PAG 2025.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions

Funding Opportunity Number: 20250109-PG

Funding Opportunity Type: New

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.149

Application Deadline: January 9, 2025

Applicants to NEH for awards with expected issuance dates on or after October 1, 2024, should be aware of revisions to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR Part 200) effective from that date. All NEH awards issued on or after October 1, 2024, will be subject to the revised regulations. You may incorporate these changes into your applications now.

Additional information is available at https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/2024-Revisions-to-2-CFR-200.

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 Email: preservation@neh.gov Telephone: 202-606-8570 Federal Relay: 7-1-1

OMB control number 3136-0134, expiration date October 31, 2024 https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/2024-Revisions-to-2-CFR-200 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 Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions program.

The purpose of this program is to help small and mid-sized institutions improve their ability to preserve and care for their humanities collections. The program encourages applications from small and mid-sized institutions that have never received an NEH grant.

Funding Opportunity Title Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions Funding Opportunity Number 20250109-PG Federal Assistance Listing Number 45.149 Application Deadline January 9, 2025, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Anticipated Award Announcement August 2025 Anticipated FY 2025 Funding Approximately $550,000 Estimated Number and Type of Awards Approximately 55 grants Award Amounts Up to $10,000 for organizations in the contiguous U.S.

Organizations located in a non-contiguous state or jurisdiction may request an additional $5,000 for consultants’ travel and shipping costs.

Cost Sharing/Match Required No Period of Performance Up to eighteen months

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

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

• accredited institutions of higher education (public or nonprofit)

• state and local governments and their agencies

• federally recognized Native American Tribal governments

See C. Eligibility Information for additional information.

Program Resource Page https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/preservation-assistance-grants-smaller-institutions

Pre-Application Webinar October 29, 2024, 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time Register here.

Published October 1, 2024 https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/preservation-assistance-grants-smaller-institutions https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/preservation-assistance-grants-smaller-institutions https://events.gcc.teams.microsoft.com/event/e33e9e74-f57b-440c-999a-d92636b953fb@93b06459-c77d-44b6-af7f-e813cddcdcc3

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Table of Contents

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

1. Purpose

2. Background

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award

2. Summary of Funding

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

2. Cost Sharing

3. Other Eligibility Information

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Application Package

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management

4. Submission Dates and Times

5. Intergovernmental Review

6. Funding Restrictions

E. Application Review Information

1. Review Criteria

2. Review and Selection Process

3. Assessment of Risk and Other Pre-Award Activities

4. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

3. Reporting

G. Agency Contacts H. Other Information

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A. Program Description

1. Purpose This notice solicits applications for the Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions program from the NEH Division of Preservation and Access.

Preservation Assistance Grants help small and mid-sized organizations preserve and manage humanities collections, ensuring their significance for a variety of users, including source communities, humanities researchers, students, and the public, by building their capacity to identify and address physical and intellectual preservation risks. The program encourages applications from institutions that have never received an NEH grant as well as community colleges, minority serving institutions (Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities), Native American tribes and tribal organizations, and Native Alaskan and Native Hawaiian organizations. Furthermore, NEH encourages applicants whose organizations or collections represent the contributions of historically excluded communities.

The Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions program focuses on foundational activities in preservation and management of collections. Collections may include archives and manuscripts, prints and photographs, moving images, sound recordings, architectural and cartographic records, decorative and fine art objects, textiles, archaeological and ethnographic items, tribal collections, material culture, historical objects, special collections of books and journals, and digitized and born-digital materials. Supported activities should fall into the following general categories, though the lists of possible activities are not exhaustive:

Preservation Assessments and Planning

• General preservation assessments

• Digital preservation assessments

• Conservation assessments

• Assessing environmental impacts of lighting systems or aging mechanical systems

• Assessing collection documentation needs to identify an appropriate collection management system

• Foundational conversations and/or consultations with source communities represented in collections to determine culturally appropriate preventive care practices and/or initiate or develop accurate vocabularies and/or descriptions of collection items resulting in a processing guide or written report with actionable recommendations

