Digital Projects for the Public 2024 NOFO.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Digital Projects for the Public

Funding Opportunity Number: 20240612-MD-MN-MT

Funding Opportunity Type: New

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.164

Application Deadline: June 12, 2024

Ensure your SAM.gov and Grants.gov registrations and passwords are current.

It may take several weeks to register with SAM.gov and Grants.gov.

NEH will not grant deadline extensions for lack of registration.

Division of Public Programs Email: publicpgms@neh.gov Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1

OMB control number 3136-0134, expiration date October 31, 2024 mailto:@neh.gov?subject=publicpgms@neh,gov

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Executive Summary The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Public Programs is accepting applications for the Digital Projects for the Public program. This program supports projects that interpret and analyze humanities content in primarily digital platforms and formats, such as websites, mobile applications and tours, interactive touch screens and kiosks, games, and virtual environments.

Funding Opportunity Title Digital Projects for the Public Funding Opportunity Number 20240612-MD-MN-MT Federal Assistance Listing Number 45.164 Deadline for Optional Draft May 1, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Application Deadline June 12, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Anticipated Award Announcement December 2024 Anticipated FY 2025 Funding Approximately $1,500.000 Estimated Number and Type of Awards Approximately 11-16 grants Award Amounts Discovery: up to $30,000

Prototyping: up to $100,000 Production: up to $400,000

Cost Sharing/Match Required No Period of Performance Discovery and Prototyping: one to two years

Production: one to three years

Projects must start between February 1, 2025, and September 1, 2025.

Eligible Applicants • nonprofit organizations recognized as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code

• accredited institutions of higher education (public or nonprofit)

• state and local governments and their agencies

• federally recognized Native American Tribal governments

See C. Eligibility Information for additional information.

Program Resource Page https://www.neh.gov/grants/public/digital-projects-the-public

Pre-Application Webinar A pre-recorded webinars will be posted to the program resource page by April 17, 2024.

Published April 2, 2024 https://www.neh.gov/grants/public/digital-projects-the-public

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ................................................................................................ i Table of Contents ................................................................................................... ii A. Program Description

1. Purpose

2. Background

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award

2. Summary of Funding

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

2. Cost Sharing

3. Other Eligibility Information

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Application Package

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management

4. Submission Dates and Times

5. Intergovernmental Review

6. Funding Restrictions

E. Application Review Information

1. Review Criteria

2. Review and Selection Process

3. Assessment of Risk and Other Pre-Award Activities

4. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

3. Reporting

G. Agency Contacts H. Other Information

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A. Program Description

1. Purpose The Digital Projects for the Public program supports projects that interpret and analyze humanities content in primarily digital platforms and formats, such as websites, mobile applications and tours, interactive touch screens and kiosks, games, and virtual environments.

All Digital Projects for the Public projects must:

• provide public audiences with structured analysis that deepens public understanding of significant humanities ideas

• incorporate sound humanities scholarship

• involve humanities scholars in all phases of development and production

• include appropriate digital media professionals

• reach a broad audience through a realistic plan for development, marketing, and distribution

• demonstrate the capacity for sustainability

NEH seeks proposals that explore a range of interpretive possibilities. Competitive proposals include collaboration with multiple scholars offering diverse perspectives. Projects that depend on input from a single scholar are not competitive.

NEH also welcomes applications for digital projects that enrich the users’ experience and engagement with a larger project. For example, if your request is for a mobile experience that would operate within a museum or would work in conjunction with a film, explain how this element will enhance the audience’s humanities learning experience. The digital component must enhance the project and not serve merely as promotion for it.

You may identify particular communities and groups, including students, to whom a project may have particular appeal. Projects intended for K-12 students should include community partners to extend the project’s impact beyond the classroom.

Because the development and production of the project’s humanities content and technical design should be undertaken by a team of experts, NEH discourages the use of students, and especially undergraduates, in the development and production of a project’s humanities content and technical design. Projects intended as a classroom exercise, e.g., constructed by students over the course of a semester or academic year for course credit, are not competitive.

NEH encourages audience evaluation throughout all stages of a project. Evaluation could include testing of the project’s concept, approach, and key components.

Funding categories The Digital Projects for the Public program includes three funding categories:

• Discovery, to collaborate on preliminary research

• Prototyping, to design or create prototypes

• Production, to produce the final version of the project

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You do not need to obtain a Discovery grant before applying for a Prototyping grant, or to obtain a Prototyping grant before applying for a Production grant. If you have received an award in one funding category you may not receive a second award for the same project in that funding category (i.e., you may receive a Prototyping award and a Production award for the same project but may not receive two Production awards). See C3. Other Eligibility Information.

