CWRT Congress: Free Money!

Emerging Civil War welcomes Jared Peatman

Free money for Civil War Round Tables with good ideas, that is.

As a part of its mission to assist Civil War Round Tables with resources and ideas that promote the long-term sustainability of those groups, the Civil War Round Table Congress has launched a series of grant opportunities for Round Tables that are interested in undertaking new initiatives. The grants are in the amount of $250, and there are up to two each available in the following categories:

• Non-Profit Initiative: To assist Round Tables in obtaining non-profit status.
• Marketing Initiative: To develop enhanced marking skills and practices.
• History Research Initiative: To assist Civil War Round Tables to become a recognized community history research organization.
• Sister CWRT Initiative: To develop a partnership with another Round Table.
• Fundraising Initiative: To improve a Round Table’s fundraising capabilities.

Much of the Civil War Round Table Congress’ focus is on encouraging Round Tables to try new activities that may bring additional community exposure, attract new members, bolster the organization’s financial stability, or otherwise take a positive step toward ensuring the organization’s long-term stability and success. It is our hope that these grants will encourage such activities. The initiatives must be well thought-out, but the grant proposal is not onerous. Besides some basic information, applicants must include a statement of need (limit of 200 words), a project description (limit of 600 words), and explain how they will measure their project (limit of 200 words). Critically, the grants are only for new projects, not for ongoing or past projects.

We would encourage Round Tables to view these grants not only as an opportunity to obtain some funding – and a feather-in-the-cap as a grantee – but also as a way to open dialogue amongst the board and general membership about both their long-term vision for the Round Table as well as what exciting new activities they could inaugurate. This is your opportunity to experiment on someone else’s dime!

Does your website desperately need a professional refresh or at least access to better website software? Apply for the marketing initiative. Are you interested in running a community event to show people how to research their Civil War ancestor, and need funds to print quality materials? Apply for the History Research Initiative. Have you thought about holding a joint meeting with a sister Round Table or another history organization but need to cover the cost of meeting space, refreshments, or a speaker? Apply for the Sister CWRT Initiative. The possibilities are almost limitless.

The Congress’ hope is that these grants will not only encourage the applicants to try new activities, but that the ensuing descriptions of projects being undertaken at various Round Tables will serve as food for thought for others and that soon we will see dozens of great ideas that can be spread across the community.

The grants and the new initiative they are meant to fund are also an opportunity to get new people involved in the Round Table’s leadership by asking non-board members to take the lead on the particular project and the proposal – if appropriate. We know that succession planning and building a pipeline of future officers is a huge concern for many Round Tables, and this offers a chance to advance those efforts also.

If you are interested in applying for any one of the five grants you can find more information here: https://www.cwrtcongress.org/Grants.php This round of grants is due by November 15, so please send in those applications as soon as possible. You can apply for more than one grant but ultimately can only be selected for a single award.

We can’t wait to see what you all have come up with!

Jared Peatman, Ph.D., has recently completed a book on the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment that he began as a pre-teen. In his day job Jared is the founder of Four Score Consulting, a small company that provides history-themed leadership development events. He is a CWRT Congress board director.