• Consultations with scholars and subject matter experts to initiate or develop accurate vocabularies and/or descriptions of collection items resulting in a processing guide or written report with actionable recommendations

• Development and revision of written plans, policies, and procedures such as emergency/disaster preparedness and response plans, digitization plans, storage plans, collection management plans, collecting plans, loan policies, and processing manuals

Preventive Care

• Purchase, shipping, and installation costs of storage and preservation supplies, including durable furniture and supplies (e.g., cabinetry, shelving units, storage containers, boxes, folders, and sleeves) for the purpose of rehousing collections for long-term storage or display, digital storage (e.g., external hard drives, RAID, NAS, LTO systems, and cloud-

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based storage), and discrete and reversible units to improve the environment (e.g., portable dehumidifiers, air conditioning units, UV filtering shades, and HEPA vacuums).

Project expenses such as storage furniture, UV filters, or discrete units for air conditioning must demonstrate that they will not make irreversible changes to buildings.

• Implementing and improving environmental monitoring and/or integrated pest management programs, including the purchase of necessary monitoring supplies and related tracking software

• Implementing and/or piloting environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies, which may have been recommended in previous preservation assessments or by a consultant, such as addressing water runoff systems to prevent moisture impacts on collections spaces or creating preservation microclimates for vulnerable collections

• Workshops and/or training for staff and volunteers that address preservation topics, which might include preservation and care of specific material types, care and handling of collections during rehousing and/or digitization, preservation standards for digital collections, disaster preparedness and response, integrated pest management, or an overview of the agents of deterioration

Collections Management

• Initial steps that improve the management of collections and knowledge of the contents of collections, such as location and format surveys, inventories, updating condition reports, and/or other preparatory steps toward description of collections

• Workshops and/or training courses for staff and volunteers that address intellectual control topics such as best practices for arrangement, description, and cataloging of collections

We encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to hire a consultant to support and further develop your organization’s capacity. Staff can also lead project activities, especially if they are implementing recommendations from a previous assessment or established frameworks. In all cases, you must demonstrate that project staff and consultants have the necessary background, skills, and training to perform the requested activities. For more information on how to select a preservation or information consultant, applicants may wish to consult the FAQs and resources included in H. Other Information.

Applications can focus on discrete activities, such as an assessment or the development of a written plan, or a combination of connected activities, such as rehousing and updating collection inventory. If you have previously received a Preservation Assistance Grant, you may apply for another one to support the next phase of your preservation efforts. For example, after completing a preservation assessment, you might apply to purchase storage supplies and cabinets to rehouse a collection identified as a high priority for improved storage. NEH will not give these proposals special consideration and will judge them by the same criteria as others in the competition.

Additional considerations for non-contiguous states and jurisdictions If your organization is in a non-contiguous state or jurisdiction (Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Marianas) you may request up to an additional $5,000 to cover travel costs for consultants from outside your state or jurisdiction and/or shipping costs for preservation furniture, supplies, and materials. This is out of

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recognition of the increased costs of travel and shipping to these areas in comparison to locations in the 48 contiguous states and DC.

Reference resources compiled for applicants in Section H. Other Information.

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 Outcomes and Outputs The expected outcome for a Preservation Assistance Grant is increased organizational capacity to preserve and maintain access to humanities collections, so as to facilitate their use by the representative communities, scholars, and the public.

The outputs of a successful Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions award may include, but are not limited to:

• General preservation assessment report

• Conservation assessment report

• Digital preservation assessment report

• Collection management policy

• Collection processing policy or manual

• Digitization policy or manual

• Environmental monitoring program or policy

• Emergency preparedness and/or response plan

• Rehoused collections

• Reduced UV exposure to collections

• Location or format survey

• Collection inventory

• Staff or volunteers trained in collections handling, collections management, or emergency response.