Contact the Division of Public Programs at publicpgms@neh.gov for advice on choosing the appropriate funding category.

Discovery The Discovery category (up to $30,000) supports the exploratory stages of a digital project, bringing together humanities scholars, content experts, and digital media experts to determine which approaches a project might take. The Discovery phase should emphasize collaboration among these groups to identify the combination of content and platform that will most effectively communicate the humanities ideas to public audiences. To be successful at this level, the project team should have a solid grasp of the content and collections with which they will work and be looking for a platform, or the team should have chosen a subject and a platform and be looking to assess and interpret the humanities content. In either case, the project team must include humanities content experts and media experts. Projects intended for classroom use must also include an education consultant.

In addition to consultations with humanities scholars and digital media experts, activities may include:

• content research and narrative development

• consultation with educational or curriculum consultants

• platform research and selection

• identification or digitization of production assets

• preliminary design

• audience evaluation

• user experience mockups

• storyboarding

Prototyping The Prototyping category (up to $100,000) supports the creation of a proof-of-concept prototype. If you apply in this category, you must submit a design document (see Attachment 6) that describes the platform, user interface, and design, and the ways in which you will convey the project’s central humanities ideas.

Activities may include:

• refinement of humanities content

• consultation with humanities scholars, content experts, educational consultants, and digital media experts

• finalization of the platform

• scripting

• creation or digitization of audiovisual assets that will engage public audiences

• user interface and backend development mailto:publicpgms@neh.gov

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• testing (including early launches) and de-bugging

• final design

• user testing and audience evaluation

• other activities that will advance the project towards the production stage

Production The Production category (up to $400,000) supports the production and distribution of humanities projects that have a primarily digital format. If you apply to this category, you must submit a design document (see Attachment 6) and a prototype (see Attachment 7) that demonstrate a solid command of the humanities content and scholarship related to the subject. The prototype must also show how the narrative, audiovisual, and interactive elements bolster an audience’s understanding of the project’s humanities ideas.

Activities may include:

• ongoing consultation with scholars

• additional research and writing

• fine-tuning the hardware, software, and platform

• the final design, production, and distribution of digital media projects

• finalization of the script and audiovisual assets

• securing rights and licensing fees for audiovisual assets

• production of complementary components such as museum displays

• publication of complementary materials, such as catalogs or curriculum guides

• publicity, outreach activities, and public programs

• user testing and project evaluation

Program Outcomes and Outputs The output of Discovery awards is a written design document that details fundamental aspects of the project such as the content, format, technical specifications, budget, work plan, intended audience, and learning objectives. The design document serves as a roadmap for further work on the project.

The output of a prototyping awards is a digital prototype that explains the key digital features and humanities content of the project and demonstrates the project’s technical feasibility and design through screenshots, videos, mockups, or other illustrations.

The output of a Production award is a completed project that has been (or will be) distributed for widespread public use. NEH strongly encourages partnerships with organizations and individuals who can assist you in distributing your project to the public.

You will describe your project outcomes and outputs, and how they would support the overall purpose of the Digital Projects for the Public program, in Attachment 1: Narrative. If you receive an award, NEH will assess your performance based on the outputs you identify in the proposal.

See F3. Reporting.

See D6. Funding Restrictions for unallowable activities. Applications unrelated to the purpose of this program or that include unallowable costs or activities may be judged nonresponsive and returned without review.

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See E1. Review Criteria for the standards NEH will use to evaluate applications under this notice.

2. Background NEH offers this funding opportunity under the authority of 20 U.S.C. § 956. Awards are subject to 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, and the General Terms and Conditions for Awards to Organizations (for grants and cooperative agreements issued January 1, 2022 or later).

Under Section 3(a) of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, “The term ‘humanities’ includes, but is not limited to, the study of the following:

language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy;

archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of the social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods;

and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.”

Use the Funded Projects Query Form to find examples of NEH-supported projects.

Learn more about NEH.

NEH Areas of Interest NEH is especially interested in supporting projects that advance humanities-related work in the following areas. NEH will give all applications equal consideration in accordance with the program’s review criteria.

NEH encourages projects that include Native American organizations and communities as applicants and project partners.

