[Heritage] Oregon Heritage News 2020-04-24

Fri Apr 24 13:16:32 PDT 2020

Oregon Heritage News 2020-04-24

In this issue:

  *   Special message from Oregon Heritage: Focus on your value!
  *   Oregon Humanities opens application for COVID-19 Emergency Funds

*********************************
Special message from Oregon Heritage: Focus on your value!

Today, we would have been headed home for the Oregon Heritage Conference: Harness the Power of Heritage. We would have met amazing people, been inspired by keynote speakers and excellence award winners, learned best practices, collected tips and maybe a bit of swag, and had a stack of notes. Typically, we leave a conference with all of this great information and we wonder where to begin.

Today in the face of uncertainty, you might also feel overwhelmed and not know where to begin.

Harness the Power of Heritage was our theme for a reason. When used responsibly, heritage can provide perspective about a situation, it can include untold stories, it can support frazzled parents and teachers, it can comfort, it can document the real story, it can reflect, it can honor, it can develop a special sense of place, and it can anchor and connect a community.

Three months ago, your mission, your power, was to do this important heritage work for Oregon's communities. Today, this power is needed more than ever. It will be needed as we transition to a new way of living. It will be needed when we are past this entirely and looking back at it. Even in the face of essential, social, economic needs, your services are needed. This is where to begin and end. As you make your decisions about caring for your staff and volunteers, engaging your stakeholders, managing your resources, providing services, and reopening your doors, keep your value and mission in mind.

Once you internalize that...it is time to tell others!

Make sure you share your value with all of your stakeholders. Stay in the forefront of the minds of elected officials, donors, members, volunteers, tourism organizations, sponsors, and foundations. Here are two tools to help you develop your messages.

  1.  Value of Heritage toolkit<https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/pages/tools.aspx> Look for value information and a story building process here!
  2.  Value of History Statement<https://www.historyrelevance.com/value-history-statement>, which is a national effort to provide a common language to help history organizations describe the value and relevance of their work. The Oregon Heritage Commission also recently endorsed this statement.

*********************************
Oregon Humanities opens application for COVID-19 Emergency Funds

Oregon Humanities is one of fifty-six organizations receiving emergency relief funds through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, distributed to state humanities councils by the National Endowment for the Humanities<https://www.neh.gov/news/neh-receives-75-million-distribute-cultural-institutions-affected-coronavirus>.

Oregon Humanities will make $450,000 in grants for general operating or project/program support to nonprofit organizations and federally recognized tribes that have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 National Emergency<https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-declaring-national-emergency-concerning-novel-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-outbreak/> and Oregon's "Stay Home, Save Lives" executive order<https://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=36240>. Grants will be distributed in sums of $5,000, $7,500, and $10,000 based on organizational budget size.

The priority review deadline for applications is 11:59 p.m. PDT, Sunday, May 10, 2020. Any funds still available after the May 10 priority deadline will be awarded on a rolling basis until funds run out. Applicants will be notified about the status of their application no later than June 1, 2020.

Timeline

  *   Application opens: April 29, 2020
  *   Priority deadline: May 10, 2020
  *   Applicants notified: No later than June 1, 2020

For More information and application instructions visit http://oregonhumanities.org/programs/public-program-grants/covid-19-emergency-funds/

*********************************
Share your photos of Oregon's heritage on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using #oregonheritage.

Oregon Heritage News is a service of Oregon Heritage, a division of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. The news editor can be contacted at heritage.info at oregon.gov<mailto:heritage.info at oregon.gov>.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/heritage/attachments/20200424/54162b1a/attachment.html>