You will describe your project outputs, and how they would support the overall purpose of the Preservation Assistance Grant program, in section F of Attachment 1: Narrative. If you receive an award, NEH will assess your performance based on the outputs you identify in the proposal.

See F3. Reporting.

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

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

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

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?hl=false&edition=prelim&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title20-section956 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://www.neh.gov/general-terms-and-conditions-awards-organizations-grants-and-cooperative-agreements-issued-january-2022 https://www.neh.gov/general-terms-and-conditions-awards-organizations-grants-and-cooperative-agreements-issued-january-2022 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-1998-title20/pdf/USCODE-1998-title20-chap26-subchapI-sec952.pdf

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

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

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

Learn more about NEH.

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

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

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

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

When ordinary Americans cannot participate in the basic activities of everyday life – such as shopping at the grocery store or praying at their house of worship – without the fear of being targeted and killed for who they are, our security as well as democracy are at risk. In coordination with the White House “United We Stand” Summit in September 2022, NEH launched a new initiative titled United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture that uses the humanities to combat hate-motivated violence and promote civic engagement, social cohesion, and cross-cultural understanding. As a part of this initiative, NEH encourages humanities projects that further our understanding of the nation’s racial, ethnic, gender, and religious diversity; examine the sources of hate and intolerance in the United States; and explore progress towards greater inclusiveness. NEH especially welcomes projects that preserve and extend the reach of collections chronicling Muslim American and/or Jewish American experiences, including the history of Islamophobia and/or antisemitism in the United States.

https://securegrants.neh.gov/publicquery/main.aspx https://www.neh.gov/about https://www.neh.gov/news/american-tapestry-weaving-together-past-present-and-future https://www.neh.gov/unitedwestand

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

B. Federal Award Information

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

NEH will provide funding in the form of grants.

2. Summary of Funding

Award amounts You may request up to $10,000. This includes the sum of direct and indirect costs.

If your project takes place in a non-contiguous state or jurisdiction, you may request up to an additional $5,000 to cover increased travel and shipping costs from outside the state or jurisdiction, for a project total of up to $15,000.

NEH anticipates awarding approximately $550,000 among an estimated 55 recipients.

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

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

Period of performance You may request a period of performance of up to eighteen months with a start date between September 1, 2025, and December 1, 2025.

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

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

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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 only include 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.

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. However, distinct collecting entities within a larger organization, such as a university’s library and museum or two historic sites within a historical society, may each apply separately.

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.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

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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 the current competition.

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

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

NEH does not provide financial assistance to foreign institutions or organizations. If you are an eligible domestic entity, you may apply for collaborative projects involving foreign organizations provided you do not use NEH funds for the purpose of issuing subawards to any foreign organization, as defined in 2 CFR §§ 200.1 and .331(a). You may obtain the services of foreign individuals and consultants to carry out programmatic activities on a fee-for-service basis, as specified in 2 CFR § 200.459. You may obtain goods and services from foreign vendors, such as in-country transportation services, in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.331(b). If you plan to submit an application involving international collaboration, contact program staff at 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 20250109-PG. There is also a link on the program resource page.

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.

• Recommended: NEH encourages, but does not require, you to submit this component.

• 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.

mailto:preservation@neh.gov https://nehemail.sharepoint.com/teams/nofo/Shared%20Documents/General/Templates/Organizations/Disclosure#_Standard_Form-LLL,_

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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 5 (mandatory) 2: Work plan workplan.pdf Required 3: Résumés resumes.pdf Required 2 pages per person (suggested)

4: Consultant information consultants.pdf Conditionally required

5: Assessments, plans, and relevant policies, procedures, methods, toolkits, or frameworks assessment.pdf Recommended for projects based on preservation assessments, plans, policies, procedures, methods, toolkits, or frameworks

15 (suggested)

6: Descriptions of trainings or workshops workshop.pdf Recommended for projects with a training or workshop component

7: Other supporting documentation other.pdf Recommended 10 (suggested)

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 required for recipients

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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

Institutional Profile Form Required Research and Related Budget and Budget Justification

Required

Attachments Form Required

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 five single-spaced pages. Do not include an executive summary, cover page, or table of contents. You may include citations, images, charts, diagrams, footnotes, or endnotes if they fit within the page limit.