American Tapestry: Weaving Together Past, Present, and Future American Tapestry: Weaving Together Past, Present, and Future is a wide-ranging special initiative at NEH that leverages the humanities to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time: strengthening our democracy, advancing equity for all, and addressing our changing climate. The initiative encourages humanities projects that elevate the role of civics in schools and public programs, advance knowledge of the country’s history and political institutions, and examine threats to its democratic principles. The initiative also encourages projects that explore the untold stories of historically underrepresented groups and build capacity at cultural and educational institutions to benefit underserved communities. Finally, the initiative welcomes projects that promote research into the historical roots and cultural effects of climate change and support the cultural and educational sectors in building climate resilience. By supporting humanities projects that align with these three themes – strengthening our democracy, advancing equity for all, and addressing our changing climate – the American Tapestry initiative seeks to tell our country’s history in all its complexity and diversity.

United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture Hate must have no safe harbor in America – especially when that hate fuels the kind of violence we’ve seen from Oak Creek to Pittsburgh, from El Paso to Poway, and from Atlanta to Buffalo.

When ordinary Americans cannot participate in the basic activities of everyday life – such as https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?hl=false&edition=prelim&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title20-section956 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://www.neh.gov/general-terms-and-conditions-awards-organizations-grants-and-cooperative-agreements-issued-january-2022 https://www.neh.gov/general-terms-and-conditions-awards-organizations-grants-and-cooperative-agreements-issued-january-2022 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-1998-title20/pdf/USCODE-1998-title20-chap26-subchapI-sec952.pdf https://securegrants.neh.gov/publicquery/main.aspx https://www.neh.gov/about https://www.neh.gov/news/american-tapestry-weaving-together-past-present-and-future

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shopping at the grocery store or praying at their house of worship – without the fear of being targeted and killed for who they are, our security as well as democracy are at risk. In coordination with the White House “United We Stand” Summit in September 2022, NEH launched a new initiative titled United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture that uses the humanities to combat hate-motivated violence and promote civic engagement, social cohesion, and cross-cultural understanding. As a part of this initiative, NEH encourages humanities projects that further our understanding of the nation’s racial, ethnic, gender, and religious diversity; examine the sources of hate and intolerance in the United States; and explore progress towards greater inclusiveness. NEH especially welcomes projects that explore the Muslim American and/or the Jewish American experience, including the history of Islamophobia and/or antisemitism.

NEH’s Support for the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative As a part of NEH’s partnership with the Department of the Interior on the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, NEH encourages projects that further public understanding and knowledge of the Federal Indian boarding school system. From 1819 through the 1970s the government of the United States operated a system of schools for Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children premised on a policy of coerced cultural assimilation. Native children were forcibly separated from their families and sent to attend federal Indian boarding schools, where they were frequently subject to harsh treatment and abuse. A number of these students died, and others never returned to their families and communities. Many were also deprived of their cultural inheritance. NEH encourages projects that document and explore the history of the federal Indian boarding schools as well as projects that contribute to Native and Indigenous cultural and language revitalization.

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award NEH seeks new applications in response to this notice.

NEH will provide funding in the form of grants.

2. Summary of Funding

Award amounts You may request up to $30,000 in the Discovery category; $100,000 in the Prototyping category, or $400,000 in the Production category. This includes the sum of direct and indirect costs.

NEH anticipates awarding approximately $1,500,000 among an estimated 11-16 recipients.

NEH will award successful applicants outright funds, which are not contingent on additional funding from other sources.

NEH will not determine the exact amount available for funding until Congress makes official appropriations for FY 2025. NEH will issue awards subject to the availability of appropriated funds. NEH is publishing this notice as a contingency to ensure that NEH can process applications and issue awards in a timely manner, should sufficient funds become available.

https://www.neh.gov/unitedwestand https://www.neh.gov/bsi https://www.neh.gov/bsi

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Period of performance You may request a period of performance of one to two years for Discovery and Prototyping awards. You may request a period of performance of one to three years for Production awards.

Your period of performance must start between February 1, 2025, and September 1, 2025.

The period of performance is the time during which you may incur expenses to carry out the work under the award. It must start on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month.

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants To be eligible to apply, your organization must be established in the United States or its jurisdictions as one of the following:

• a nonprofit organization recognized as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code

• an accredited institution of higher education (public or nonprofit)

• a state or local government or one of their agencies

• a federally recognized Native American Tribal government

Individuals and other organizations, including foreign and for-profit entities, are ineligible.

