External Funding

Lastly, we want to talk a little bit about finding financial support for your work. Outside of potential tribal financial support, language documentation projects can be supported by grants or gifts that can be awarded by private foundations or public funders. The AIHEC Native Languages Center website provides a list of common grants for language projects that are generally funded annually. As you consider funders, be aware that each funder typically “specializes” in certain kinds of projects. For example, common public funds for language projects, and scope include:

• National Science Foundation (NSF) Documenting Endangered Languages (DEL) program are for documentation projects that show a language is “critically endangered and that your work benefits science (linguistics)”
• National Endowment for the Humanities DEL program funds projects that “benefit the human community”
• Administration for Native Americans (ANA) and Dept. of Education (DOE) generally fund work for immersion programs, immersion teaching, or other community- or school-based revitalization efforts.

The process of seeking external funding is very similar to that of seeking an external academic partner. Funders typically have established policies and requirements that might support or undermine your project’s goals in terms of data sovereignty and self-governance, so it’s important to find out what the funders’ policies and expectations are in this regard. The more you can talk with others who’ve engaged in seeking funding support, the better.

Public funders (federal grants such as those listed above) often have technical support and webinars for the grant opportunities. These webinars are geared for those interested in submitting proposals and outline the general requirements of the grant. They are beneficial when submitting applications for federal funding as they are generally very competitive.

In summary, finding support and collaboration can help you work be successful. External partnerships, funding, and collaborations require careful planning and explicit policy and procedure agreements.