National Digital Newspaper Program NOFO 2023 20230112-PJ.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Funding Opportunity Title:

National Digital Newspaper Program

Funding Opportunity Number: 20230112-PJ

Funding Opportunity Type(s): New, Renewal

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.149

Application Deadline: January 12, 2023

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

It may take up to one month to register with SAM.gov and Grants.gov.

NEH will not grant deadline extensions for lack of registration.

Division of Preservation and Access Telephone: 202-606-8570 Email: preservation@neh.gov Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1

OMB control number 3136-0134, expiration date October 31, 2024 mailto:preservation@neh.gov

20230112-PJ i

Executive Summary The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Preservation and Access is accepting applications for the National Digital Newspaper Program. This program aims to create a national digital resource of historically significant newspapers published between 1690 and 1963 from all 56 states and U.S. jurisdictions. The Library of Congress (LC) will maintain this searchable database, which will be freely accessible online.

Funding Opportunity Title National Digital Newspaper Program

Funding Opportunity Number 20230112-PJ

Federal Assistance Listing Number 45.149

Optional Draft Deadline December 1, 2022, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

Application Deadline January 12, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

Anticipated Award Announcement August 2023

Anticipated FY 2023 Funding Approximately $2,500,000

Estimated Number and Type of Awards Approximately 10 cooperative agreements

Award Amounts Up to $325,000

Cost Sharing/Match Required No, unless federal matching funds are requested

Period of Performance The period of performance is two years with a start date of September 1, 2023.

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/preservation/national-digital-newspaper-program

Published September 14, 2022 https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/national-digital-newspaper-program

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Table of Contents 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 This notice solicits applications for the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

NDNP is a partnership between NEH and the Library of Congress (LC) to create a national digital resource of historically significant newspapers published between 1690 and 1963 from all 56 states and U.S. jurisdictions. LC will permanently maintain this searchable database, which will be freely accessible online (see Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers). An accompanying national newspaper directory of bibliographic and holdings information on the website directs users to newspaper titles available in all types of formats. During the course of its partnership with NEH, LC will digitize and contribute a significant number of newspaper pages drawn from its own collections to Chronicling America.

If your application is successful, you will select newspapers—published in your state or jurisdiction between 1690 and 1963—and over a period of two years, convert approximately 100,000 pages into digital files (preferably from microfilm), according to the technical guidelines outlined by LC. You may select titles published in any language with a valid ISO 639-2 language code (or ISO 630-3, if appropriate). For newspapers published after 1926, you may only select those in the public domain (i.e., published without copyright or for which the copyright was not registered or renewed by 1963). If you wish to select titles for digitization published after 1926, you must indemnify LC and NEH.

NEH welcomes applications that involve collaboration between prior NDNP recipients and new partners. Such collaborations might involve arranging with experienced recipients to manage the creation and delivery of digital files; offering regular and ongoing consultation on managing aspects of the project; or providing formal training for project staff at an onsite institute or workshop. NDNP has supported such collaborations between the following partners: Arkansas and Mississippi; Florida and Puerto Rico; Louisiana and Mississippi; Minnesota and Iowa;

Minnesota and North Dakota; Minnesota and South Dakota; Montana and Idaho; Texas and New Mexico; Texas and Oklahoma; and Virginia and West Virginia.

NDNP supports dissemination activities that engage the wider public in exploring the digitized content, within appropriate limits. Your budget may include staff time, consultation with outside experts, and other eligible expenses related to disseminating NEH-funded products, but the primary purpose of this program is to create a national digital resource of historically significant newspapers. If you propose digitizing titles in languages other than English, you must include staff with the relevant language expertise to review the quality of the converted content and related metadata.

Your award should include an advisory board of scholars (including experts on the history of print journalism, teachers, librarians, and archivists) involved in the selection process. Advisory boards should consist of members who hold diverse professional roles and work at a variety of different institutions. In addition to providing advice on content, the advisory board should help disseminate the project’s progress and Chronicling America more generally.