If your organization is eligible, you may apply on behalf of a consortium of collaborating organizations. If NEH selects your proposal for funding, you will be programmatically, legally, and fiscally responsible for the award.

The recipient may not function solely as a fiscal agent but should make substantive contributions to the success of the project.

2. Cost Sharing NEH does not require cost sharing in this program.

Cost sharing refers to project costs that are covered with non-NEH funds. You may contribute voluntary cost share if the total project costs exceed the amount awarded by NEH. Voluntary cost share includes:

• cash contributions made to the project by you or a third party

• your unrecovered indirect costs

• in-kind contributions (non-cash contributions, such as property or services, that benefit the project and are contributed without charge) by you or a third party

While you may describe voluntary cost share in your budget justification, you should not include it on your Research and Related Budget. The Research and Related Budget should only include funds you are requesting from NEH.

Peer reviewers will not consider any voluntary cost share in their evaluation of applications.

https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/search-for-tax-exempt-organizations https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/search-for-tax-exempt-organizations https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/01/28/2022-01789/indian-entities-recognized-by-and-eligible-to-receive-services-from-the-united-states-bureau-of

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You must maintain auditable records of the source and use of cost share. See 2 CFR § 200.306.

Learn about types of funds NEH offers.

3. Other Eligibility Information You may submit multiple applications for separate and distinct projects under this notice. An individual may serve as project director for multiple proposed projects under this notice.

You may revise and resubmit previously rejected applications. Submissions are subject to the application requirements and review criteria of the current competition.

If NEH has previously made an award in support of your project, you may apply for a new or subsequent stage of the project, which NEH will assess using the review criteria of the current competition.

Per 2 CFR § 200.403(f), you must not include the same project costs in more than one application for federal funding or approved federal award budget. If one application to NEH is pending, a second application for the same project costs, even if to a different program, may be ruled ineligible. However, you may submit multiple proposals for complementary aspects of the same overall project. If you are submitting complementary proposals to other NEH programs or government agencies, specify when and to whom in the Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs. NEH may disallow costs or reject applications that include overlapping project costs. An individual’s level of effort cannot exceed 100% across multiple active federally funded awards.

NEH does not issue awards to other federal entities. If your project is so closely intertwined with a federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity’s own authorized activities, it is ineligible. You may use funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in your project.

NEH does not provide financial assistance to foreign institutions or organizations. If you are an eligible domestic entity, you may apply for collaborative projects involving foreign organizations provided you do not use NEH funds for the purpose of issuing subawards to any foreign organization, as defined in 2 CFR §§ 200.1 and .331(a). You may obtain the services of foreign individuals and consultants to carry out programmatic activities on a fee-for-service basis, as specified in 2 CFR § 200.459. You may obtain goods and services from foreign vendors, such as in-country transportation services, in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.331(b). If you plan to submit an application involving international collaboration, contact program staff at publicpgms@neh.gov.

Except for the rare cases covered by its late submission policy, NEH will not consider applications submitted after the deadline.

NEH will not consider incomplete, nonresponsive, or ineligible applications for funding.

NEH will not consider applications that exceed mandatory page limits or deviate from formatting instructions. See the Application Components Table.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=3aeab4e3a836f5b6807999701e518c94&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1306 https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/types-funding https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E/subject-group-ECFRea20080eff2ea53/section-200.403 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=35fcd29238edd42c8b1f8b1628e39d47&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_11 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b76712a585433486e57dafcd521c952e&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1331 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=35fcd29238edd42c8b1f8b1628e39d47&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1459 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b76712a585433486e57dafcd521c952e&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1331 https://www.neh.gov/grants/policy-on-late-submissions

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Substantive involvement Applicant institutions must not function solely as fiscal agents or fiscal sponsors. Organizations engaging solely in fiscal sponsorship activities (e.g., proposal submissions, reporting, fulfillment of contractual obligations, maintaining IRS status) may not apply as a lead applicant.

By contrast, an eligible applicant makes substantive contributions to the project. Examples of substantive contribution include:

• monitoring the progress of a media project

• contributing to the work plan, research plan, budget, outreach plan, fundraising plan, and/or distribution plan

• contributing to choices of personnel who work on a project, including project scholars and production staff

• contributing to the research, analysis, and interpretation of content

• consulting with other project personnel regarding humanities themes, treatments, scripts, and/or intellectual approaches to the content

• providing direction, advice, and/or mentorship to the production team

• providing input on grant product(s) prior to completion (e.g., reviewing “rough cuts”)

• participating in engagement, direction, and/or supervision of independent media professionals

• contributing to the development of ancillary resources to support the project

• contributing to outreach and public engagement

Most applicants will not engage in all these activities. An applicant that makes at least some substantive contributions to the success of the project, however, is not subject to the prohibition on lead applicant serving solely as fiscal agents or fiscal sponsors.

