2026 Shelby White & Leon Levy Archival Assistance Grants Initiative Application

In partnership with the Leon Levy Foundation, the New York Preservation Archive Project established the Shelby White & Leon Levy Archival Assistance Grants Initiative to help nonprofit organizations and other institutions identify, organize, preserve, and make accessible archival materials that document the history of historic preservation in New York City. Generous support from the foundation renewed this program in 2022, now extended until 2027.

Our initiative endeavors to unlock archival collections—bringing overlooked records to light and empowering those who keep alive the stories of New York City’s preservation movement.

Applicants must therefore demonstrate their project or collection's significance to the story of historic preservation in New York City. Collections that document New York City history but do not relate specifically to historic preservation are not eligible for funding. Applications from all five boroughs are welcome.

Grants awarded by the Shelby White and Leon Levy Archival Assistance Grants Initiative do not require a matching grant.

Typical awards range from $1,000 to $5,000 and application through a fiscal sponsor is permitted.
Projects and expenses may include but are not limited to:
- hiring an archival consultant
- creating an archival policy
- performing a survey of archival collections
- creating collection inventories and finding aids
- collections processing
- purchasing archival supplies and materials
- increasing public accessibility to collections
- scanning and digitization
- creation of new management strategies for operational records
Preservation-related collections may focus on themes including but not limited to:
- landmarking & National Register listing efforts
- preservation policy work
- grassroots efforts to save community sites
- institutional history of preservation organizations
- contributions of prominent preservationists
- work to preserve, restore, or rehabilitate historic resources
DEADLINE: September 21, 2026 at 11:59pm EST

NOTIFICATION: by November, 2026 (applicants will be emailed once review process is completed)

GRANT PERIOD: All projects must be completed with a standardized report submitted by November 1, 2027.

INQUIRIES: Please contact Executive Director Matt Goff at info@nypap.org. We encourage prospective applicants to contact us about any questions, including eligibility and whether your proposed project falls within our grant guidelines.
- The New York Preservation Archive Project is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving, and celebrating the story of historic preservation in New York City. Recognizing the importance of this history to the continued health, success, and growth of preservation in our city, the Archive Project brings these stories to light through public programs, oral histories, and public access to information.
- The Leon Levy Foundation’s Archives Initiative helps humanities and conservation organizations to catalog, preserve, digitize and help build archives and digital archives to provide critical access to information, documents, letters, photos, correspondence, printed and oral accounts, music, video and countless other treasures in their collections.

NAME

First NameLast Name
TITLE
EMAIL
example@example.com
PHONE
Please enter a valid phone number.Format: (000) 000-0000.
ADDRESS

Street Address

Street Address Line 2

CityState / Province

Postal / Zip Code
NAME
WEBSITE
SOCIAL MEDIA
MISSION STATEMENT
Does your institution/organization have 501(c)(3) status? If so, please upload a copy of your IRS determination letter of tax-exempt status below.
IRS DETERMINATION LETTER

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OPERATING BUDGET
2024 REVENUE
2024 EXPENSES
Have you received this grant previously?
If so, please specify when you received the award(s), for what amount(s), and whether you are applying for the same or a different archival project.

0/250
- ADDRESS
  
  Street Address
  
  Street Address Line 2
  
  CityState / Province
  
  Postal / Zip Code
- EMAIL
  example@example.com
- PHONE
  Please enter a valid phone number.Format: (000) 000-0000.
- Non tax-exempt applicants conducting charitable work are permitted to apply with a fiscal sponsor. The fiscal sponsor must be a tax-exempt organization that assumes the administrative, programmatic, financial, and legal responsibility for purposes of the requirements of this grant.
  
  If you are not using a fiscal sponsor, please skip this section.
- NAME
- WEBSITE
- SOCIAL MEDIA
- EMAIL
  example@example.com
- PHONE
  Please enter a valid phone number.Format: (000) 000-0000.
- ADDRESS
  
  Street Address
  
  Street Address Line 2
  
  CityState / Province
  
  Postal / Zip Code
- MISSION STATEMENT
- Do the financials above apply to the Fiscal Sponsor or the Applicant?

What type of materials are included within your collection (e.g. operational records, fieldwork files, photographs, manuscripts, audiovisual materials, digital files, etc.)?

0/150
Estimated size of your collection?

0/150
Where is your collection held?

0/150
Is your collection publicly accessible?

Other
Does your organization have archival policies in place?

0/150
What other tools does your organization have to manage its records (e.g. retention schedules, inventories, finding aids, etc.)?

0/150
Explain how your organization's archival collections are significant to the story of historic preservation in New York City.

0/500

PROJECT TITLE
AMOUNT REQUESTED
PROJECT ABSTRACT

0/150
PROJECT DESCRIPTION

0/500
PROJECT TIMELINE

0/500
- Upload up to three photos related to your organization and/or proposal with brief captions and appropriate credits.
  
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USAGE OF MATERIALS

The New York Preservation Archive Project and the Leon Levy Foundation ("the Funders") may share information about the projects that have received funding. Application materials, including photographs and text, may be used by the Funders for educational and publicity purposes via printed material, public events, and postings online and on social media. Photographs of the project which have been taken by the Funders may be made available to the public and used for promotional purposes. By executing this release and consent, I hereby consent to the publication of photographs and other application materials relating to the project for which I receive financial assistance, and I hereby authorize the Funders to print, publish, or post pictures of the project and to make application materials available to the public.

LEGAL AUTHORIZATION

I certify that all the information contained in this application is true and accurate and that I am authorized to apply for this grant on behalf of the institution or organization and to enter into an agreement if the grant is awarded.
SIGNATURE
DATE

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