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

A. What activity (or activities) would the grant support? (aligns with review criterion 2) State the specific activity or activities that the grant would support and the goals of the proposed project.

B. What are the content and size of the humanities collections that are the focus of the project? (aligns with review criterion 1) Describe the collections that are the focus of the project, emphasizing their significance for a variety of users, including source communities, humanities researchers, students, and the public. Identify the categories of materials and indicate, where pertinent, the date ranges, quantities, and subject matter. Highlight specific examples of important items in the collections.

In doing so, you may wish to explore topics such as the social, cultural, or economic development of a community, showing how the collections deepen or diversify understanding of American history and culture.

If the project focuses only on a portion of your institution’s collections, briefly describe your overall holdings and detail the portion on which the project focuses.

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For examples of how to make the case for the humanities significance of your collections, please refer to the FAQs available on the program page.

C. How do you use these humanities collections? (aligns with review criterion 1) Provide evidence of how you and others outside your institution use or might use the collections that are the focus of your project, such as in scholarly or popular publications, public history projects, educational activities, exhibitions, and/or public programming. For example, you could explain how you have used the collections to illuminate specific humanities themes in an exhibition, or how they have been or could be used in educational programs and classroom instructional materials.

If the collections are used for research, describe the range of subjects that have been (or could

be) explored and show how these materials could contribute to new interpretations of national or regional history. Provide examples of research projects conducted by students, scholars, public historians, descendent communities, or genealogists.

By illustrating the use of collections and the ways in which they can increase the understanding of humanities themes and ideas, you will help evaluators understand their importance to the humanities and to the institution’s mission.

D. What is the nature and mission of your institution or institutional unit? (aligns with review criteria 1 and 2) Describe your institution’s mission and discuss specific budget or staffing considerations that characterize it as a small or mid-sized institution. Demonstrate your institutional commitment to making your collection accessible for education, research, and public programming in the humanities, as evidenced by the following information:

• confirmation that you have custody of and/or responsibility for the humanities collections that are the focus of the application

• the number of full-time, part-time, and volunteer staff

• the number of days per year that the institution is open to the public

• the size of the institutional or unit budget

You will also provide some of this information in the Institutional Profile Form, which will be used to evaluate institutional capacity and need when determining funding recommendations for this program.

Libraries, archives, or museums that are part of a larger organization, such as a college or university, should provide this information for their institutional unit.

E. Describe the assessments, plans, procedures, and policies at your institution that are the foundation of your proposed project. (aligns with review criterion 2) Include information about previous preservation or conservation assessments or consultations, such as the date of the assessment, the name(s) of the assessor(s), the type or purpose of the assessment/consultation, as well as any plans, procedures, and policies, and explain how they relate to your proposed project.

If your project involves an internal assessment or the development of plans, policies, and/or procedures without the assistance of a consultant, include information regarding the methods, toolkits, or frameworks that will guide your project.

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You may provide previous assessments, executive summaries, or consultation summaries, reports, policies, or procedures in Attachment 5.

If your project is not based on prior assessments, consultations, policies, plans, procedures, methods, or frameworks you may omit this section.

For more information regarding assessments, policies, methods, and toolkits may wish to consult the resources included in H. Other Information.

F. What is the importance of this project to your institution or institutional unit and how would you sustain the project outcomes? (aligns with review criterion 2) Discuss how this project fits into your institution’s overall preservation needs or plans. Describe the current condition of collections and the environment in which you store them. Explain how the proposed activities build on previous preservation efforts and how the project fits into future preservation plans. Describe your project outputs and explain how the project would increase your institution’s ability to improve collection care and demonstrate your commitment to sustaining the outcome beyond the period of performance. For projects that involve initiating activities with recurring costs (software subscriptions, for instance), demonstrate how your organization would maintain those expenses beyond the period of performance. For projects involving preservation assessments or consultations, explain how you will disseminate findings within your institution.