Learn more about managing subawards.

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Application Package You must apply using Grants.gov Workspace or a Grants.gov system-to-system solution. You can find this funding opportunity in Grants.gov under number 20240612-MD-MN-MT. There is also a link on the program resource page.

This funding opportunity includes three application packages, which you can find under the “Package” tab. Select the appropriate one based upon your project type. Each package includes a series of required and conditionally required forms. You will upload additional application components using the Attachments Form.

Funding Level Application Package Discovery MD2024

Prototyping MT2024 Production MN2024

You must complete a multistep registration process prior to submitting your application. See D3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management.

https://www.neh.gov/general-guidance-pass-through-entities-managing-subawards

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Contact publicpgms@neh.gov to request a paper copy of this notice.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission Your application will include a narrative, budget, and other forms and attachments. You will complete the forms within Grants.gov Workspace and upload other components into the Attachments Form. See the Application Component Table.

Application formatting Your application components must conform to the following formatting requirements, unless otherwise indicated:

• pages no larger than standard letter (8 ½" x 11”)

• at least one-inch margins on all sides for all pages

• a font no smaller than 11 points

In addition, NEH encourages you to format your components consistent with the following:

• single-spacing

• a readable font such as Arial, Georgia, Helvetica, or Times New Roman

• any standard citation style (include citations in page counts)

Application Component Table NEH has assigned each application component one of the following designations:

• Required: You must submit this component.

• Conditionally Required: You must submit this component if your proposal meets the specified conditions.

• Optional: You may submit this component, but NEH does not require it.

• Conditionally required for recipients: You are encouraged but not required to submit this component when you apply. You may submit it if you receive an award.

NEH will not review applications missing any required documents or relevant conditionally required documents.

Do not include attachments other than those listed in the table in this notice. If you do, NEH will reject your application.

In addition, NEH has established page limits for some application components:

• Mandatory: You must not exceed the page limit.

• Suggested: NEH encourages, but does not require, you to abide by the page limit.

Note page limits and formatting instructions in this notice. NEH will not review applications that exceed mandatory page limits or deviate from formatting instructions.

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Application Component File Name Designation Page limit Attachments 1: Narrative narrative.pdf Required 15 (mandatory) 2: Bibliography bibliography.pdf Required 2 (suggested) 3: Résumés and letters of commitment resumes.pdf Required 2 pages each (suggested)

4: Work plan workplan.pdf Required 5: Description of your work sample worksample.pdf Required

6: Design document design.pdf Required for Prototyping and Production

15 (mandatory)

7: Prototype prototype.pdf Required for Production

8: Images and links to other assets images.pdf Optional

9: Subrecipient budget(s) subrecipient.pdf Conditionally required

10: Federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement agreement.pdf Conditionally required

11: Explanation of delinquent federal debt delinquentdebt.pdf Conditionally required for recipients

Grants.gov forms SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational

Required

Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs

Required

Project/Performance Site(s) Location Form

Required

Research and Related Budget and Budget Justification

Required

Attachments Form Required Certification Regarding Lobbying

Conditionally

Standard Form-LLL “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities”

Conditionally

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Application Components: Attachments Each attachment must be a single PDF file. See the Attachments Form instructions for further guidance about file requirements. Read those instructions carefully, as Grants.gov will not accept files that do not meet the requirements.

Attachment 1: Narrative (required) Compose a comprehensive description of your proposed project. Your narrative should be succinct, well organized, and free of technical terms and jargon so that peer reviewers can understand the proposed project.

You must limit the narrative to fifteen single-spaced pages. Do not include an executive summary or a table of contents. You may include images, charts, diagrams, footnotes, and endnotes if they fit within the page limit.

Name the file narrative.pdf.

Organize your narrative using the following section headings. Each section aligns with corresponding review criteria.

A. Nature of request (aligns with all review criteria)

• In one to two paragraphs, summarize the project, its goals and intended outcomes, its format, and the funding level you are requesting.

B. Humanities content (aligns with review criterion 1)

• Discuss the significance of the subject and its relevance to the public.

