The National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) invites all members of the digital preservation community to a Community Town Hall on the Federal Funding Crisis, taking place Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT via Zoom.

Join the Zoom Meeting
Passcode: the acronym of our organization

This event is being convened by the NDSA Membership Group, who will host and moderate the conversation.

What’s This Town Hall About?

In recent months, the digital preservation and cultural heritage sectors have been deeply impacted by the defunding and dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). These agencies have historically provided the backbone of U.S. digital stewardship funding, enabling professional development, institutional capacity building, and the preservation of at-risk digital cultural memory.

This abrupt change in federal priorities has left projects in limbo, undermined long-standing collaborations, and introduced widespread uncertainty for institutions and practitioners alike. For many of us, these changes threaten not only specific grants, but the future viability of the work we do to steward the historical record.

What to Expect

This informal, community-driven town hall will provide a space to:

  • Share how your organization has been impacted by the loss of federal funding.
  • Reflect on the broader consequences for our field and future workforce.
  • Crowdsource strategies for resilience, advocacy, and mutual support.
  • Identify potential partners, alternative funding avenues, or shared infrastructure needs.

We also encourage participants to contribute in advance or anonymously via this shared document:
Open Community Notes & Contributions

Whether you’re grappling with a canceled grant, halted planning, paused collaborations, or just feeling the ripple effects of this national shift—your voice is welcome here.

Let’s come together to take stock of where we stand, imagine where we can go from here, and collectively respond to this moment of profound disruption.

We hope you’ll join us.