PKG00260145-instructions.pdf

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Funding Opportunity Title:

State Humanities Councils General Operating Support Grants

Funding Opportunity Number: 20200522-SO

Funding Opportunity Types: New, Supplement

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.129

Application Due Date: May 22, 2020

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

NEH will not grant deadline extensions for lack of registration.

Registration in all systems, including SAM.gov and Grants.gov, may take up to 1 month to complete.

Office of Federal/State Partnership Telephone: 202-606-8254 Email: fedstate@neh.gov

TTY: 800-877-8399

mailto:fedstate@neh.gov

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Executive Summary The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Office of Federal/State Partnership is accepting applications for State Humanities Councils General Operating Support Grants. The purpose of this program is to provide general operating support grants to fund humanities councils in the 50 U.S. states and the jurisdictional territories. State and jurisdictional humanities councils tailor their grantmaking and programs to the needs, resources, and interests of their state or jurisdiction, while also extending the reach of NEH-funded projects and further strengthening NEH’s connection to local communities throughout the United States and the jurisdictional territories. NEH determines annual funding for each state and jurisdictional humanities council according to a legislatively mandated formula.

Funding Opportunity Title: State Humanities Councils General Operating Support

Grants Funding Opportunity Number: 20200522-S0 Federal Assistance Listing Number (CFDA):

45.129

Application Due Date: May 22, 2020, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Anticipated Announcement: October 2020 Anticipated Total Annual Available FY 21 Funding:

$48,000,000

Estimated Number and Type of Awards:

56 grants

Funding Range: $300,000 to $3,000,000 Cost Sharing/Match Required: Yes. See Section C2 for additional information.

Period of Performance: State Humanities Councils General Operating Support

Grants have a period of performance of five years.

Within a five-year period of performance, a General Operating Support Grant funds activity in years one, two, and three, and funds closeout requirements in years four and five. State and jurisdictional humanities councils must apply annually to receive this funding. The funding period is November 1, 2020 through October 31, 2021.

See Section B for additional information.

Eligible Applicants: The only eligible applicants are the independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) state and jurisdictional humanities councils on this list.

See Section C for additional information.

Program Resource Page: https://www.neh.gov/grants/fedstate/state-humanities-councils-general-operating-support-grants https://www.neh.gov/about/state-humanities-councils https://www.neh.gov/grants/fedstate/state-humanities-councils-general-operating-support-grants

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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 or Matching

3. Other Eligibility Information

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Application Package

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management

4. Submission Dates and Times

5. Intergovernmental Review

6. Funding Restrictions

E. Application Review Information

1. Review Criteria

2. Review and Selection Process

3. Assessment of Risk and Other Pre-Award Activities

4. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

3. Reporting

G. Agency Contacts

H. Other Information

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A. Program Description

1. Purpose The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency in the executive branch. As designated by Congress, NEH provides general operating support grants to fund humanities councils in the 50 U.S. states and the jurisdictional territories. The General Operating Support Grants represent approximately 40 percent of NEH’s annual appropriation.

With the General Operating Support Grants, state and jurisdictional humanities councils make humanities education and learning available at the state and local level, delivering on NEH’s mission to advance knowledge and understanding of the humanities and to increase public awareness of, access to, and support for the humanities in the United States. State and jurisdictional humanities councils tailor their grantmaking and programs to the needs, resources, and interests of their state or jurisdiction, while also extending the reach of NEH-funded projects and further strengthening NEH’s connection to local communities throughout the United States and the jurisdictional territories.

Unallowable activities are described in section D6. Funding Restrictions.

2. Background This program is authorized by 20 U.S.C. §956 et seq. 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 General Support Grants to State Humanities Councils (for grants issued on or after December 26, 2014).

According to the 1965 National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act, “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.”

To learn more about the National Endowment for the Humanities, visit https://www.neh.gov/about.

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award Types of applications sought: new and supplements.

NEH will provide funding in the form of grants.

2. Summary of Funding Approximately $48,000,000 is expected to be available to fund 56 recipients. Awards will range from approximately $300,000 to approximately $3 million. NEH determines annual funding for each state humanities council according to a legislatively mandated formula.

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.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://www.neh.gov/general-terms-and-conditions-general-support-grants-state-humanities-councils-after-dec-2014 https://www.neh.gov/general-terms-and-conditions-general-support-grants-state-humanities-councils-after-dec-2014 https://www.neh.gov/about

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The actual amount available will not be determined until enactment of the final FY 2021 federal budget. This program notice is subject to the appropriation of funds, and is a contingency action taken to ensure that, should funds become available for this purpose, applications can be processed and funds awarded in a timely manner.

