NDNP 2026 NOFO 082025.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

National Digital Newspaper Program

Funding Opportunity Number: 20260109-PJ

Funding Opportunity Type: New, Renewal

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.149

Application Deadline: January 15, 2026

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 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, 2027 mailto:preservation@neh.gov

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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 creates 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 (LOC) maintains this freely accessible, searchable online database.

Funding Opportunity Title National Digital Newspaper Program Funding Opportunity Number 20260109-PJ Federal Assistance Listing Number 45.149 Application Deadline January 15, 2026, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Anticipated Award Announcement August 2026 Anticipated FY 2025 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 Period of Performance The period of performance is two years with a start date of September 1, 2026.

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 August 20, 2025 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 (LOC) to create a national digital resource of historically significant newspapers published between 1690 and 1963 from all 56 states and U.S. jurisdictions. LOC will permanently maintain this freely accessible, searchable online database (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 its partnership with NEH, LOC also will digitize and contribute newspaper pages drawn from its own collections to Chronicling America.

If your application is successful, you will select newspapers—published in states or jurisdictions 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 LOC.

NEH welcomes applications that involve collaboration between state and jurisdictional partners, which might involve arrangements to manage the creation and delivery of digital files; regular and ongoing consultation about project management; or formal training for project staff. States and jurisdictions are encouraged to digitize titles published within their current geographic boundaries, including those from Native American Tribal nations, but cases for digitization beyond such boundaries can be made. For example, a state may digitize Native American newspapers that were published in another state, or a state may partner with a jurisdiction to digitize the newspapers from there. If you propose to digitize titles published outside of what is now your state or jurisdiction, you must provide the rationale for doing so.

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.

Your proposed project must include an advisory board. The advisory board could include scholars, teachers, traditional knowledge keepers, librarians, and archivists at a variety of institutions, and the board should be involved in selecting the newspapers to be digitized. In addition to providing advice on content, the advisory board should help disseminate the project’s progress and Chronicling America more generally.

NEH has distinct programmatic expectations depending on how many NDNP awards your state or jurisdiction has previously received. NEH will consider this number of previous NDNP awards when making funding decisions.

First three NDNP awards During a state or jurisdiction’s first three awards, you will become proficient in newspaper digitization production workflows and standards through your cooperative agreement with NEH and LOC. At this stage, you must ensure that you or your partner institutions have access to http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ https://www.loc.gov/ndnp/guidelines/NDNP_202628TechNotes.pdf

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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.

Fourth and subsequent NDNP awards If you are seeking a fourth or subsequent NDNP award for your state or jurisdiction, you should, with the help of a carefully selected advisory board, develop selection criteria that move beyond the newspapers of record to include the following:

• In recognition of the United States Semiquincentennial, titles from the eighteenth century, or from the time period during which a state was admitted to the Union or a jurisdiction came under U.S. control, as well as previously digitized newspapers with strong justification for inclusion, such as early American titles in need of technical updates or not currently available to the public.

• Titles with perspectives and histories not well covered in Chronicling America.

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

In addition to more nuanced considerations of title selection, you might also collaborate with educators, scholars, and/or technical experts to broaden the reach of Chronicling America and to find innovative uses for NDNP data and metadata.

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

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

Program Outputs and Outcomes The outputs of a successful National Digital Newspaper Program award may include but are not limited to:

• digitized newspapers published in U.S. states or jurisdictions for ingest into Chronicling America,

• title essays to accompany digitized newspapers, and

• educational materials and/or other digital initiatives to increase the use of Chronicling

America.

The outcome of a successful National Digital Newspaper Program award will be:

• enhanced free, public access to historical U.S. newspapers.

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You will describe your project outputs and how they would support the overall purpose of the National Digital Newspaper Program in Attachment 1: Narrative. If you receive an award, NEH will assess your performance based on the outputs you identify in the proposal against what you describe in your performance report. See F3. Reporting.

2. Background NEH offers this funding opportunity under the authority of 20 U.S.C. § 956 and Executive Order 14189, Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday. 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Learn more about NEH.