If you are a prior NDNP recipient, you may apply for a subsequent award to further newspaper digitization efforts. NEH has distinct programmatic expectations depending on how many NDNP awards you have previously received. This notice outlines these expectations. NEH will consider your number of previous NDNP awards when making funding decisions.

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During your first three awards, you will become proficient in newspaper digitization production workflows and standards through your cooperative agreement with NEH and LC. At this stage, you must ensure that you or your partner institutions have access to large quantities of master negative microfilms of the state or jurisdiction’s newspapers for the period from 1690 through 1963.

If you are seeking your first, second, or third NDNP award, you should develop selection criteria with the following principles in mind:

• Titles should reflect the political, economic, and cultural history of the state or jurisdiction.

• You should give preference to titles that are recognized as “papers of record” at the state or county level and that contain published legal notices, news of state and regional governmental affairs, and announcements of community news and events.

• Selected titles should provide state, or at least multi-county, coverage of the majority of the population areas.

• You should give preference to newspapers with a broad chronological span over those with short runs or those that published sporadically.

If you are seeking a subsequent NDNP award, with the help of a carefully selected advisory board, you should develop selection criteria that move beyond the newspapers of record to include the following:

• titles with underrepresented perspectives and histories

• titles that have ceased publication and/or lack ownership, and therefore would be less likely to be digitized by other sources

• previously digitized newspapers with strong justification for inclusion

In addition to more nuanced considerations of title selection, you might also advance the technological reaches of newspaper digitization by developing content platforms; finding innovative uses for NDNP data and metadata; and collaborating with educators, scholars, and/or technical experts.

See D6. Funding Restrictions for unallowable activities.

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

2. Background NDNP builds on the foundation established by an earlier NEH initiative conducted from 1982 to 2011: the United States Newspaper Program (USNP). The USNP was a cooperative national effort to locate, catalog, and preserve on microfilm American newspapers published from the eighteenth century to the present. Projects in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands collaborated to provide bibliographic control to widely scattered newspapers and preserved on microfilm (to consistent national standards) selected titles from this vulnerable corpus. LC provided technical assistance for USNP throughout its existence.

NEH has funded NDNP projects in all fifty states and the jurisdictions of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands of the United States.

http://www.neh.gov/projects/usnp.html

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NEH intends to support projects in all states and U.S. territories and makes an award to an organization within each U.S. state or jurisdiction, which typically collaborates with relevant state partners in this effort. After their initial NDNP awards, NEH encourages state partners to seek second and third awards, to produce a total of approximately 300,000 pages of digitized newspapers per state. You may receive support for continued work beyond the third award, but NEH prioritizes applications from those states and jurisdictions that have not received NDNP funding—as well as applications from states and jurisdictions that have received fewer than three awards.

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 the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, “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.

B. Federal Award Information

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

NEH will provide funding in the form of cooperative agreements. A cooperative agreement is a financial assistance mechanism in which NEH anticipates having substantial programmatic involvement.

In collaboration with the recipients, and in partnership with technical advisors at LC, NEH responsibilities will include:

• convening an initial workshop for recipients as well as subsequent program meetings or workshops/

• consultation regarding the final selection of titles

• consultation regarding the production schedule for sample and final files

• consultation (TIFF, OCR output, PDF, JP2, and metadata) to ensure the required sample of digital assets complies with the LC’s technical specifications for the program

• ensuring LC review of all updated bibliographic records of digitized titles in WorldCat to ensure CONSER authentication and conformity with current cataloging practices for US newspapers

• reviewing and editing newspaper title essays 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.neh.gov/about/history/national-foundation-arts-and-humanities-act-1965-pl-89-209 https://securegrants.neh.gov/publicquery/main.aspx https://www.neh.gov/about https://www.worldcat.org/

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In collaboration with NEH staff, assisted by LC technical advisors, you will perform all tasks for the continued development of Chronicling America. If you receive an award, your responsibilities will include:

• establishing an advisory board responsible for applying selection criteria for digitization to state newspaper titles in the public domain (i.e., published from 1690 through 1963)

• compiling a list of newspapers selected for the project, including information about each title, its geographic and chronological coverage, its LCCN (Library of Congress Control Number) identifying number, estimated number of pages you will digitize, number of reels (LC to supply barcode for each reel), and confirmed public domain status

• evaluating and documenting copyright status for any material not currently in the public domain (You may only select material published without copyright or with a copyright not registered or renewed before 1964 and therefore in the public domain.)