• Describe the interpretative framework that guides the project. Use thematic statements to explain the major humanities ideas and questions engaged by the project and the scholarship informing them.

• If applicable, differentiate your project from other projects that explore similar subject matter.

C. Project format (aligns with review criteria 1, 2, and 5)

• Briefly describe the format(s) and design(s) that you plan to implement and how this approach will convey the central humanities ideas.

• Explain how the final project will convey the central humanities ideas and engage users.

• Identify the most important resources on which the project will draw, including audio and visual materials, documents, and other artifacts.

• For Discovery proposals, explain how users will navigate and experience the completed project. (Prototyping and Production applications should include this in Attachment 6.

Design Document; that attachment is not required for Discovery proposals.)

• If there are successful models for this type of approach, briefly describe them.

• If applicable, explain how the proposed digital project relates to a larger project, such as a museum exhibit.

• Describe any nondigital components of the project, such as discussion programs.

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D. User-generated content (aligns with review criterion 1)

• If the project includes user-generated content, describe how it will add to the humanities content and explain the criteria and process you will use to select and monitor the content that will be made available to the public.

• Describe your policies and process to prevent the dissemination of obscene, libelous, or defamatory content (including hate speech, personal attacks, or material constituting harassment).

E. Audience and distribution (aligns with review criterion 5)

• For Discovery proposals, discuss potential audiences and how you would reach them.

Estimate the number of people who will use the completed project and explain the basis for this assessment.

• For Prototyping and Production proposals, provide distribution and marketing plans and identify partners and targeted audience. Estimate the number of people who will use the completed project and explain the basis for this assessment.

• If applicable, explain how the project expands the audience and humanities content offered by your organization.

F. Rights, permissions, and licensing (aligns with review criteria 2 and 4)

• Explain how you will determine who controls the rights to the materials and technologies being used.

• For Production proposals, describe licensing costs and development fees, if applicable.

G. Humanities scholars and consultants (aligns with review criteria 1 and 3)

• List the project’s humanities scholars and other subject matter experts serving as consultants (advisers).

• In one or two sentences, describe their qualifications and the contributions that each will make to shape the project’s content.

H. Project team (aligns with review criteria 2 and 3)

• List the key staff from the applicant organization and the team’s principal digital media professionals.

• In one or two sentences, describe each person’s qualifications and their expected contributions to the project.

I. State of the project (aligns with review criterion 4)

• Discuss the project’s history and the work accomplished to date.

• If the project received previous NEH funding, describe how it met the goals of the earlier award(s).

• For Production proposals, provide examples of earlier work that best illustrate the project’s evolution and integration of user feedback and testing, if applicable. You may include URLs to earlier iterations of the project, accompanying education materials, or resources used.

• For Production proposals, describe how the production phase will fulfill your goals for the project, including reaching the intended audience.

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J. Organization profile (aligns with review criterion 4)

• Briefly describe the applicant organization’s current mission, principal activities, and resources. Explain how these elements will enable it to carry out the project successfully and explain how the project relates to the organization’s mission. If different from the applicant organization, describe the digital production organization(s) as well.

• Describe the applicant’s anticipated substantive involvement in the project.

K. Fundraising plan (aligns with review criterion 4)

• Specify the source and amount of all funds raised to date for all phases of the project, including NEH awards.

• If applicable, detail your plans to raise funds to cover costs that exceed NEH support.

L. Project evaluation (aligns with review criteria 1, 2, and 5)

• For Discovery proposals, explain how you identified the audience for your project and how you will evaluate the potential appeal and efficacy of the content and platform to them. Discuss how you will incorporate feedback into your development process.

• For Prototyping and Production proposals, discuss how you will evaluate the user experience, particularly how effectively the prototype conveys the humanities content.

• For Prototyping and Production proposals, explain how you plan to test, troubleshoot, and de-bug the project.

• For Production proposals, explain any testing and evaluation to date and explain how you plan to test and evaluate the project moving forward.

• For Production proposals, describe how you will collect and appraise data from audience evaluations.

Attachment 2: Bibliography (required) Provide a bibliography of the humanities scholarship that significantly informs the project. It should include any collections or libraries in which you have identified archival material for the project.

The bibliography has a suggested length of two pages. The bibliography corresponds to review criterion 1.

Name the file bibliography.pdf.

