Endowments for Advancing the Humanities NOFO 2025.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Endowments for Advancing the Humanities

Funding Opportunity Number: 20280930-CHE

Funding Opportunity Type: New

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.130

Application Deadline: NEH will review applications under this notice on a rolling basis through September 30, 2028

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 Collections & Infrastructure Email: collections@neh.gov Telephone: 202-606-8570 Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1

OMB control number 3136-0134, expiration date October 31, 2027 mailto:collections@neh.gov

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Executive Summary The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Collections and Infrastructure is accepting applications for the Endowments for Advancing the Humanities program. The purpose of this program is to fund endowments that strengthen the financial stability of organizations and sustain long-term work in the humanities.

The endowments are financed through a combination of NEH federal matching funds and non-federal gifts.

NEH will consider applications under this notice only if the NEH Chairman specifically invites an organization to apply or if the Chairman issues an open call for applications. No other applications will be considered.

Funding Opportunity Title Endowments for Advancing the Humanities Funding Opportunity Number 20280930-CHE Federal Assistance Listing Number 45.130 Application Deadline See specific program announcement Anticipated Award Announcement Approximately six months after the application deadline. See the specific program announcement for an anticipated date.

Award Amounts Up to $15 million in NEH federal matching funds, plus an additional $100,000 in outright funds for fundraising support costs, as specified in the program announcement.

Cost Sharing/Match Required Yes. Match ratio 1:1 of non-federal gifts. See C.

Eligibility Information.

Period of Performance Up to 3 years, as specified in the program announcement

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.

Published September 24, 2025

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Table of Contents A. Program Description

1. Purpose

2. Funding Restrictions

3. Background

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award

2. Summary of Funding

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

2. Matching Requirements

3. Other Eligibility Information

D. Application Contents and Format

1. Application Formatting

2. Application Component Table

3. Attachments

4. Review Criteria

5. Grants.gov Forms

E. Submission and Pre-Award Activities

1. Application Package

2. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM.gov)

3. Submission Instructions

4. Application Review Information

5. Intergovernmental Review

6. Assessment of Risk and Other Pre-Award Activities

F. Award Notices

1. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

2. Federal Award Documents

G. Post-Award Requirements and Administration

1. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

2. Reporting

H. Agency Contacts

I. Other Information

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A. Program Description

1. Purpose Endowments for Advancing the Humanities awards provide funds for 20-year term endowments to support long-term work in the humanities. Humanities organizations benefit from consistent funding over an extended period to maintain stability, to flourish, and to continue to offer valuable programs and preserve resources.

Endowment projects will focus first on fundraising. You may propose up to three years to raise and certify non-federal gifts that will be matched one-to-one with NEH federal matching funds.

Under this notice, “gifts” are defined as contributions of third-party non-federal funds or the recipient's own institutional funds. Once you have certified the required amount of non-federal gifts, you will establish a term endowment and spend its income to advance the work of the humanities at your organization.

You may request up to an additional $100,000 in outright funds for fundraising support costs (salaries, consultants, contracts, or subawards for fundraising personnel) and related indirect costs during the period of performance.

Your application should include details about the plans for endowment funds and how they would promote and sustain your organization’s humanities mission, increase its capacity, and support its humanities activities during the 20-year term. Plans for expending endowment funds should reflect careful strategic planning to strengthen and enrich an institution’s humanities activities and commitment to the preservation and advancement of knowledge and understanding of the humanities. You must also include a thorough explanation of the one- to three-year fundraising plan, and details about the fiscal health of your organization and how the endowment will be managed.

Endowment-funded costs and activities may include humanities-based personnel; research;

preservation of and access to collections and resources; curriculum development; symposia, lecture series, and other public programs; exhibitions; K–12 programs; and the purchase of supplies, equipment, software, and subscriptions to support this work.

During the 20-year term, only the income generated by the endowment may be used for these purposes; the endowment principal must remain intact. At the conclusion of the term, recipients may choose to continue the fund, grow it, or spend down the principal, but in all cases, expenditures must remain restricted to the allowable purposes originally approved.