State Humanities Councils General Operating Support Grants have a period of performance of five years. General Operating Support Grants fund activities in years one, two, and three, and fund closeout requirements in years four and five. State and jurisdictional humanities councils must apply annually to receive this funding. The funding period under this notice is November 1, 2020 through October 31, 2021. State and jurisdictional humanities councils are expected to obligate most of the funds awarded each year by the end of the annual funding period.

Applicants will apply for a new award with a five-year period of performance in year three of their current award.

Successful applicants will be awarded outright funds, federal matching funds, or a combination of the two, depending on the availability of funds. When federal matching funds are offered, the recipient must raise cash contributions from nonfederal third parties and have them certified by NEH before the funds are released (see NEH’s Federal Matching Funds Guidelines). Funds raised to satisfy a match count toward an institution’s required cost share for a project (see C2.

Cost Sharing).

Funding beyond the first year is dependent on the availability of appropriated funds for State Humanities Councils General Operating Support Grants in subsequent fiscal years, satisfactory recipient performance, and a decision that continued funding is in the best interest of the Federal Government.

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants The only eligible applicants are the independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) state and jurisdictional humanities councils on this list.

Individuals and other organizations (including foreign and for-profit entities) are not eligible to apply.

2. Cost-Sharing or Matching This program requires a one-to-one cost share. Cost sharing or matching means the portion of the project costs not paid by NEH funds. By law, NEH cannot support more than 50 percent of the costs of a state or jurisdictional humanities council’s activity. All expenditures of NEH funds must be matched by cash, earned income, other federal grants, or in-kind contributions. State humanities councils are permitted to use federal funds to meet their cost-share, but are not permitted to use federal funds or in-kind contributions to meet their treasury match.

NEH has traditionally viewed cost sharing as a means of ensuring that many individuals and organizations are meaningfully involved in a council’s work. NEH strongly encourages state humanities councils to meet their cost-sharing requirements from a wide range of contributions;

it discourages councils from meeting the requirements by relying solely on contributions at the subrecipient level.

In accordance with 48 U.S.C. 1469a (d), as amended, NEH waives the cost-sharing requirement for the first $200,000 in outright funds awarded under this announcement. The remainder of http://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/federal-matching-funds-guidelines http://www.neh.gov/about/state-humanities-councils https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:48%20section:1469a%20edition:prelim)

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the annual outright funding provided under the legislated formula continues to require dollar-for-dollar cost sharing, as does the entire federal matching funds offer. This policy applies only to the American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and U.S.

Virgin Islands humanities councils.

More information is available in the Matching Guidelines for General Support Grants to State Humanities Councils.

Recipients are responsible for maintaining auditable records of cost sharing contributions. See 2 CFR §200.306 for additional information.

3. Other Eligibility Information An applicant may not submit multiple applications under this announcement.

If for any reason an application is submitted more than once prior to the application due date (including submitting to the wrong funding opportunity number or making corrections/updates), NEH will only accept your last validated online submission, under the correct funding opportunity number, prior to the Grants.gov application due date as the final and only acceptable application.

Two or more applications for federal funding and/or approved federal award budgets are not permitted to include overlapping project costs.

Councils are authorized to issue subawards to private nonprofit organizations; institutions of higher education; state, local, and federally recognized Indian tribal governments; groups of persons that form an association to carry out a project; and individuals. Non-public organizations or groups that apply to the councils for funding must be constituted for nonprofit purposes, and donations to them must be deductible under Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 170(c)). It is not necessary that such organizations or groups be incorporated or have tax exempt status. State humanities councils may not award subawards to foreign or for-profit entities.

NEH does not make awards to other federal entities or to applicants whose projects are so closely intertwined with a federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity’s own authorized activities. This does not preclude applicants from using funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in their projects. Such resources may not, however, be used as gifts to release NEH matching funds.

Incomplete applications will delay your award.

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Application Package You are required to apply online through Grants.gov Workspace using the Standard Form 424 (SF-424) application package associated with the funding opportunity and following the instructions provided by Grants.gov unless otherwise noted below.

The State Humanities Councils General Operating Support Grants application package is available in Grants.gov. A link to the application package can be found on the program resource page.

https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/matching-guidelines-general-support-grants-state-humanities-councils https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/matching-guidelines-general-support-grants-state-humanities-councils https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=3aeab4e3a836f5b6807999701e518c94&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1306 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html

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To request a paper copy of this announcement, contact fedstate@neh.gov. Applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing (TTY users) can contact NEH via Federal Relay at 800-877-8399.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission In addition to the standard forms included in the Grants.gov application package, your application also consists of other required attachments outlined below. You will upload these components into the Attachments Form.

The Application Components Table below will help you prepare a complete application.

Applications missing any required documents or conditionally required documents from this list will be considered incomplete and may be rejected from further consideration.

