Union County History Grant

The Union County History Grant Program is offered by the Union County Board of County Commissioners and administered by the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, Department of Parks and Recreation. Funding for the program is provided by the New Jersey Historical Commission. The guidelines cover the calendar year from January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2027 and describe two forms of History Grant support: General Operating Support and Special Projects. The program supports Union County and local history activities and reflects New Jersey Historical Commission priorities that include strengthening history organizations and programs, initiating new New Jersey history programming, improving the management and interpretation of historic sites and collections, expanding public understanding of historical resources, increasing participation, improving accessibility for diverse communities, exploring understudied and multicultural aspects of New Jersey history, increasing information available about New Jersey history, and preserving materials for its study and preservation. General Operating Support is intended for Union County based nonprofit history organizations and may support virtually all operating aspects of an organization providing New Jersey history services. The maximum General Operating Support request is 7500 dollars, and a request cannot exceed one third, or 33 percent, of the organization's budget. Eligible expenses include salaries and wages, contracted services, printing and marketing, postage and telephone, fundraising and development, staff training, lease expenses, mortgage interest, equipment, utilities and HVAC, maintenance of collections and structure interiors, basic grounds maintenance, travel and transportation, insurance, licensing and registration fees, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance planning, long term and strategic planning, and audits. Ineligible expenses include capital improvements, exterior maintenance, real estate and motor vehicle purchases, leasehold improvements, acquisitions, weapons and ammunition, hospitality, deficits, debt service, retroactive funding, endowment, mortgage or loan principal, and scholarships or prizes. Special Projects support projects of Union County based nonprofit history organizations and eligible units of local government, including libraries and schools, as well as qualifying Union County based nonhistory nonprofit organizations. The maximum Special Project request is 5000 dollars. Covered expenses include microfilming, research travel and maintenance, archival or research library user fees, oral history transcription, project personnel wages or stipends, speaker costs, project supplies, exhibition materials and loan costs, conservation materials, typesetting and printing, photography and photocopying, promotional materials, equipment rental, certain equipment purchases, and travel. Automobile travel is limited to 0.655 dollars per mile. Speaker honoraria are limited to 900 dollars for one keynote speaker per program, 650 dollars for a main speaker, 300 dollars for a chairperson or moderator, and 200 dollars for a panelist. Equipment rentals exceeding 1000 dollars require contacting the Office. Eligible nonprofit history organizations must be based in Union County, have collections or programming related to Union County or local history, be incorporated in New Jersey, qualify or be pending qualification under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4), have existed for at least two years, and demonstrate an ability to provide history programs or services to the public. Units of government, including schools and libraries, must provide Union County or local history programs, services, or activities and describe the portion of their work related to the proposed history program or project. For Special Projects, Union County based nonhistory nonprofit organizations may also qualify if incorporated in New Jersey, in existence for at least two years, and recognized or pending recognition under section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4); they must describe activities related to the proposed history project and include the specified IRS determination documentation when applicable. Grant recipients must comply with applicable state and federal laws and remain in good standing with required state and federal filings. Applicants must demonstrate that grant funding will expand, enhance, or introduce Union County or local history programs or services, rather than replace the applicant's own expenditures. Special Projects cannot fund projects unrelated to New Jersey history, work completed before application submission, restoration or preservation of structures, specified collection purchases, certain commemorative items, inaccessible projects, performances, fiction, poetry, specified publications, most family genealogy projects, or recordings of public programs or oral histories without publicly accessible transcripts. Federal and state government agencies are generally ineligible for Special Projects, although the stated restriction does not include state colleges or universities. Other exclusions apply to certain applicants with active New Jersey Historical Commission projects, organizations that have failed to submit required final reports, and organizations that do not maintain equal access and nondiscrimination policies. Funded activities must use the required credit statement identifying support from the New Jersey Historical Commission and administration by the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs on publicity materials. Grant recipients are also expected to attend at least one technical assistance workshop presented by the Office during the grant year. An organization may apply for only one of the three Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs grants in a calendar year: the Local Arts Grant, HEART Grant, or History Grant. The same one grant per calendar year limitation applies to municipalities. The supplied guidelines do not state an application opening date, application deadline, preapplication deadline, evaluation criteria, award notification date, total program funding, number of awards, or a required applicant matching contribution. The stated grant period is January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2027. The supplied guidelines do not provide submission portal instructions or enough information to establish the application submission mechanics beyond requirements appearing in the guidelines. Questions about the application should be directed to John Prescott at jprescott@ucnj.org. No telephone number is provided. The guidelines identify a 2027 calendar year program and refer to grant choices on a per calendar year basis, but they do not explicitly establish a recurring deadline or provide a future application cycle date from which a recurrence schedule can be calculated.

Demonstrate that grant funds will expand, enhance, or introduce Union County or local history programs or services rather than replace existing expenditures. For General Operating Support, keep the request at or below 7500 dollars and no more than one third or 33 percent of the organization's budget. For Special Projects, keep the request at or below 5000 dollars, ensure the project relates to New Jersey history, confirm that project work is not completed before application submission, make the project accessible to the general public, and follow the stated eligible expense restrictions.