Allowable costs and activities, as well as funding restrictions for endowment funds will be detailed in the specific program announcement to which you apply, and in the terms and conditions for award.

Intended Applicants This program is intended for humanities organizations such as museums, libraries, archives, historical societies and historic sites, research institutions, scholarly associations, and humanities-centered sub-units of colleges and universities. Your application should clearly articulate how your organization engages with humanities themes through its collections, sites, teaching, research, and/or programming. Eligible applicants that do not work primarily in the

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humanities must clearly articulate how the proposed endowment advances the humanities within and/or beyond their organizations.

Program Outputs and Outcomes Program outputs are the tangible products that result from the award. The output for all Endowments for Advancing the Humanities awards is the creation of a term endowment.

Project outcomes of an Endowments for Advancing the Humanities award refer to its impact and may vary. The outcomes of an award will involve strengthening the recipient organization and expanding its capacity to conduct its work in the humanities over the long term.

You will describe your output (the creation of a term endowment) and how it would support the project outcomes in the application Attachment 1: Narrative. If you receive an award, NEH will assess your output based on whether you are successful at certifying funds in accordance with the terms and conditions of your award. See G.2. Reporting.

2. Funding Restrictions You may not use funds made under this notice for the following purposes:

• Unallowable Costs:

o legal or administrative fees for endowment management o fundraising not specific to the project o general operating costs o high-risk investments (see Administration of Endowment Awards) o repayment of existing loans or debt o costs for activities performed by federal entities or personnel o acquisition, repair, or improvement of real estate

• Restricted activities:

o promotion of a particular political, religious, or ideological point of view o promotion of gender ideology o promotion of discriminatory equity ideology o support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) or diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives or activities o environmental justice initiatives or activities o advocacy of a particular program of social or political action o support of specific public policies or legislation o lobbying

• Programmatic exclusions:

o projects that fall outside of the humanities o the creation or performance of art o creative writing, autobiographies, memoirs, and creative nonfiction o policy studies o social science research that does not address humanistic questions and/or utilize humanistic methods

Applications including unallowable costs or activities may be judged nonresponsive and returned without review.

See 2 CFR 200 Subpart E - Cost Principles for other unallowable costs https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/Administration%20of%20NEH%20Endowment%20Awards%209_24_2025.pdf https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200#subpart-E

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3. Background NEH offers this funding opportunity under the authority of 20 U.S.C. § 956 (h) of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965. This statute allows NEH to enable "cultural organizations and institutions to increase the levels of continuing support" and to provide "administrative and management improvements for cultural organizations and institutions, particularly in the field of long-range financial planning," among other activities, through Challenge Programs. NEH Challenge awards require federal funds to be matched by non-federal gifts at a ratio of no less than one-to-one.

Activities and costs during the endowment award’s period of performance are subject to the following parts of 2 CFR Part 200:

• Subpart D—Post Federal Award Requirements o § 200.300 Statutory and national policy requirements o § 200.302 Financial management o § 200.303 Internal controls o § 200.306 Cost sharing or matching o § 200.308 Revision of budget and program plans o § 200.309 Modifications to Period of Performance o § 200.317 - § 200.327 Procurement standards o § 200.328 Financial reporting o § 200.329 Monitoring and reporting program performance o § 200.331 Subrecipient and contractor determinations o § 200.332 Requirements for pass-through entities o § 200.334 - § 200.338 Record retention and access o § 200.339 - § 200.343 Remedies for noncompliance o § 200.344 Closeout o § 200.345 Post-closeout adjustments and continuing responsibilities

• Subpart E—Cost Principles-all. Note that § 200.442(a) Fundraising and investment management costs permits fundraising for meeting the program objectives with prior written approval.

• Subpart F—Audit Requirements, 2 CFR § 200.502 (e).

Awards are subject to the NEH General Terms and Conditions for Awards to Organizations and the Administration of NEH Endowment Awards.

Once established, NEH-supported endowments are subject to the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA) of your state or, where a state law does not exist, the District of Columbia. Additionally, endowment funds are subject to the audit requirements of 2 CFR 200 Subpart F for the term of the endowment and during the spenddown period.

