Museums for America

All applicants must be either:
- a unit of State, local, or tribal government or
- a private nonprofit organization that has tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code

To be eligible for funding as a “museum,” an organization must also:
- Use a professional staff
- An institution uses a professional staff if it employs at least one staff member, or the full-time equivalent, paid or unpaid, primarily engaged in the acquisition, care, or exhibition to the public of objects owned or used by the institution
- Be organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational or aesthetic purposes
- Own or use tangible objects, either animate or inanimate
- Care for these objects
- Exhibit these objects to the general public on a regular basis, at least 120 days a year
- Conduct these activities in facilities that it owns or operates

Depending on the grant program, other organizations that may be eligible for funding include:
- colleges and universities
- organizations that serve museums
- federally recognized Native American tribes
- organizations that serve Native Hawaiians