The Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grants: Capital Projects program strengthens the institutional base of the humanities by helping organizations secure and sustain their core buildings, sites, collections, and/or humanities activities for the long term. The program supports capital projects through a combination of federal matching funds and related fundraising from nonfederal third parties. Proposed projects must enhance the institution’s long-term impact on the humanities and build on careful strategic planning.
Awards support the purchase of real property or equipment and the design, construction, restoration, or renovation of buildings or sites of historical, architectural, or cultural significance and other facilities that house humanities collections or are used for humanities activities. Activities may include:
- hiring consultants who specialize in fundraising, historic preservation, and project planning
- planning and conceptual design
- developing schematics and construction drawings
- construction
- purchasing and installing related permanently affixed or moveable equipment for monitoring and protecting collections (whether on exhibit or in storage)
- purchasing and installing critical building systems, such as electrical, climate control, security, life safety, lighting, utilities, telecommunications, and energy management
- developing historic preservation plans
- site and infrastructure assessments
Deliverables may include:
- documents determining the feasibility of the planned capital project
- completed design and construction drawings
- completed construction
- completed installation of critical building systems
Match ratios for applicants meeting general eligibility requirements
Eligible applicants (other than federally recognized Native American tribal governments, Native Hawaiian organizations, HBCUs, TCUs, HSIs, and two-year community colleges) must meet the following match ratios:
- Requests for Level 1 grants up to $150,000 must be matched at $1 in third-party non-federal gifts for every $1 in federal funds (1:1).
- Requests for Level 2 grants from $150,001 to $500,000 must be matched at $3 in third-party non-federal gifts for every $1 in federal funds (3:1).
- Requests for Level 3 grants from $500,001 to $1,000,000 must be matched at $4 in third-party non-federal gifts for every $1 in federal funds (4:1).
Please submit your notification using the Submit Notification button to the right no later than 4:00 p.m. on the internal submission deadline
Questions concerning the limited submissions process may be submitted to limitedsubs@psu.edu.