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 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/current/title-2/part-200/section-200.442#p-200.442(a) https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200/section-200.442#p-200.442(a) https://www.neh.gov/general-terms-and-conditions-grants-after-oct-2024 https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/Administration%20of%20NEH%20Endowment%20Awards%209_24_2025.pdf https://www.uniformlaws.org/committees/community-home?CommunityKey=043b9067-bc2c-46b7-8436-07c9054064a3 https://www.uniformlaws.org/committees/community-home?CommunityKey=043b9067-bc2c-46b7-8436-07c9054064a3 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-1998-title20/pdf/USCODE-1998-title20-chap26-subchapI-sec952.pdf

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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.

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award NEH invites new applications in response to this notice. NEH will provide funding in the form of term endowment awards.

2. Summary of Funding

Award amounts You may request up to $15,000,000 in federal matching funds. You may request up to an additional $100,000 in outright funds for fundraising support costs (salaries, consultants, contracts, or subawards for fundraising personnel) and related indirect costs.

Your request should be appropriate to your organization’s fundraising capacity. See C2.

Matching Requirements for information on match ratios and eligible gifts.

If your application is successful, you will receive an award of NEH federal matching funds that is restricted until you meet NEH award terms and conditions and submit gift certifications that are approved by NEH (see Administration of NEH Endowment Awards). NEH will release all federal matching funds only when you have certified all gifts. You must certify a minimum of $500,000 to release any NEH federal matching funds at the end of your period of performance.

NEH will not determine the funding available each fiscal year until Congress enacts the agency’s final budget. This notice is subject to the availability of appropriated funds and is a contingency action taken to ensure that, should funds become available for this purpose, NEH can process applications and issue awards in a timely manner.

Period of performance You may request a period of performance between one and three years to certify matching gifts and establish and fund the term endowment. The period of performance must start on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month. Refer to the specific program announcement for allowable start dates.

During the period of performance of the award, you will focus on raising the required non-federal gifts to match the NEH offer. NEH will monitor your fundraising progress through your annual reporting and gift certifications, referencing the plan you provide in your application. You may certify non-federal gifts once per year. NEH will maintain a restriction on your award until all gifts have been raised and certified, at which point the full amount of NEH federal matching funds will be released for you to transfer into an income-earning restricted or similar endowment account.

The period of performance ends once fundraising has been completed and the endowment has been established.

https://securegrants.neh.gov/publicquery/main.aspx https://www.neh.gov/about https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/Administration%20of%20NEH%20Endowment%20Awards%209_24_2025.pdf

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You may request a single one-year extension to the period of performance if necessary to raise the remainder of your required gifts. You must certify a minimum of $500,000 to release any NEH federal matching funds. If you are unable to complete the match at the end of the extension, the remaining NEH award amount is forfeited, and the award will be closed out.

Endowment term The endowment term is the 20-year period when you use income from the endowment for NEH-approved humanities purposes. At the end of the endowment term, you have the option to continue, grow, or spend down the endowment funds. The endowment principal must remain intact during this period. Expenditures remain restricted to supporting the same allowable activities originally approved and for the same original purposes.

You may establish your endowment with non-federal gifts at any time. NEH will release all federal matching funds when you have certified all gifts or at the end of your period of performance if you have certified a minimum of $500,000. The 20-year endowment term begins when NEH funds are deposited in the endowment.

At the conclusion of the 20-year term, your endowment governing body may choose one of the following options. In all cases, expenditures must remain restricted to the allowable activities and purposes originally approved by NEH:

a) Continue the endowment by maintaining the principal and spending only the income.

b) Grow the endowment by reinvesting some or all the income.

c) Spend down the endowment principal at a rate determined by the governing body.

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants NEH will consider applications under this notice when:

1. the Chairman specifically invites an organization to apply; or

2. the Chairman issues an open call for applications.

NEH will reject other applications submitted under this notice as nonresponsive.

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.

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

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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2. Matching Requirements To receive NEH federal matching funds, you must certify eligible gifts from non-federal sources (see Administration of NEH Endowment Awards). All applicants will use a match ratio of one-to-one; for every dollar in NEH federal matching funds you request, you must certify one dollar in gifts.

