Re-Grant Guidelines & Application

2024 Re-Grant Cycle is Closed

Program will open for 2025 funding in August of 2024 

If you would like to be added to the Culture and Heritage mailing list for grant notifications, please email the office at: culture@co.cape-may.nj.us 


You must have an approved Letter of Intent before you can apply.

Application & Guidelines

The Guidelines and Application for the Cape May County Arts and History Re-Grant Program are available in a single fillable document. Before completing the application, you must have an approved Letter of Intent. Letters of Intent are available Here, or on the tab to the left of this page.

An applicant may apply for grant funding from the Arts and/or History under three categories. Those categories are: General Operating Support, Special Project or General Programming Support. A more detailed description of these categories is available in the guidelines section of the application.

The applying organization must be located within Cape May County to receive General Operating Support. Projects and Programs must take place within Cape May County to be eligible for funding.

Paper applications will only be accepted with special permissions. This is a PDF fillable form. For the form to work appropriately please Download the document and save it to your computer. Applications must be typed and submitted electronically to elizabeth.bakley@co.cape-may.nj.us

The deadline to submit an application for 2024 funding is midnight, Friday, October 13, 2023.

2024 Art & History Re-Grant Guidelines & Application: Click Here

Questions regarding the Guidelines or Application may be addressed with the department (609) 465-1066  


Workshops

At the beginning of each grant cycle, a Grant Writing Workshop is held to provide applicant organizations the opportunity to meet with Division staff, review the requirements for the proposal, and ask questions and explore ideas for qualifying projects. All organizations planning to submit a proposal are encouraged to send a representative to the meeting, preferably the person responsible for organizing the proposal and writing the narrative. 

Two virtual workshops will be available on: 

Wednesday, September 13, 2023; 9:00 am-10:00 pm

 Thursday, September 14, 2023; 1:00 pm-2:00 pm

We will cover the same material at both workshops. Links to be provided.

Eligible & Ineligible Expenses

All grant funded projects, programs and general operation support will be reviewed on an individual basis to determine eligibility. Below is an overview of what funding may and may not be used for. Please speak with the Division if you have any questions.

The following expenses are eligible for General Operating Support:

  • Salaries and wages
  • Contracted services/outside fees and services
  • Printing, publicity, marketing
  • Postage and telephone
  • Fundraising and development
  • Staff training/capacity building
  • Lease expenses
  • Mortgage interest
  • Equipment purchase, installation, and lease (e.g., computers, office furnishings, files)
  • Utilities and HVAC (purchase, installation, and operational costs of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning)
  • Maintenance of collections and the interiors of structures (i.e., most routine maintenance)                                               (Note: Interior construction and other cyclic maintenance is not an eligible expense.)
    • Definitions of Routine vs. Cyclic maintenance can be found here: 
      • Cyclic Maintenance (not eligible)- maintenance performed less frequently than annually and involves replacement or major mending of historic property. Example: re-roofing of a building.
      • Routine Maintenance (eligible)- means minor repairs such as in-kind replacement of a broken windowpane or in-kind patching of a few roof singles.
  • Basic grounds maintenance
  • Travel and transportation (automobile travel @$.31/mile, train, or air coach travel)
  • Insurance
  • Licensing and registration fees (e.g., New Jersey charities registration)
  • Planning for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act
  • Long-term and strategic planning

Grant funding may not be expended on any of the following General Operating Support: :

  • Capital improvements, including the construction of structures and work such as roofing, replacement of gutters, windows, doors, and the removal or addition of interior walls, and major landscaping projects.
  • Exterior maintenance
  • Purchase of real estate, motor vehicles, or leasehold improvements
  • Acquisitions (including artifacts and collections)
  • Hospitality
  • Deficits and debt service
  • Retroactive funding
  • Endowment
  • Mortgage or loan principal

The following expenses are eligible for Projects and Programs:

  • Archival folders, boxes, and other materials for conservation of historical materials such as manuscripts, books, costumes, and photographs
  • Archival or research library user fees
  • Equipment purchases with the following restrictions: only institutions and organizations may use grant funds to purchase major items, such as computers or video cameras. All grant recipients, however, may use grant funds to purchase items such as inexpensive recording devices and computer software.
  • Equipment rental
  • Materials for fabricating and installing exhibitions
  • Microfilming
  • Oral history tape transcription
  • Payment of exhibition loan fees and shipping costs
  • Photography and photocopying
  • Production of promotional or advertising materials
  • Travel and maintenance for speakers and honoraria for speakers in the following amounts:
    • Keynote speaker, up to $1,000; one keynote speaker per program. Main speaker, up to $500, Chairperson or moderator, up to $250, Panelist, up to $175, Additional funds for higher honoraria may be requested if you can demonstrate the speaker’s particular merits
  • Supplies to be used in the project (such as storage materials, office supplies, display materials, and materials for educational projects)
  • Travel and/or maintenance while conducting research
  • Travel expenses with the following limits: a. Automobile travel: $.35 per mile b. Train or airplane fares (coach only; not first class) c. Food and accommodations: up to $100 per day
  • Publication costs, such as typesetting, printing, copyright permission fees, and binding
  • Wages or stipends for project personnel, such as conservators, curators, educational consultants, and researchers

The following expenses are not eligible for Projects and Programs:

  • Projects that do not relate to New Jersey history
  • Project work that is completed before the grant is awarded
  • Conservation of collections of unidentified photographs
  • Conservation of materials owned by federal, county, or municipal governments
  • Construction, restoration, preservation of gravestones, commemorative statues, historical markers, and other non-interpretive items
  • Genealogical projects such as genealogies of specific families (unless applicants can demonstrate the usefulness of the projects to the understanding of New Jersey history)
  • Fiction and poetry
  • Projects of federal or state government agencies
  • Projects that are not accessible to the general public
  • Publication of coloring books, cookbooks, and calendars
  • Purchase of collections, furniture, costumes, artifacts, or other items for collections
  • Restoration or preservation of structures
  • Recordings of public programs or oral history interviews without the production of transcripts that are accessible to the public
  • Projects that do not comply with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act
  • Field trips, if that is the only component of the project
  • Purchase of books or prepackaged instructional materials
  • Purchase of items for collections
  • Purchase of refreshments for the project’s audience
  • Retroactive funding (for example, an exhibition proposal may not include a request for funding for exhibition research completed before the submission of the application)