• technical analysis of available microfilm for optimal scanning of the selected titles (The format of analysis must follow the technical specifications provided in the guidelines.)

• development of a production schedule with an agreed-upon timetable for sample and final files

• submission of an agreed upon number of pages, established in your work plan, and following NDNP technical specifications (approximately 100,000 pages of digitized newsprint and associated files)

• creation of a summary description (a maximum of 500 words each) of the scope, content, and significance of each digitized newspaper title, which you will deliver simultaneously with the associated assets

• surveying digital newspapers in the state in order to identify open-access (free) digital titles not included in NDNP (LC will provide a spreadsheet to conduct this survey.)

• updating bibliographic records of digitized titles in WorldCat to ensure CONSER authentication and conformity with current cataloging practices for US newspapers

• submitting all deliverables, following LC’s delivery instructions, to LC for review of conformance with the program’s technical guidelines and to NEH for subsequent review

• indemnity for the United States (and its licenses and assigns) to the extent permitted by law for projects that involve digitizing newspapers not held in the public domain based on published date against all claims, damages, liabilities, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorney’s fees) arising out of or caused by recipient’s breach of any warranty or agreement contained in this cooperative agreement

• attendance at an initial workshop and annual program meetings or workshops in the Washington, DC, area (or the virtual equivalent)

• researching, writing, and revising newspaper title essays

• quarterly data deliveries throughout the period of performance

2. Summary of Funding

Award amounts You may request up to $325,000.

Successful applicants will be awarded outright funds, which are not contingent on additional funding from other sources.

NEH anticipates awarding approximately $2,500,000 among an estimated ten recipients.

https://www.worldcat.org/

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NEH will not determine the amount available until Congress makes appropriations for FY 2023.

NEH will issue awards subject to the availability of appropriated funds. NEH is publishing this notice as a contingency action to ensure that NEH can process applications and issue awards in a timely manner, should sufficient funds become available.

Period of performance The period of performance is two years with a start date of September 1, 2023. Each renewal will have its own period of performance.

The period of performance is the span of 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 a month.

C. Eligibility Information

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

• 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

If you are an eligible applicant, 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.

To be eligible, you must not function solely as a fiscal agent for another entity and must make substantive contributions to the success of the project.

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

2. Cost Sharing NEH does not require cost sharing in this program unless you request federal matching funds.

Cost sharing or matching is the portion of the project costs you pay for with non-NEH funds.

Peer reviewers will not consider cost sharing in in their evaluation of applications.

If you request federal matching funds, you must raise third-party non-federal gifts dollar-for-dollar. NEH will certify the allowability of these gifts before releasing federal matching funds.

Typically, NEH distributes federal matching funds on an annual basis over the period of performance. See the NEH Federal Matching Funds Guidelines.

You may contribute voluntary cost share to your project if the total costs exceed the amount awarded by NEH. Voluntary cost share includes:

• cash contributions made to the project by you or a third party 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 https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/federal-matching-funds-guidelines

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• 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.

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 only one application under this notice.

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

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

Per 2 CFR § 200.403(f), you must not include the same project costs in more than one application for federal funding and/or approved federal award budget. However, you may submit multiple proposals for complementary aspects of the same overall project. NEH may disallow costs or reject applications with overlapping project costs. An individual’s level of effort cannot exceed 100% across multiple active federally funded awards.

NEH does not make 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, but you may not use them as gifts to release NEH matching funds.

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 preservation@neh.gov.

Except for the rare cases covered by its late submission policy, NEH must receive your application by the deadline.

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

NEH will not review applications that exceed page limits or violate formatting instructions. See the Application Components Table.

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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 20230112-PJ. There is also a link on the program resource page.