Eligibility of gifts You must raise gifts from non-federal sources consistent with the Administration of NEH Endowment Awards.

Both restricted gifts (gifts that are given specifically in support of a project) and unrestricted gifts (gifts that may be used at the recipient's discretion) are eligible to be matched.

Pledges can be certified only after they are realized in cash. Certain types of gifts, such as real estate and planned giving, are subject to special limitations. In-kind contributions are not eligible gifts in this program.

Detailed guidance on eligible gifts, and on submitting the Certification of Matching Gifts form and any required supporting documentation is available in the Administration of NEH Endowment Awards.

You must maintain auditable records of the sources of matching gifts. See 2 CFR § 200.306 and the Administration of NEH Endowment Awards.

3. Other Eligibility Information Your organization may submit only one application for Endowments for Advancing the Humanities per deadline. This includes applications from subordinate units under a parent organization.

If you submit multiple applications (including submitting to the wrong funding opportunity or making corrections/updates), NEH will accept only your last validated submission prior to the deadline under the correct Grants.gov funding opportunity.

Per 2 CFR § 200.403(f), NEH does not permit overlapping costs on two or more awards for federal funding and/or approved federal award budgets. If you are submitting 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 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.

NEH does not provide financial assistance to foreign institutions or organizations.

https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/Administration%20of%20NEH%20Endowment%20Awards%209_24_2025.pdf https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/Administration%20of%20NEH%20Endowment%20Awards%209_24_2025.pdf https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/Administration%20of%20NEH%20Endowment%20Awards%209_24_2025.pdf https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/gift-certification-form_0.pdf https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/Administration%20of%20NEH%20Endowment%20Awards%209_24_2025.pdf https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/Administration%20of%20NEH%20Endowment%20Awards%209_24_2025.pdf 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/sites/default/files/2025-09/Administration%20of%20NEH%20Endowment%20Awards%209_24_2025.pdf https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E/subject-group-ECFRea20080eff2ea53/section-200.403

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D. Application Contents and Format You must apply using Grants.gov Workspace or a Grants.gov system-to-system solution. You can find this funding opportunity, 20280930-CHE, using the link provided in the program announcement.

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.

1. Application Formatting Your application attachments must be PDFs and 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 attachments 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)

2. 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 must submit it if you receive an award and if your proposal meets the specified conditions.

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 adhere to 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 10 (mandatory) 2: Work plan workplan.pdf Required 2 (suggested) 3: Institutional profile and financial documentation profile.pdf Required 8 (suggested)

4: Résumés or biographies resumes.pdf Required 2 pages per résumé or 2 paragraphs per biography (suggested)

5: Letters of commitment and support letters.pdf Required 1 per letter (suggested)

6: Other supporting documentation documentation.pdf Optional 15 (suggested)

7: Certification of gifts certification.pdf Optional 8: Subrecipient budget(s) subrecipient.pdf Conditionally required

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

10: 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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3. Attachments 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 ten pages. Do not include an executive summary, cover page, or table of contents. You may include images, charts, diagrams, footnotes, or endnotes if they fit within the page limit. Name the file narrative.pdf.

Organize your narrative using the following headings. Each section aligns with one or more review criteria NEH will use to evaluate your proposal.

Humanities significance and impact (aligns with review criterion 1) Briefly describe your organization, including its mission and governance. Describe the significance and intellectual quality of the humanities educational activities, research, programs, and collections that the endowment award would support. Describe why these collections and/or activities are important, and to whom. Describe your organization’s history, track record, and impact in the humanities at a local, regional, national, and/or international level. You may refer to the institutional profile in Attachment 4: Résumés and biographies of key personnel.

Advancing the humanities with endowment funds (aligns with review criteria 1 and 2) Provide a detailed description of your plans for endowment funds and how they will advance your organization’s humanities mission, increase its capacity, and support humanities activities.

Describe long-term planning efforts at your organization, how this work aligns, and whether it is part of a larger initiative. What is your vision for this work over twenty years? Describe, specifically, what the endowment is likely to support. How will you measure, refine, and communicate the impact of your work during the endowment term?

