California Story Fund
Program Overview and Project Requirements
Deadline: July 1, 2008 at noon
Please note: The guidelines and online application for the July 2008 round of funding for the California Story Fund are now available. The application deadline is July 1, 2008.
Program overview
The California Story Fund is an on-going grant program of the California Council for the Humanities. The Council will award competitive grants of up to $10,000 twice a year for public humanities programs that bring to light compelling stories from California's diverse communities and provide opportunities for collective reflection and public discussion. We hope that the California Story Fund will encourage Californians from many communities to share their stories, thus promoting greater understanding and appreciation of the richness and complexity of our state. Please join us in this effort to enlarge the California story.
Note: The Council is especially interested in projects that will engage California youth in interpreting and reflecting on their experience through humanities-based programming. Organizations serving youth are strongly encouraged to apply. Youth-oriented projects, like all projects for which CSF funding is requested, must conform to the current guidelines to be competitive.
Descriptions of previously funded CSF projects can be viewed at www.calhum.org/programs/story_intro.htm.
What are the project requirements?
CCH invites projects that fit all of the following criteria:
- Address the mission of the California Council for the Humanities: “To foster understanding between people and encourage their engagement in community life through the public use of the humanities.”
- Use grant funds to identify or collect stories from community members, present and communicate the stories to the general public, and foster public discussion of the meaning and significance of the stories.
- One or more of the following formats may be used to present and communicate these stories: photography and interpretive exhibit, radio documentary, digital media, dramatic presentation, interpretive artwork, poetry readings, storytelling events, film festivals, and community conferences. Other formats may be eligible: Check with a CCH program manager.
- Host a face-to-face community discussion that engages people in discussion of the stories and their relevance to the community as part of your program.
- Involve at least one humanities expert (in addition to the project director) in the design and implementation of the project (see FAQ).
- Produce photos, transcripts of stories, or audio and video recordings that can be archived and made available to the general public. (2 copies in CD/DVD format must be submitted to CCH upon completion of the project.)
- Have a total budget of no more than $50,000, including CCH funds.
- Project activities funded by CCH must not start before October 1, 2008, for proposals submitted for the July 1, 2008 deadline. All project activities must be completed by September 30, 2010.
- Culminating events should be free and open to participation by the general public (see FAQ).
- Include plans for assessing project outcomes.
- Note: Organizations or project directors with open CCH Story Fund grants are NOT eligible to apply. Please see FAQ for details.
FUNDS MAY NOT BE USED FOR:
- Projects that advocate on behalf of a cause.
- Projects that are promotional pieces.
- Magazine or book publications.
- Film/video and radio projects that will require more than $50,000 to produce.
- Film/video projects exceeding 30 minutes in length.