Once you have located the funding opportunity in Grants.gov, you will find the application package under the “Package” tab. It includes a series of required and conditionally required forms. You will upload additional application components using the Attachments Form.

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

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

If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you can contact NEH using telecommunications relay at 7-1-1.

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.

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 you meet the specified conditions.

• Optional: You may submit this component, but it is not required.

You must submit all required components and conditionally required components relevant to your proposal. NEH will not review applications missing any required documents or relevant conditionally required documents.

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.

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

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

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In addition, you are encouraged 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 (citations are included in page counts)

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Application Component Table Application Component File Name Designation Page limits

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 Required

Attachments Form Required

Certification Regarding Lobbying Conditionally required

Standard Form-LLL “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities”

Conditionally

Attachments

1: Narrative narrative.pdf Required 10 or 15 pages

(mandatory;

see narrative instructions)

2: Work plan workplan.pdf Required

3: Résumés for key personnel resumes.pdf Required 2 pages per résumé

(mandatory)

4: Consultants and advisory board members consultants.pdf Required

Error! Reference source not found.5: Letters of commitment letters.pdf Optional

6: Additional supporting documentation documentation.pdf Optional

7: History of awards history.pdf Optional

8: Subrecipient budget(s) subrecipient.pdf Conditionally

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

10: Explanation of delinquent federal debt delinquentdebt.pdf Conditionally

Narrative Compose a narrative that provides 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.

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If you are seeking your first, second, or third NDNP award, you must limit your narrative to ten pages.

If you are seeking a subsequent NDNP award, you must limit the narrative to fifteen pages.

Note the differentiated narrative instructions depending on your project’s phase.

If relevant, include sample materials (such as URLs or screenshots) and statistics (the number of projects undertaken and of digitized materials) that illustrate your experience executing comparable digital conversion projects.

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

History and scope of the project (aligns with review criterion 1)

Provide a concise summary of how the state or jurisdiction’s newspapers add new perspectives or insights into regional and national history. How do the newspapers’ chronological or geographical reach, their voicing of either popular or underrepresented perspectives, or their unique publishing history illuminate major historical events and/or uncover lesser-known events?

Unless you have not previously received an NDNP award, describe the project’s work to date, including specific information about deliverables in comparison with projected goals.

If you are seeking your first, second, or third NDNP award, describe newspaper collections within the state or jurisdiction and the extent to which they have been cataloged and microfilmed. Discuss past or current efforts to digitize these collections. You may provide additional supporting documentation regarding newspaper collections in Attachment 6:

Additional supporting documentation.

If you are seeking a subsequent NDNP award, describe the themes guiding the next round of title selection. Provide evidence of user interest in and need for this thematic direction.

Methodology and standards (aligns with review criteria 2, 3, and 5)

Indicate whether you or your partners have access to large quantities of master negative microfilms of the state or jurisdiction’s newspapers for the period from 1690 through 1963 and whether the film was produced to USNP microfilming guidelines. If you propose including microfilm that was not created to USNP standards, describe the overall quality of the microfilm and its suitability for digitization, including general information about such factors as its density, resolution, reduction ratio, focus, and physical condition.

Discuss how you will select newspapers published between 1690 and 1963 and ensure that those selected are in the public domain.

If relevant, discuss your capacity to administer a project that involves multiple partners. Explain the role of any proposed partners and include letters from those institutions indicating their commitment to the project in Attachment 5.

Explain how you will evaluate and document copyright registration and/or renewal for all material not held in the public domain based on published date. The inability to locate the http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/usnp/usnpguidelinesp.html

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copyright holder for titles with registered or renewed copyrights does not mean that the titles are in the public domain. Explain how you will ensure that “orphaned works” will not be selected for digitization.

Describe your selection criteria, keeping in mind the principles outlined in Section A1. Purpose.

If you are seeking your first, second, or third NDNP award, describe your institution’s existing infrastructure for undertaking digital projects. Discuss your institution’s experience with large digital conversion projects, especially from microfilm, and with projects that involve serials or newspapers. Discuss your involvement in any initiatives and/or partnerships to advance technological capacities—such as platforms, IIIF, or OCR—for digital newspapers.