Fundraising and investment plan (aligns with review criterion 3) Demonstrate your organization’s financial stability and its past record of fundraising. Provide a thorough explanation of your plan to certify the required amount of non-federal gifts to release NEH federal matching funds. Delineate the fundraising strategy and provide a timeline with annual benchmarks for raising all gifts. Provide information on prospect identification and development. Indicate if you plan to request extra funds for fundraising support costs (salaries, consultants, contracts, or subawards for fundraising personnel) and related indirect costs.

Provide an overview of your organization’s governance policies for endowments and likely investment strategies. You may refer to the management, portfolio, and performance of other endowments at your institution as relevant. Consult the Administration of Endowment Awards for NEH requirements on governance structure, investment policies, and spend policies.

You will provide recent financial statements in Attachment 3: Institutional profile and financial documentation.

Key personnel (aligns with review criterion 4) Identify the key personnel at your organization who will manage the effort to raise and certify gifts for the endowment during the period of performance. Briefly explain their roles in the https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/Administration%20of%20NEH%20Endowment%20Awards%209_24_2025.pdf

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planning and fundraising process. Do the same for external consultants and advisors, if applicable, and explain whether they are already engaged or need to be hired.

Identify the people and/or positions that will be active during the endowment term, for example, to set a vision and strategic priorities, to hire personnel, and to direct and implement the work.

Explain who will manage and govern endowment funds and how.

Briefly explain the roles and responsibilities of these individuals. You may refer to Attachment 6 Résumés of key personnel.

Attachment 2: Work plan (required) The work plan should include:

1. an overview of fundraising activities, including relevant benchmarks, designated staff, and tangible annual fundraising goals

2. a schedule of your plans for annual gift certifications, including projected amounts to be raised each year. NEH’s annual certification deadline is January 31

3. details about when and how the endowment fund will be established

Additionally, you may provide information about planning activities for the work that would be funded by the endowment during its term.

Name the file workplan.pdf.

Attachment 3: Institutional profile and financial documentation (required) Provide an institutional profile of approximately one page that covers the following:

1. Relevant facts and statistics about the institution or organization, including its:

a. history

b. mission

c. governance and administration

d. physical facilities (including whether the applicant institution owns or leases structures)

e. annual operating budget amounts for the last three fiscal years

f. staff size and composition (including the percentage of all staff who are in the humanities)

g. collections (including the percentage of all collections that are in the humanities), if applicable

h. accreditation or affiliation, if applicable

2. Data on recent humanities activities, including:

a. types and numbers of enrollments, programs, exhibitions, courses, and degrees awarded in the past two years; include the humanities fields engaged

b. percentage of total programs and offerings that are in the humanities

c. size and nature of audience or population served, including annual visitor numbers and the metrics used to determine them

d. cost to participants (if any)

e. evidence for the success of these humanities activities

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If available, provide a URL for the institution’s latest annual report.

Provide financial documentation to demonstrate the fiscal health of the organization and plans for managing the endowment. Include audited financial statements or a summary of operating income and expenditures for the past three years, as well as endowment performance information. Where the application concerns a sub-unit of a larger whole (for example, a library on a university campus), include summaries for the smaller unit. Applicants should explain significant operating surpluses or deficits in accompanying notes.

Provide information about planned investment and management strategies for the endowment.

Name the file profile.pdf.

Attachment 4: Résumés or biographies of key personnel (required) Include brief résumés or biographies for the project director and other staff with major responsibilities for fundraising, endowment management, or implementation of humanities activities during the endowment term. Include key consultants, if applicable.

Résumés should not exceed two pages in length per person; biographies should not exceed two paragraphs per person. Name the file resumes.pdf.

Attachment 5: Letters of commitment (required) and support (optional) Provide letters of commitment from appropriate officials, such as the president, provost, executive director, or board of directors, confirming the institution’s commitment to the humanities, to the fundraising effort, and to the proposed plans for the endowment term.

Letters of support may come from within or outside your institution and should demonstrate the significance, audience, and impact for your current and proposed work. Do not include more than three of these optional letters.

Elected government officials, NEH staff, and current members of the National Council on the Humanities may not serve as letter writers.

Name the file letters.pdf.

