(b) Application basics.

1. (1) An Arkansas Heritage Grant proposal should show familiarity with:

   1. (A) The mission of the division, which is to identify Arkansas heritage and enhance the quality of life by the discovery, preservation, and presentation of the state’s cultural, historic, and natural resources;
   2. (B) Grant guidelines; and
   3. (C) The goals of the Arkansas Heritage Grant program.
2. (2) The grants will be evaluated against the goals of the Arkansas Heritage Grant program criteria.

3. (3) Requests for funding will include completing the following sections of the online application:

   1. (A) Project overview;
   2. (B) Project description and justification;
   3. (C) Line item budget/budget explanation; and
   4. (D) Agreement and authorization.
4. (4) Answers may be brief.
5. (5) Please use the space provided as directed in the application process.
6. (6) If you have questions about preparing an Arkansas Heritage Grant application, contact the division’s grants manager at (501) 324-9158 or via the division’s website.

(c) Evaluation criteria.

1. (1) Arkansas Heritage Grants come from a limited funding source, so not every applicant can be funded.

2. (2) Since that is the case, certain criteria have been established for making Arkansas Heritage Grants to include:

   1. (A) The organization’s relationship to your local community;
   2. (B) The degree to which the proposed project meets the grant program goals as set forth in these guidelines and the notice of funding opportunity;
   3. (C) The local or statewide impact of the project;
   4. (D) Whether the program results in an ongoing or lasting component;
   5. (E) The degree to which the project shows collaboration and cooperation among community organizations;
   6. (F) The degree to which the project will foster heritage tourism development; and
   7. (G) The organization’s mission and sources of income.

3. (3) Arkansas Heritage Grants will not:

   1. (A) Exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000);
   2. (B) Fund academic research unless the research results in an ongoing component that can be shared by the community;
   3. (C) Be made to for-profit organizations or events, or directly to agencies of local, county, federal, or state government (though collaborative efforts, i.e., friends groups, involving state government agencies are acceptable);
   4. (D) Fund infrastructure (bricks and mortar) construction, staff salaries (although contracted personnel may be paid with grant funds), or travel by paid staff members (although travel for contracted personnel is allowed); or
   5. (E) Fund ongoing operating costs of the organization.

(d) Decision process.

1. (1) The Arkansas Heritage Grant is designed to assist communities in planning and implementing meaningful Arkansas heritage programs and events at the local level.

2. (2)

   1. (A) Grant proposals will be reviewed by a panel of at least five (5) division staff members designated by the Director of the Division of Arkansas Heritage.
   2. (B) This panel will make funding recommendations.
   3. (C) Successful applicants will be notified within sixty (60) days of the application deadline.
3. (3) Anyone with questions about the application criteria or decision-making process should call the division’s grants manager.
4. (4) See the division’s website for contact information or call (501) 324-9150.

(e) Application instructions.

1. (1)

   1. (A) A notice of funding opportunity will be posted sixty (60) days prior to the application deadline.
   2. (B) Grant opportunities are subject to available funding.
2. (2) Only one (1) Arkansas Heritage Grant will be made to any one (1) organization during a given grant year.
3. (3) Grant recipients will be required to participate in an orientation program prior to receipt of award as specified by the division.
4. (4) Information about the online application will be located on the division’s website.