If your project includes workshops or trainings, describe the content and explain how you would use the knowledge gained to improve preservation and/or access practices at your institution. If applicable, provide information about the workshop/training from the provider (e.g., a description, announcement, or program) in Attachment 7: Other supporting documentation.

G. What are the names and qualifications of the consultant(s) and staff involved in the project? (aligns with review criterion 3) Briefly, provide the name(s) and qualifications of your consultant(s), and the names and relevant experience for participating staff. For preservation training projects, identify the staff member(s) who will attend the training and state their positions and responsibilities.

You will provide more detailed résumés for participating staff in Attachment 3. You will provide résumés for consultants in Attachment 4.

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.

Outline the steps of the project, the sequence in which they will occur, and the amount of time they will take. Indicate who is responsible for which activities. You may format this as you see fit, though a table or chart is used most often.

Name the file workplan.pdf.

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Attachment 3: Résumés (required) Include brief résumés that highlight the relevant skills needed to accomplish the proposed project activities for the project director and other key staff. Provide a brief job description for any position that has yet to be hired, including short term positions that may be filled as part of a paid internship, graduate fellowship, or volunteer program. Do not include résumés for consultants in this section. They will be included in Attachment 4.

Résumés have a suggested page limit of two pages per person. Name the file resumes.pdf.

Attachment 4: Consultant information (required for projects that involve hiring a consultant) If your project involves hiring one or more consultants, attach a letter of commitment from each consultant, along with a résumé (suggested limit of two pages). The letter of commitment should describe the proposed activity or activities and include a detailed plan of work and budget with travel costs, if applicable; and, if relevant, a preliminary list of recommended supplies. It should indicate the services the consultant would provide, such as training, an assessment, and/or a planning report.

Name the file consultants.pdf.

Attachment 5: Assessments, plans, and relevant policies, procedures, methods, toolkits, or frameworks (recommended for projects based on a preservation assessment, plans, policies, procedures, methods, toolkits, or frameworks) If your project includes work based on a previous assessment, policy, or manual, such as the purchase of rehousing supplies, environmental monitoring equipment, or description work, or will be using a particular method, toolkit, or framework, attach a copy of the executive summary and relevant sections of the document on which it is based.

This attachment has a suggested length of 15 pages. Name the file assessment.pdf.

Attachment 6: Descriptions of trainings or workshops (recommended for projects with a training workshop) If your project includes preservation training, attach workshop descriptions, announcements, and/or programs.

Name the file workshop.pdf.

Attachment 7: Other supporting documentation (recommended) You may include information not relevant in the previous categories that illustrates your purposes and preparedness for the proposed project (e.g., quotes for supplies and equipment, images, details on collections that are the focus of a project, planning documents, or other information that supports points made in the narrative).

This attachment has a suggested length of ten pages. Name this file other.pdf.

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Attachment 8: Subrecipient budget(s) (conditionally required) If your project includes subawards, you must provide a separate Research and Related Budget and budget justification for each subrecipient.

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

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

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

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

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

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 9: 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 10: Explanation of delinquent federal debt (conditionally required for recipients) If your organization is delinquent in the repayment of any federal debt, explain why. Provide evidence that you have entered into a repayment agreement with the Internal Revenue Service, if applicable, and that you are current on all payments due. Examples of relevant debt include delinquent payroll or other taxes, audit disallowances, and benefit overpayments. See OMB Circular A-129.

Name the file delinquentdebt.pdf.

https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/RR_Budget10_3_0-V3.0.pdf https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=d22b09774a679ad264cf0098635dabb8&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1414 https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/circulars_a129_rev2013 https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/circulars_a129_rev2013

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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.

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.

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

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

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

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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 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.

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

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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.