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

• ensuring LOC 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

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

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?hl=false&edition=prelim&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title20-section956 https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/03/2025-02231/celebrating-americas-250th-birthday 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-grants-after-oct-2024 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-1998-title20/pdf/USCODE-1998-title20-chap26-subchapI-sec952.pdf https://securegrants.neh.gov/publicquery/main.aspx https://www.neh.gov/about https://www.worldcat.org/

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• 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 (LOC 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)

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

• submitting 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)

• researching, writing, and revising title essays (approximately 500 words each) about 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 to identify open-access (free) digital titles not included in NDNP (LOC 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 LOC’s delivery instructions, to LOC for review of conformance with the program’s technical guidelines and to NEH for subsequent review

• providing indemnity for the United States (and its licensees and assignees) 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

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

• providing quarterly data deliveries throughout the period of performance

2. Summary of Funding Award amounts You may request up to $325,000. This includes the sum of direct and indirect costs.

NEH anticipates awarding approximately $2,500,000 among an estimated 10 recipients.

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

NEH will not determine the exact amount available for funding until Congress makes official appropriations for FY 2026 and will issue awards subject to the availability of appropriated funds. NEH is publishing this notice as a contingency to ensure that NEH can process applications and issue awards in a timely manner, should sufficient funds become available.

https://www.loc.gov/ndnp/guidelines/NDNP_202628TechNotes.pdf https://www.worldcat.org/ https://www.loc.gov/ndnp/guidelines/NDNP_202628TechNotes.pdf

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Period of performance You may request a period of performance up to 2 years with a start date of September 1, 2026.

Each renewal will have its own period of performance. The new period of performance cannot overlap with the period of performance of an active NDNP award.

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

C. Eligibility Information

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

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

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

• a state or local government or one of their agencies

• a federally recognized Native American Tribal government

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

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

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

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

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

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

• your unrecovered indirect costs

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

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

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

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

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

Learn about types of funds NEH offers.

3. Other Eligibility Information An organization 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 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. You may use funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in your project.

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

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

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

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

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 20260109-PJ. There is also a link on the program resource page.

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

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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 prior to submitting your application. See D3.

Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management.

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

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

Application formatting Your application 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)

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 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 abide by the page limit.

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

Application Component File Name Designation Page limit Attachments 1: Narrative narrative.pdf Required 15 (mandatory) 2: Work plan workplan.pdf Required 3: Résumés or biographies resumes.pdf Required 2 pages per resume (suggested)

4. Consultants and advisory board members consultants.pdf Required

5. Letters of Commitment and Support letters.pdf optional

6. Additional supporting documentation documentation.pdf optional

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

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

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

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

Required

Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs

Required

Project/Performance Site(s) Location Form

Required

Research and Related Budget and Budget Justification

Required

Attachments Form Required Certification Regarding Lobbying Conditionally

Standard Form-LLL “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities”

Conditionally

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

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

You must limit the narrative to 15 single-spaced 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.

History and Scope (aligns with review criterion 1) Provide a concise summary of how the newspapers selected add new perspectives or insights into local and national histories. How do the newspapers’ chronological or geographical reach, their perspectives, or their unique publishing history illuminate major historical events, or uncover lesser-known events? If you are proposing to digitize newspapers published outside of your state or jurisdiction, provide a rationale for this inclusion.

If you have 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 state or jurisdiction’s 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.

If you are seeking your state or jurisdiction’s fourth or subsequent NDNP award, describe the themes guiding this round of title selection. Provide evidence of user interest in and need for this thematic direction.

All applicants should clearly state the project outputs in the narrative.

You may provide additional supporting documentation regarding newspaper collections in Attachment 6: Additional supporting documentation.

Methodology and Standards (aligns with review criteria 1 and 2) Discuss how you will select newspapers published between 1690 and 1963 and ensure that those selected are in the public domain. Describe your selection criteria, keeping in mind the principles outlined in Section A1. Purpose. If you are proposing to digitize newspapers published outside of your state or jurisdiction, explain how you will include representatives and stakeholders from the communities represented in the newspaper titles in the project.

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 http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/usnp/usnpguidelinesp.html

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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.

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: Letters of Commitment and Support.

Explain how you will evaluate and document copyright registration and/or renewal for all material not held in the public domain. The inability to locate the 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.

If you are seeking your first, second, or third NDNP award, describe your institution’s existing infrastructure for undertaking digital projects and/or your collaboration with other institutions to undertake such projects. Discuss your institution’s experience with or collaboration on 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 fourth or 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.