If you are seeking a subsequent NDNP award, explain what kind of information about individual titles you would make available to the advisory committee to allow them to select papers that reflect diverse coverage—differences in readership, editorial stance, or political orientation—as well as linguistic, geographical, ethnic, and racial representation.

Dissemination (aligns with review criterion 4)

Describe how you will disseminate the project's products to the attention of the relevant communities of users, such as scholars, students, educators, and the broader public. NDNP can support outreach activities within appropriate limits, such as development of lesson plans, Wiki-thons, and social media promotion; it cannot support large-scale exhibits or conferences. Your budget may include staff time and other eligible expenses related to disseminating the NEH-funded product.

Work plan (aligns with review criterion 5)

Summarize your work plan, providing an overview of what you will accomplish during each stage of the project. Describe activities for each stage and specify the project team members involved. For multi-institutional collaborative projects, discuss the distribution of responsibilities across each institution. Provide a detailed version of your work plan in Attachment 2: Work plan.

Staff (aligns with review criterion 6)

Identify the project staff, including consultants, advisory board members, and other technical and production staff. Describe their duties and qualifications. Indicate the amount of time that the principal members of the project staff will devote to the project.

Describe the advisory board of scholars (including experts on the history of print journalism, teachers, librarians, and archivists) involved in the selection process.

If you are seeking a subsequent NDNP award, you should describe how new or existing members of the advisory board are suited to address the proposed selection criteria.

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Narrative Alignment

Each section of the narrative aligns with corresponding review criteria. Use the crosswalk to ensure you address all criteria.

Narrative Section Review Criteria

History and scope of the project 1

Methodology and standards 2, 3, and 5

Dissemination 4

Work plan 5

Staff 6

Research and Related Budget You must submit a project budget using the Research and Related Budget form included in the Grants.gov application package and attach a budget justification.

Complete a single detailed budget for the entire period of performance. The form will generate a cumulative budget.

The form indicates required fields in yellow. Round all costs to the nearest whole dollar. The inclusion of a cost category on the Research and Related Budget does not necessarily mean that an expense is allowable. See D6. Funding Restrictions to ensure that proposed costs are allowable.

If you are only requesting outright funds, your budget should include only the funding you are requesting from NEH. If you are requesting federal matching funds, your budget must equal the total funding requested from NEH (outright and federal matching funds) and the one-to-one required third party cost share for the federal matching funds. Refer to the NEH Federal Matching Funds Guidelines regarding the eligibility of gifts for matching purposes.

The total federal matching funds and cost share should equal the amounts indicated on the Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs in the “Federal Matching” and “Cost Sharing” fields. Learn about types of funds NEH offers.

If you will provide voluntary cost share, do not include it on the Research and Related Budget form. You may describe it in your budget justification.

All costs, whether supported by NEH funds or required cost sharing contributions (if applicable), 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. All costs are subject to audit, record retention, and other requirements set forth in 2 CFR 200 Subpart F - Audit Requirements.

You should only include your own employees under A. Senior/Key Person and B. Other Personnel. Include team members in leadership roles in the project under A. Senior/Key Person.

Include other team members under B. Other Personnel. Include costs for non-employees under F3. Consultant Services or F5. Subawards/Consortium/Contractual Costs, as appropriate.

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If you charge indirect costs to the project, you must not charge those same costs to the project as direct costs. See H. Indirect Costs.

Introductory Fields

If not prepopulated, indicate your organization’s Unique Entity Identifier, name, and the period of performance. This should be the same as the information you provide on your SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational. You may need to complete the SF-424 prior to completing your Research and Related Budget. Your period of performance must start on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month. For budget type, check “project.”

A. Senior/Key Person

Include personnel who are employed by the applicant institution in leadership roles on the project. Do not include collaborators at other institutions or consultants, as you will include them in F. Other Direct Costs.

