Association of Children's Museums

2009 MetLife Foundation & ACM Promising Practice Award Application

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Deadline: January 19 , 2009

The Award: MetLife Foundation and Association of Children's Museums Promising Practice Award rewards excellence and provides recognition for innovative and creative practices in children's museums; promotes management practices that support alternative and creative programming; builds a body of knowledge of exemplary programs and practices; and establishes models for the advancement of the children's museum field at-large. A total of $20,000 will be presented to selected museums at InterActivity 2009 in Philadelphia, PA. Although the cash award is unrestricted, recipient museums are encouraged to use the award to further refine, expand or evaluate promising practices. Additionally, three honorable mention applicants will each receive a complimentary registration to InterActivity 2010.

Category: Measurable impact is the theme for the 2009 Award. Children's museums that can demonstrate how its innovative program, exhibit and/or management practice has impacted the health, diversity or play of children, families and/or communities through measurable evaluation will be recognized for the 2009 Award.

Eligibility: To be eligible for a 2009 Promising Practice Award and to be included in the summary of applicants, your museum's promising practice must describe and give evidence of the impact it has had in the lives of children, families and communities. Evidence may include: third-party evaluation, survey data, testimonials from audiences served, respected sources that track public participation and compliance such as local school districts, health agencies, etc. Additionally:

The award competition is open to nonprofit children's museums in the United States that are voting members in good standing with the Association of Children's Museums.
One of the three cash awards will be designated for a "small" museum, defined as a museum with an annual operating budget of $499,999 or less (ACM Level 1 or Level II memberships).
Previous cash award recipients are not eligible to reapply for the award for a period of two years. Thus, the 2007 and 2008 cash award recipients are not eligible for this year's award.
Museum applicants may apply individually or on behalf of a consortium of museums.

Selection Criteria and Narrative Requirements: Applications will be evaluated by an impartial panel of experts (Selection Committee) familiar with the children's museum field. Please note: One of the three cash awards will be designated for a "small" museum, defined as a museum with an annual operating budget of $499,999 or less (ACM Level 1 or II memberships). The Selection Committee will deliberate each entry based on applicants' narrative response to the application questions listed below. Award recipients will be notified in March 2009. Please answer the following questions in a narrative not to exceed 1,225 words in length.

Application Process: Applicants must complete the online application in one sitting; ACM recommends that applicants prepare their answers for the essay questions ahead of time. ACM will send a confirmation email once your application has been submitted.

MetLife Foundation and Association of Children's Museums Promising Practice Award Application

Name (First, Last):
Title:
ACM Member Museum:
Phone:
Email:
Please check your ACM membership level:	Level I (Budgets under $250,000) Level II (Budgets $250,000-$499,999) Level III (Budgets $500,000-$999,999)	Level IV (Budgets $1 million-$2,999,999) Level V (Budgets $3 million-$4,999,999) Level VI (Budgets $5 million and above)
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The Promising Practice is:	Check all that apply: A program An exhibit A management practice	Check one (indicate which category has been impacted the greatest): Impacting play Impacting health Impacting diversity
Describe the problem/solution that your promising practice addresses. Click here for sample descriptions. 75 word limit
Provide a narrative description of how your promising practice impacts children, families and/or your community. 250 word limit
List the methods you have used to measure and evaluate the impact of your promising practice and summarize the outcomes of these methods. 500 word limit
How is your promising practice novel or innovative? Does it inspire a new model for the children's museum field? 75 word limit
Is your practice replicable by other children's museums? If so, what resources (time, personnel, funding) are needed? 75 word limit
How does your museum's internal management team support your promising practice? 250 word limit
To support your application, you may upload electronic files/scans of evaluation reports, brochures, press clippings or letters of endorsement. You may also include a URL that contains video and audio files about your practice. Total file size limit is 4 MB
Consent to Share Promising Practice If my museum is awarded a 2009 MetLife Foundation and Association of Children's Museums Promising Practice Award, I agree to do the following: send a museum representative to InterActivity 2009 to accept the award; write a press release about the award and distribute it to local media outlets; send ACM all award press clippings; write an article about the practice for ACM's journal Hand to Hand; and send a museum representative to InterActivity 2010 to participate in the Promising Practice Award Showcase session.
Museum PR/Marketing Contact Information:	PR/Marketing Contact Name	PR/Marketing Contact Email
	I have read and understand the requirements to share and promote my promising practice.
Supervisor Name:
My Supervisor:	My supervisor endorses this application.
		**Please only press the Submit button once and wait for the Thank You page to appear to confirm that your email has been sent.