Attachment 6: Other supporting documentation (optional) You may include other relevant documents to support the application, including materials that illustrate your institution’s past or current humanities activities, such as programming and/or exhibition materials, curricula, organizational brochures, or evaluation materials (metrics or survey documents). You may include position descriptions for roles that may be supported during the endowment term.

Other supporting documentation should not exceed fifteen pages. Name the file documentation.pdf

Attachment 7: Certification of gifts (optional) You are encouraged to certify any gifts in hand with your application. NEH will review these gifts at the time of making an award instead of at the annual certification deadline of January 31.

Complete the Endowment Gift Certification Form and provide any required supporting https://www.neh.gov/about/national-council-on-the-humanities https://www.neh.gov/about/national-council-on-the-humanities https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/endowment-gift-certification-form9_25.pdf

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documentation. For information on gift eligibility and certification, see Administration of NEH Endowment Awards. Name the file certification.pdf.

Attachment 8: 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.

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.

Name the file subrecipient.pdf.

Attachment 9: Federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (conditionally required) You may charge indirect costs on expenses for a fundraising support only. 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 of 15%, you do not need to submit this attachment. Name the file agreement.pdf.

Attachment 10: 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.

4. Review Criteria Peer reviewers will use the following criteria to review applications under this notice:

1. Significance to the Humanities: The scope and significance of the applicant’s work in the humanities. The impact of the endowment to advance and sustain the applicant’s humanities work in the long term. (Aligns with narrative section Humanities significance and impact.)

2. Plans for Endowment Income and Likely Impact: The strength, clarity, and level of detail of the description and justification of the proposed plans for endowment income during the 20-year term. The impact of endowment funds for strengthening and improving the understanding https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/Administration%20of%20NEH%20Endowment%20Awards%209_24_2025.pdf https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/Administration%20of%20NEH%20Endowment%20Awards%209_24_2025.pdf https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/RR_Budget10_3_0-V3.0.pdf 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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of the humanities. Assessment and communication of the award’s impact. (Aligns with narrative section Advancing the humanities with endowment funds.)

3. Fundraising Feasibility, Institutional Commitment, and Financial Health: The quality, specificity, and feasibility of the fundraising plans, and the applicant’s likelihood of success in certifying all gifts. The overall fiscal health of the organization to support fundraising efforts, endowment establishment, and prudent management of endowment funds. The suitability of the investment strategy. The level of commitment and engagement by the applicant’s leadership and community to support and implement the proposal throughout the period of performance and endowment term. (Aligns with narrative sections Fundraising and investment plan and Humanities significance and impact.)

4. Personnel: The qualifications of personnel identified to lead and support fundraising efforts and endowment management. The qualifications of personnel identified to lead humanities advancement efforts during the endowment term. (Aligns with Narrative Section Key personnel)

5. 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.

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.

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.

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

Write the description for a nonspecialist audience, stating the importance of the proposed work and its relation to 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 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 the month and end on the last day of the month. See B2. Summary of Funding for allowable periods of performance.

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

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7. Project Director As a matter of NEH policy, the project director and grant administrator must not be the same person.

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.

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).

The 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 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.

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’s name. See the Grants.gov Online User Guide.

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

1. Project Director Select the project director’s major field of study from the drop-down menu.

2. Institutional Information Select your institution type from the drop-down menu.

3. Project Funding Enter the amount of funds you are requesting from NEH for the endowment principal under “Federal Match.” If you are requesting up to $100,000 for fundraising support, enter the amount under “Outright Funds.” Under “Cost Sharing,” enter the required total of non-federal gifts you will raise to release the NEH federal matching funds according to the 1:1 match ratio. Do not include voluntary cost share.

Learn more about the types of funding NEH offers.

https://apply07.grants.gov/help/html/help/index.htm?callingApp=custom#t=GetStarted%2FGetStarted.htm https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/types-funding

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4. Application Information Indicate whether you will submit complementary proposals to other NEH programs, government agencies, or private entities. If so, specify when and to whom. NEH will not consider this information when evaluating the merits of your proposal. See C3. Other Eligibility Information for restrictions regarding overlapping costs.

