Advocacy Alert - April 3, 2025

Grant Termination

As noted in previous alerts, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has had its staff put on administrative leave with a lack of clarity on the status of already committed grants. In the last few days, news came out that the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) will likely be targeted by the end of this week to cut its staff by 70-80%. We have learned of grant terminations by both NEH and IMLS being sent out to some grantees.  

If your grant has been terminated:

• Contact your members of Congress immediately. They need to be aware of the direct impacts. They will not know if you do not tell them.  Call AND write to ensure the message gets received. AAM has set up a template you can use. You will need to add into the template as much information as possible about the grant and the impacts of losing it. During Museums Advocacy Day, we heard from many Congressional offices that they wanted to be notified if any grants were delayed or terminated for museums in their districts.
• If you have connections to Congressional staff, please contact them directly.
• Review the National Council of Nonprofits checklist "What to do when your federal grant or contract is terminated"
• Please also let AAM know if your grant has been terminated.
• If you are responding to the termination letters, please do so through the eGMS system, or official grants reporting system.
• If you are a Federally recognized tribe whose grant has been terminated, you should also contact the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Share your story with local media
  
  

Continue to Put Pressure on Congress

If you don't have a grant that was terminated, please continue to engage your members of Congress and your state legislators.

• Share influential stories on your social media channels on how your museum impacts the community
• Visit Your Legislators Locally: Members of Congress will be in their home districts for two weeks in April 13-27, periodically home for extended weekends, and for all of August. Take the opportunity to invite your members of Congress to your museum, schedule a meeting with them in their district offices, or attend public forums that your members of Congress might be hosting.
• Share your story with local media.
• Write AND call your members of Congress about the impacts of gutting these agencies (note, AAM has updated this template to include NEH and IMLS)
• Write AND call your state-level elected officials and ask them to join in speaking up to members of Congress.
• Encourage your museum's Board, supporters, and members to write and call their members of Congress.

AAM continues to work with Congressional champions to identify viable options to help support the museum community.  Continue to check this webpage for further updates.

Your steadfast advocacy efforts make a big difference in building needed support for museums and museum professionals.

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