Attachment 3: Résumés and letters of commitment (required) Include résumés for all key project personnel employed by the applicant organization, primary persons on the digital media team, and all consultants (including humanities scholars).

Additionally, include letters of commitment from digital media team members, humanities scholars, consultants, and all participating organizations. Letters should be signed and dated.

Resumes have a suggested length of two pages per person. Résumés and letters of commitment correspond to review criteria 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Name the file resumes.pdf.

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Attachment 4: Work plan (required) Your work plan should reflect major activities described in your narrative and the project dates identified on the SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational and the Research and Related Budget.

Describe the activities that you will undertake during the period of performance to achieve the proposed objectives. Use a month-by-month timeline that includes each activity and identifies responsible staff. As appropriate, identify meaningful support and collaboration with key stakeholders in planning, designing, and implementing all activities. Include a schedule of meetings, with clear information about when meetings with scholars and other consultants will occur.

The work plan corresponds with review criterion 4.

Name the file workplan.pdf.

Attachment 5: Description of your work sample (required) Submit a sample of a previously completed project (not a version of the proposed project) by members of the project team that best represents the approach and format of the proposal under review. You must provide a URL for the work sample. If necessary, provide instructions for accessing the sample. Describe the work sample and explain its relevance.

You may not revise your online sample after the deadline. However, if you notice that a link is broken, you may notify the Division of Public Programs to request permission to fix it. Broken links will not disqualify an application from review; but depending on when you request to fix a link, external reviewers may already have assessed the application. NEH will not notify applicants if it discovers broken links.

The work sample corresponds with review criteria 2 and 3.

Name the file worksample.pdf.

Attachment 6: Design document (required for Prototyping and Production) Prototyping and Production applications must include a design document that addresses the following:

1) Narrative summary

• Summarize the project’s core narrative and/or thematic elements and explain how you will communicate them to a broad general audience.

2) User experience

• Describe and visually illustrate how a typical user would experience the project, using site maps, mockups, wireframes, screenshots, storyboards, or object schematics.

• Explain and provide examples of how the design and user experience will convey the project’s central humanities ideas and analysis.

• Describe how the project will present interpretive text and audiovisual materials. You may include small images to clarify the descriptions.

• Provide examples of interpretive text.

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3) Technical specifications

• Explain the project’s technical architecture(s), platform, and content management system (CMS).

• Document the project’s CMS, including all procedures pertaining to creating, managing, storing, and disseminating content.

4) Sustainability plan

• Describe how the project will adapt to technological changes affecting both hardware and software.

• Estimate future costs and maintenance fees for sustaining the project beyond the period of performance.

• If a project is designed to function only for a limited time, explain your procedures for shutting it down and which components of the project you intend to maintain or archive, if any.

The design document must not exceed 15 pages. If applicable, the design document corresponds with review criteria 1, 2, 4, and 5.

Name the file design.pdf.

Attachment 7: Prototype (required for Production) Production applications must include a prototype as proof-of-concept for the project and an indicator of its potential success. You must submit a URL for your prototype. If necessary, provide instructions for accessing the prototype.

Using screen captures, video walkthroughs, or a working version of the prototype, demonstrate how a typical user would navigate, interact with, and experience the project.

Name the file prototype.pdf. If applicable, the prototype corresponds with review criterion 2.

As with the work sample, you may not revise your prototype after the deadline, but you may notify the Division of Public Programs if you discover a broken link.

Attachment 8: Images and links to other assets (optional) You may include examples and brief descriptions of images and audio and visual materials, including links.

If included, this attachment corresponds with review criterion 2.

Name the file images.pdf.

Attachment 9: Subrecipient budget(s) (conditionally required) If your project includes subawards, you must provide a separate Research and Related Budget and budget justification for each subrecipient.

Download a fillable PDF of the Research and Related Budget form from the NEH website for each subrecipient. You must open and complete this form in Adobe Reader 8.0 or higher rather than in your web browser.

https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/RR_Budget10_3_0-V3.0.pdf

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Prepare a budget and budget justification for each subrecipient using the same instructions in this notice, with a few exceptions:

• Enter the subrecipient’s Unique Entity Identifier, organization name, and period of performance start and end date (these fields will not prepopulate).

• For “budget type,” check “Subaward/Consortium.”

If your subrecipients have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate, you must honor it. If they do not have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate, they may negotiate a rate with you consistent with 2 CFR § 200.414 or use the de minimis rate.