Enter the base salary (annual compensation) for each senior/key person and identify the number of months they will devote to the project. If you do not include base salaries, your award may be delayed.

Many non-academic institutions organize their budgets using calendar months. If your organization does not differentiate between academic and summer months, use only the calendar months column.

If your organization follows an academic calendar, you may differentiate levels of effort by using the academic and summer months columns. You may also use both columns if your institutional policy requires accounting for academic and summer months separately. If your institution does not use a nine-month academic year and a three-month summer period, include your institution's definition of these terms in your budget justification.

Enter the requested salary and fringe benefits for each senior/key person. Per 2 CFR § 200.431, fringe benefits are allowances and services you provide in addition to salaries and wages. Fringe benefits include, but are not limited to, the costs of leave (vacation, family-related, sick, or military), employee insurance, pensions, and unemployment benefit plans.

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

The form will calculate the requested salary and fringe benefits for each key person.

The form has space for up to eight people. If you request funds for additional key personnel, list them in a separate document using the same format as the Research and Related Budget. Save the document as a PDF named additionalpersonnel.pdf and attach it under “Additional/Senior Key Persons.” If applicable, enter the total funds you are requesting for additional senior/key persons in the "Total Funds requested for all Senior/Key Persons in the attached file" field.

B. Other Personnel

Include personnel employed by the applicant institution who will play a supporting role on the project. For each project role, identify the number of personnel proposed, the total number of https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=35fcd29238edd42c8b1f8b1628e39d47&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1431 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=35fcd29238edd42c8b1f8b1628e39d47&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1430 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=35fcd29238edd42c8b1f8b1628e39d47&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1466 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=35fcd29238edd42c8b1f8b1628e39d47&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1431

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months, total salary, and total fringe benefits requested as described in A. Senior/Key Person.

The form will calculate the requested salary and fringe benefits for each group.

Post-doctoral associates, graduate students, and undergraduate students

If applicable, include charges for tuition remission and other forms of compensation paid to students as, or in lieu of, salaries and wages. You must report such costs in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.466(b), and must treat them as direct or indirect costs in accordance with the actual work performed. You may charge tuition remission on an average rate basis.

Secretarial/Clerical

In most circumstances, you should include the salaries of administrative, secretarial, or clerical staff as indirect costs (see H. Indirect Costs). Per 2 CFR § 200.413(c), you may charge salaries for administrative or clerical staff as direct costs only if the following conditions are met:

• The administrative or clerical services are integral to a project or activity.

• The individuals involved can be specifically identified with the project or activity.

• You explicitly include these costs in your budget or have prior written approval from

NEH.

• You do not also recover the costs as indirect costs.

If you include administrative or clerical salaries in your budget as direct costs, document how direct charging meets all four conditions in your budget justification. NEH may request additional information to assess if proposed costs are allowable.

Additional Other Personnel

List additional project roles, if applicable. The form has space for six named roles. If you have more, combine project roles on the form and explain in your budget justification.

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

Do not list collaborators at other institutions or consultants here, as you will include them in F.

Other Direct Costs.

C. Equipment Description

Equipment is defined as nonexpendable personal property costing $5,000 or more per item and having a service life of more than one year (unless your organization has established a lower level). See 2 CFR §§ 200.313 and .439.

You may purchase equipment if analysis demonstrates that it is more economical and practical than leasing (equipment rental/user fees should be included in F. Other Direct Costs). You may charge depreciation in compliance with 2 CFR § 200.436.

Per 2 CFR § 200.322, you should preference goods, products, and materials produced in the United States purchased or acquired under a federal award. If your application is selected for funding, you must include the requirements of this section in all subawards, contracts, and purchase orders for work or products.

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List each item of equipment you plan to purchase and its estimated cost, including shipping and maintenance. Include supporting information, such as a price quote, in your budget justification.

The form has space for ten items. If you request funds for additional equipment, list them in a separate document. Save the document as a PDF named additionalequipment.pdf and attach it under “Additional Equipment.” Enter the total funds you are requesting for the additional equipment in the “Total funds requested for all equipment listed in the attached file” field.

