Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area | P17AS00780

Opportunity Information: Apply for P17AS00780

The Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number P17AS00780) is a discretionary federal assistance award from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service (NPS). It is structured as a cooperative agreement, which generally means the NPS expects to have substantial involvement in the project as it is carried out, rather than simply issuing a grant and stepping back. The activity category is listed under Education, and the program is associated with CFDA number 15.939. The notice was created on September 5, 2017, and it is presented as a Notice of Intent to Award rather than an open solicitation.

This announcement is not a request for applications and does not involve full and open competition. Instead, it serves as public notice that the NPS intends to fund a specific federal financial assistance project without soliciting proposals broadly. The expected number of awards is one, with an award ceiling of $300,000. Because it is not competitive and not open for applications, the key takeaway for most readers is that this notice is primarily informational, documenting the agency's intent to provide funding for a defined scope of work under the heritage area program.

Eligibility is limited to nonprofits that have 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, excluding institutions of higher education. In practical terms, this means a qualifying nonprofit organization (not a college or university) is the intended recipient or type of recipient for the cooperative agreement. The opportunity focuses on implementing the Management Plan for the Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area, which typically serves as the guiding document for preserving, interpreting, and promoting the region's natural, cultural, and historical resources while supporting community-driven heritage tourism and education.

The funded work is framed around implementing the Management Plan across several core operational and programmatic areas. First is Administration and Operations, which covers the day-to-day management needed to run the heritage area partnership effectively. This can include governance support, coordination among local partners, financial management, compliance activities, and other operational functions that allow the broader heritage area mission to be carried out consistently and transparently.

Second is Marketing and Visitor Services, which emphasizes improving public awareness and visitor engagement. This area usually includes branding and outreach, creation and distribution of visitor information, coordination with tourism partners, and efforts to make heritage resources easier to discover and experience. The goal is generally to strengthen heritage tourism while ensuring visitors have clear, accurate, and meaningful ways to connect with the area's stories and sites.

Third is Planning, which relates to the ongoing work of setting priorities, aligning partner activities, and refining strategies for implementation of the Management Plan. Planning can also include developing project pipelines, coordinating regional initiatives, and ensuring that activities remain consistent with the heritage area's goals and the expectations of the NPS partnership model.

Fourth is Resource Inventory, Development, Interpretation, and Grants and Sub-grants. Resource inventory typically involves identifying and documenting the region's important cultural, historical, and natural assets, sometimes including mapping, archival work, or thematic studies. Development and interpretation generally refer to creating or improving ways to tell the heritage area's stories, such as interpretive signage, educational materials, exhibits, programs, digital content, and partner trainings that improve interpretive quality and consistency. The grants and sub-grants component indicates that part of the work may involve administering a local pass-through or mini-grants program, where the recipient supports partner organizations and community projects that advance the Management Plan through smaller targeted awards.

In short, this opportunity is a single anticipated cooperative agreement of up to $300,000 intended to support a qualified nonprofit in carrying out the Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area Management Plan. The work spans core operational capacity, visitor-facing marketing and services, coordinated planning efforts, and on-the-ground heritage resource documentation and interpretation, including the potential administration of sub-grants to partner projects.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.939.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 05, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by This Notice of Intent to Award is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Services intention to fund the following federal financial assistance project without full and open competition.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for P17AS00780

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