For type of application, check “new.”

Select the project’s primary discipline from the drop-down menu. If applicable, select the project’s secondary and tertiary disciplines.

Project/Performance Site Location(s) Form (Grants.gov form) Provide the primary location and any other locations where you will conduct project activities during the period of performance.

Enter congressional districts using the two-letter state abbreviation followed by your three-character district number. For example, if your institution is 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.”

Research and Related Budget (Grants.gov form) and budget justification Use the Research and Related Budget form included in the Grants.gov application package to submit a project budget for the period of performance, which is the one- to three-year period when you will raise and certify third-party, non-federal gifts. Round all costs to the nearest dollar.

Your budget must show the total project costs: the amount of federal matching funds together with the non-federal gifts, as well as any outright funds. These amounts correspond with the amounts on the Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs.

If you are requesting NEH outright funds for fundraising support fundraising support costs (salaries, consultants, contracts, or subawards for fundraising personnel), you must also submit a budget justification. Organize your budget justification using the section headings from the Research and Related Budget and describe how each item supports your proposed objectives, and detail how you calculated all costs.

All costs, whether supported by NEH funds or required non-federal gifts, must be reasonable, necessary to accomplish project objectives, allowable in terms of 2 CFR 200 Subpart E - Cost Principles, auditable, and incurred during the period of performance. Costs are subject to audit, record retention, and other requirements set forth in 2 CFR 200 Subpart F - Audit Requirements.

Introductory Fields Complete the SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational form prior to completing your Research and Related Budget, since it will auto-populate certain fields on the budget form.

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#sp2.1.200.e https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200#subpart-F https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200#subpart-F

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Endowment Principal Enter the amount for the endowment principal, NEH federal matching funds plus the required non-federal gifts, in F8. Other Direct Costs.

Fundraising Support Enter direct costs for fundraising personnel in A. Senior/Key Person, B. Other Personnel, F3.

Other Direct Costs, Consultant Services or F5. Subawards/Consortium/Contractual Costs.

Per 2 CFR 200.442, fundraising costs require prior written approval and are unallowable unless they meet the federal program objectives.

For A. Senior/Key Person or B. Other Personnel, enter the requested salary and fringe benefits for each person.

In the justification, provide the names of fundraising personnel and briefly describe their roles and suitability for the project. Detail the salary and wages you will pay to each person and the fringe benefit rate.

Requested salaries and wages must comply with 2 CFR §§ 200.430 and .466 and fringe benefits must comply with 2 CFR § 200.431.

For F3. Other Direct Costs, Consultant Services, Enter the requested funds for a fundraising consultant. In the justification, identify each consultant, describe the services they will perform, specify the amount of time they will devote to the project across the period of performance, and provide total costs. If applicable, include consultants’ proposals.

Consultant fees must comply with 2 CFR § 200.459.

For F5. Subawards/Consortium/Contractual Costs, enter the total funds you are requesting (both direct and indirect costs) for activities third parties will perform. Any costs in this section must be for fundraising personnel.

Per 2 CFR §§ 200.1 and .331(a), a subaward is an award you issue to a subrecipient to carry out part of your federal award. Subawards do not include payments to contractors (as defined in 2 CFR §§ 200.1 and .331(b)) or payments to individuals who are beneficiaries of federal programs.

Indirect Costs You may calculate indirect costs on the federal share of expenses for fundraising support only. Indirect costs are costs that your institution incurs for common or joint objectives and that you cannot readily identify with a specific project or activity.

Calculate the amount you may request by multiplying the applicable indirect cost rate by the costs for fundraising support (salaries, consultants, contracts, or subawards for fundraising personnel). Total direct and indirect costs on the federal share of expenses for a fundraising support must not exceed $100,000. If you include indirect costs in your project budget, identify the rate, explain the base, and describe any exclusions in your budget justification.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-200.442 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-200.430 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-200.466 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-200.431 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-200.459 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b76712a585433486e57dafcd521c952e&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=b76712a585433486e57dafcd521c952e&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

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If your organization does not have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate, you may:

• charge a de minimis rate of 15% applicable to MTDC (see 2 CFR § 200.414(f))

•…