Rather than attaching related documents (budget justification, additional personnel, additional equipment) to the form itself, you will separately convert each document into a PDF and combine all subrecipients’ budget forms and related documents into a single document. Do not attach portfolios containing multiple PDFs.

NEH cannot accept security-enhanced PDFs (e.g., XFA files, PDFs that include password-protection, encryption, digital signatures). Remove these features (or “flatten” these files) before merging them into a single PDF and uploading it to the Attachments Form.

Name the file subrecipient.pdf.

Attachment 10: Federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (conditionally required) If your organization is claiming indirect costs and has a current federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, provide a copy of the agreement. If applicable, provide the indirect cost rate agreements for subrecipients claiming indirect costs. If you and your subrecipients are requesting the de minimis rate, you do not need to submit this attachment.

Name the file agreement.pdf.

Attachment 11: Explanation of delinquent federal debt (conditionally required for recipients) If your organization is delinquent in the repayment of any federal debt, explain why. Provide evidence that you have entered into a repayment agreement with the Internal Revenue Service, if applicable, and that you are current on all payments due. Examples of relevant debt include delinquent payroll or other taxes, audit disallowances, and benefit overpayments. See OMB Circular A-129.

Name the file delinquentdebt.pdf.

Application Components: Grants.gov Forms

SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance – Short Organizational (Grants.gov form) This form requests basic information about your institution, the proposed project, and key contacts. Items 1, 2, and 4 will be automatically filled in; leave item 3 blank.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=d22b09774a679ad264cf0098635dabb8&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1414 https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/circulars_a129_rev2013 https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/circulars_a129_rev2013

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5. Applicant Information a-d. Provide your organization’s legal name, address, and web address. Select the applicant type that best describes your organization from the drop-down menu.

e-f. Provide your organization’s employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), and Unique Entity Identifier assigned by the System for Award Management. If you do not know your identifier, contact your grant administrator or chief financial officer. See D3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management.

g. Provide your congressional district with your two-character state abbreviation followed by your three-character district number. For example, if your institution is located in the 5th congressional district of Alabama, enter “AL-005.” If your institution is in a state or U.S.

jurisdiction that does not have districts, enter “000” in place of the district number. If your institution is outside the U.S., enter “00-000.”

6. Project Information

a. Provide your project’s title. It should be brief (no more than 125 characters, including spaces), descriptive of the project, and easily understood by the general public. If NEH funds your project, the agency may retitle your project for clarity in internal and external communications, including the public announcement of awards. Regardless, you may use your preferred title when carrying out the project.

b. Provide a brief description of your project (no more than 1,000 characters, including spaces).

You should write the description for a nonspecialist audience, clearly stating the importance of the proposed work and its relation to larger issues in the humanities. This description will appear on the cover sheet of your application and will serve as a project abstract during the review process. If funded, this description will also appear in NEH’s database of funded projects.

c. State your project’s period of performance start and end dates. Your project must start on the first day of a month and end on the last day of a month. See B2. Summary of Funding for allowable periods of performance.

7. Project Director Provide the project director’s name, title, and contact information. The project director is responsible for the programmatic aspects and day-to-day management of the proposed project.

You must notify the NEH Office of Grant Management immediately if you need to change project directors.

If the project director is not employed by the applicant organization, you must have a formal written agreement with the project director that specifies an official relationship between the parties even if the relationship does not involve a salary or other form of remuneration.

8. Primary Contact/Grant Administrator Provide the name, title, and contact information for the official responsible for the administration of the award (e.g., negotiating the budget and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the award).

As a matter of NEH policy, the project director and primary contact/grant administrator must not be the same person.

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

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The grant administrator (also called the “institutional grant administrator”) functions as the representative of the recipient organization. This individual should have authority to act on the organization’s behalf in matters related to the administration of the award. The institutional grant administrator must sign or countersign financial reports and prior approval requests such as budget revisions, extensions to the period of performance, and changes in key personnel.

NEH will address official correspondence (for example, the offer letter or Notice of Action) to the institutional grant administrator and copy the project director.

9. Authorized Representative Provide the name, title, and contact information for the authorized organization representative (AOR) who is submitting the application on behalf of the institution. This person, often called an “authorizing official,” is typically someone from the Office of Sponsored Projects, or the institution’s president, vice president, executive director, or board chair. The institution’s Grants.gov E-Business Point of Contact must designate the AOR. The AOR’s signature must match the contact name. See the Grants.gov Online User Guide.

Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs (Grants.gov form)

1. Project…