The Virginia Genealogical Society has a deep interest in providing access to Virginia related material which would assist genealogical and historical researchers. This special grant program is designed to assist an institution which maintains an archival collection of material of value to researchers of Virginia genealogical and historical information, by supporting a project to make its archival material more available to researchers.

The special program grant will generally be made only to one recipient per year, and need not be made every year. The amount of a grant will generally be in the $1000-$5000 range, though may exceed this, if funds allow, for appropriate projects. The total amount of the grant my be used to hire a consultant, or staff, etc. to assist in organizing, arranging, and cataloging manuscripts, photographs, ephemera, and published materials to make the collection more accessible by researchers through cataloging, creating finding aids, internet posting or publication, etc.

The grant is not intended for equipment, supplies, storage facilities, publicity or the care of artifacts.

Historical and genealogical significance of an archival collection, and present and projected levels of access, will be an important consideration in the awarding of this grant.

There is no requirement of matching funds (though this may be considered in making any award, as will volunteer hours committed to the project).

To be eligible, the organization must be a member of the Virginia Genealogical Society.

An organization may apply in consecutive years, although we would take into consideration the number of times it has received grants when making the recommendations for awards.

An interim report will be required 3 months after the grant is awarded. A final report will be required at the end of 11 months of the grant and an article of at least 500 words for publication in the VGS Newsletter regarding use of the funds in development of the project.

Grant Committee:

Peter E. Broadbent, Jr., Chair
Rebecca Ebert

Applications should be received by VGS by February 1st, in duplicate. Grant awards will be anounced at the VGS annual meeting in the spring. Download the application in Word format.

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