The form will calculate total equipment costs.

D. Travel

Enter the total funds you are requesting for both domestic travel (local and long-distance) and foreign travel (including travel to Canada and Mexico). Provide a detailed breakdown of costs for each trip in your budget justification. If you make nonrefundable travel arrangements, it is at your own risk. You cannot charge cancelled travel to your award.

Travel costs must comply with 2 CFR § 200.475 and the General Terms and Conditions for Awards to Organizations. NEH uses the General Services Administration's published per diem rates to assess if proposed travel costs are reasonable.

Include funds for two members of the project team with major responsibility to attend two-day meetings at NEH’s offices in Washington, D.C., in September 2023 and September 2024. One should be knowledgeable about the state or jurisdiction’s newspaper collections; the other should have technical experience with digitization projects. Recent meetings have been held virtually due to travel restrictions, but attendance at an annual program meeting or workshop, whether held in Washington, D.C., or online, is mandatory. If the meetings are virtual, NEH will allow you to rebudget these meeting funds. See B1. Type of Application and Award.

You may not use NEH funds to attend regularly occurring professional meetings unless the purpose of attending is to disseminate project-related findings.

Include travel costs for participants in E3 and travel costs for consultants in F3.

The form will calculate total travel costs.

E. Participant/Trainee Support Costs

Participants are the beneficiaries, not the providers, of a service or training opportunity (such as a workshop, conference, seminar, or symposium) funded by a federal award.

2 CFR § 200.1 defines participant support costs as direct costs for expenses such as stipends, travel allowances, subsistence allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants (but not employees) in connection with conferences or training projects.

2 CFR § 200.432 defines a conference as a meeting, retreat, seminar, symposium, workshop, or event, the primary purpose of which is the dissemination of technical information beyond the non-federal entity, and which is necessary and reasonable for successful performance under the federal award.

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Include supporting information in your budget justification. If you or your participants make nonrefundable travel arrangements, it is at your own risk. You cannot charge cancelled travel to your award.

The form will calculate total participant support costs.

1. Tuition/Fees/Health Insurance

Leave this field blank.

2. Stipends

Enter the total funds you are requesting for participant stipends.

3. Travel

Enter the total funds you are requesting for participant travel. In your budget justification, name the travelers (if known) and itemize their travel expenses (e.g., roundtrip airfare, mileage, public transportation fares, parking fees, etc.).

4. Subsistence

Enter the total funds you are requesting for participant subsistence. Subsistence expenses include lodging and service charges; meals, including taxes and tips; and incidental expenses (e.g., fees and tips).

5. Other

Describe other participant support costs (e.g., local ground transportation to venues, admission fees, bottled water, etc.) and enter the total funds you are requesting. You may provide additional information in your budget justification.

Number of Participants/Trainees

Enter the total number of participants. This field cannot exceed 999.

F. Other Direct Costs

The form will calculate total other direct costs.

1. Materials and Supplies

Enter the total funds you are requesting for materials and supplies that cost less than $5,000 per item, regardless of its useful life, unless your organization has established a different capitalization level. See 2 CFR §§ 200.314 and .453.

2. Publication Costs

Enter the total funds you are requesting for publication costs, including the costs of documenting, preparing, publishing, or otherwise making available to others the findings and products of the work conducted under the award. Include supporting information in your budget justification.

3. Consultant Services

Enter the total funds you are requesting for consultant services. If your project includes an external advisory committee, include associated costs here.

Consultant fees must comply with 2 CFR § 200.459.

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4. Automated Data Processing (ADP)/Computer Services

Enter the total funds you are requesting for ADP/computer services, including computer-based retrieval of scientific, technical, and education information. Include personal computers and accessories under Materials and Supplies.

If a third party will provide these services, include them in Subawards/Consortium/Contractual Costs.

5. Subawards/Consortium/Contractual Costs

Enter the total funds you are requesting (both direct and indirect costs) for activities third parties will perform.

Per 2 CFR §§ 200.1 and .331(a), a subaward is an award you issue to a…