Training for Public Agency Communicators and Partners | P19AS00590

Opportunity Information: Apply for P19AS00590

The Department of the Interior, National Park Service announced a discretionary education-focused cooperative agreement opportunity titled "Training for Public Agency Communicators and Partners" (Funding Opportunity Number P19AS00590, CFDA 15.945). The project is designed to build a structured training program centered on public-sector external communications, with an emphasis on practical skills and guidance that can be broadly used across different levels of government and by partner organizations.

At the core of the opportunity is the development of a self-paced, asynchronous learning program that is both formal and blended. In other words, the training is meant to work as an on-demand course experience (so participants can move through content on their own schedule) while also fitting into a more structured instructional design that could be combined with other learning formats when needed. The intended audience is wide: federal, state, and local agency communicators, plus partners and other staff or collaborators who handle external communications responsibilities. The goal is to make the program usable by anyone who needs to plan, write, coordinate, or deliver public-facing messaging on behalf of an agency or affiliated organization.

The subject matter covers the main functional areas public communicators routinely deal with. This includes message development and communications planning, as well as writing and editing for public audiences. It also includes working with the news media, which typically involves understanding media relations workflows, responding to inquiries, supporting interviews, and shaping accurate public narratives. In addition, the opportunity specifically calls out modern communications channels and assets, including digital media and audiovisual media, reflecting the reality that public information work often spans websites, social platforms, video, photography, and other multimedia products. Beyond content creation and outreach, the training is expected to address intellectual property considerations, along with branding and graphic identity, which are critical for ensuring agencies communicate lawfully, consistently, and in ways that reinforce recognizable public trust and program identity.

From an administrative standpoint, the National Park Service indicated an expected single award with an award ceiling of $50,000. The listing also notes that this was a notice of intent to award to Indiana University and that no applications would be accepted, meaning it was not an open competition at the time of posting. The opportunity was created on September 4, 2019, and is categorized as a cooperative agreement, which generally implies meaningful agency involvement or collaboration during project development and execution rather than a more hands-off grant structure.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Training for Public Agency Communicators and Partners" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 04, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Notice of intent to award to Indiana University. No applications will be accepted.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $50,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for P19AS00590

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