Consult the criteria in Section A.1 Purpose.

Dissemination (aligns with review criterion 3) Describe how you will disseminate the project’s products to 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. If you are proposing to digitize newspapers outside of your state or jurisdiction, consider how you will engage users outside of your state.

Staff (aligns with review criterion 4) 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.

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.

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

Name the file narrative.pdf.

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Attachment 2: Work plan (required) Your work plan should reflect the major activities you describe in your narrative, the project dates on your SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational, and your Research and Related Budget.

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.

Name the file workplan.pdf.

Attachment 3: Résumés for key personnel (required) Include résumés for key personnel. The suggested length for each is two pages. Include job descriptions for any additional staff you will hire to work on the project.

Name the file resumes.pdf.

Attachment 4: Consultants and advisory board members (required) List consultants to the project and members of the project’s advisory board. Include their names, institutional affiliations, and a brief statement of their project role. Do not include resumes in this attachment.

Name the file consultants.pdf.

Attachment 5: Letters of commitment and support (optional) Provide any documents that describe working relationships between your organization and other individuals, entities and programs cited in the application. Letters of commitment must be signed and dated.

You may also include up to three letters of support. 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: Additional supporting documentation (optional) You may provide supplemental information in this attachment. This might include, for instance, information about state or jurisdictional newspaper titles on microfilm.

Name the file documentation.pdf.

Attachment 7: Subrecipient budget(s) (conditionally required) If your project includes subawards, you must provide a separate Research and Related Budget and budget justification for each subrecipient.

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

https://www.neh.gov/about/national-council-on-the-humanities https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/RR_Budget10_3_0-V3.0.pdf

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

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

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

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

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

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

Name the file subrecipient.pdf.

Attachment 8: Federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (conditionally required) If your organization is claiming indirect costs and has a current federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, provide a copy of the agreement. If applicable, provide the indirect cost rate agreements for subrecipients claiming indirect costs. If you and your subrecipients are requesting the de minimis rate, you do not need to submit this attachment.

Name the file agreement.pdf.

Attachment 9: Explanation of delinquent federal debt (conditionally required for recipients) If your organization is delinquent in the repayment of any federal debt, explain why. Provide evidence that you have entered into a repayment agreement with the Internal Revenue Service, if applicable, and that you are current on all payments due. Examples of relevant debt include delinquent payroll or other taxes, audit disallowances, and benefit overpayments. See OMB Circular A-129.

Name the file delinquentdebt.pdf.

Application Components: Grants.gov Forms

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

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

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

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

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

6. Project Information

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The grant administrator (also called the “institutional grant administrator”) functions as the representative of the recipient organization. This individual should have authority to act on the https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

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organization’s behalf in matters related to the administration of the award. The institutional grant administrator must sign or countersign financial reports and prior approval requests such as budget revisions, extensions to the period of performance, and changes in key personnel.

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

9. Authorized Representative Provide the name, title, and contact information for the authorized organization representative (AOR) who is submitting the application on behalf of the institution. This person, often called an “authorizing official,” is typically someone from the Office of Sponsored Projects, or the institution’s president, vice president, executive director, or board chair. The institution’s Grants.gov E-Business Point of Contact must designate the AOR. The AOR’s signature must match the contact’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 requested under “Outright Funds.” Do not enter anything under “Federal Match” or “Cost Sharing.”

Learn more about the types of funding NEH offers.

4. Application Information Indicate whether you or others 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.”

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The form has space for 300 sites. If your project includes additional locations, list them in a separate document. Save the document as a PDF named additionallocations.pdf and attach it under “Additional Locations.”

Research and Related Budget (Grants.gov form) 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 the SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational form prior to completing your Research and Related Budget.

Complete a separate detailed budget for each 12-month span of the 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 form does not automatically indicate that an expense is allowable in this program. See D6. Funding Restrictions to ensure that proposed costs are allowable.

If you 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 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.

You should include only 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.

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

Introductory Fields Your SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational form should pre-populate introductory fields. If not pre-populated, indicate your organization’s Unique Entity Identifier, name, and the period of performance. This should match the information you provide on your SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational. 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.

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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 use both columns if your institutional policy requires separate accounting for academic and summer months. 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 may include the costs of leave (e.g., 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 requested 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 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.

Administrative/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 they meet the following conditions:

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

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

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