Application component

Notes Naming convention

SF-424 Short Organizational Form

Required Not applicable (Grants.gov form)

Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH State Councils

Required Not applicable (Grants.gov form)

Project/Performance Site Location Form

Required Not applicable (Grants.gov form)

Certification Regarding Lobbying

Required Not applicable (Grants.gov form)

Standard Form-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

Conditionally required

Not applicable (Grants.gov form)

Attachments Form Required Not applicable (Grants.gov form)

Attachment 1:

Annual plan

Required plan.pdf

Attachment 2:

Explanation of delinquent federal debt

Conditionally required delinquentdebt.pdf

SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance – Short Organizational This form asks for basic information about the project, the project director, and the institution.

Items 1, 2, and 4 will be automatically filled in; item 3 should be left blank. Provide the following information:

5. Applicant Information Provide your organization’s legal name, address, employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), D-U-N-S® number, website address, and congressional district of the institution.

If your institution is located, for example, in the 5th Congressional District of your state, put a “5.” If your institution doesn’t have a congressional district (for example, it is in a state or U.S.

territory that doesn’t have districts or is in a foreign country), put a “0” (zero).

Also choose the “type” that best describes your institution (you only need to select one).

All institutions applying to federal programs are required to provide a D-U-N-S® number, issued by Dun & Bradstreet, as part of their application. Project directors should contact their mailto:fedstate@neh.gov

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institution’s grants administrator or chief financial officer to obtain their institution’s D-U-N-S® number.

6. Project Information

a. Name your project “State Humanities Program.”

b. Provide a brief (no more than one thousand characters) description of your project. The description should be written for a nonspecialist audience and clearly state the importance of the proposed work and its relation to larger issues in the humanities.

c. The start date is November 1, 2020. The end date is October 31, 2021.

7. Project Director The project director is typically the board chair of the state humanities council. The project director is responsible for oversight of the programmatic aspects of the state or jurisdictional humanities council. Because the project director’s involvement in the proposed project is critical to its success, applicants must notify NEH immediately if the project director listed in the application changes.

Provide the name, title, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers for the project director.

8. Primary Contact/Grants Administrator The primary contact/grants administrator is typically the executive director of the state humanities council.

Provide the contact information for the official responsible for the administration of the NEH award (that is, negotiating the project budget and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the award).

As a matter of NEH policy, the Project Director listed in section 7 may not be the same individual listed as the Primary Contact/Grants Administrator listed in section 8. The role of the project director must be distinguished from that of the institutional grant administrator, who functions as the representative of the recipient organization with authority to act on the organization’s behalf in matters related to the administration of the award. All financial reports and prior approval requests such as budget revisions, extensions of the period of performance, and changes in key personnel must be signed or countersigned by the institutional grant administrator. Similarly, official correspondence from NEH to a recipient (for example, an offer letter, the award document, an extension, a supplement or amendment) is addressed to the institutional grant administrator and copied to the project director.

9. Authorized Representative Provide the 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 the president, vice president, executive director, provost, or chancellor. To become an AOR, the person must be designated by the institution’s E-Business Point of Contact.

For more information, consult the Grants.gov Online User Guide.

Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH State Councils Provide the following information:

https://apply07.grants.gov/help/html/help/index.htm#t=GetStarted%2FGetStarted.htm

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1. Project Director Use the pull-down menu to select the major field of study for the project director.

2. Institutional Information Use the pull-down menu to select the name of your council.

3. Application Information For Type of Application, check “new” if the application requests a new five-year period of performance (“new” requests are submitted in year three of your current period of performance). Otherwise, check “supplement” if the application requests year two or year three funding for your current NEH grant. If you are requesting a supplement, provide the current grant number. In 2020, the only state and jurisdictional humanities councils that should apply for “new” awards are American Samoa, Ohio, and Washington.

Contact the Office of Federal/State Partnership if you are unsure which type of application to select.

For the project’s Primary Field Code, use the pull-down menu to indicate the fields of your project. You may select one, two, or three fields. If you select more than one, list the primary field first.

Project/Performance Site Location(s) Form Provide the primary location and any other locations where the project activity will occur during the period of performance. This form allows for the collection of multiple performance sites. If you need to add more project/performance site locations than the form allows, enter the information in a separate file and add it to the "Additional Locations" section.

Instructions for each requested data element may be viewed by positioning your cursor over the blank field.

Certification Regarding Lobbying All applicants must complete and submit the Certification Regarding Lobbying.

Standard Form-LLL, “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities” If nonfederal funds have been or will be used for lobbying, you must also complete and submit Standard Form-LLL, “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities.” See 2 CFR §200.450 for additional information.

Attachments Form Attach your application components to this form. Consult the Application Components Table to learn about the required application components, how to name each attachment, and the order in which to attach them. You must name and attach your files in the proper order so that NEH can identify them.

Your attachments must be in Portable Document Format (.pdf). Make sure that all files in formats other than PDF (images, Word or Excel files, etc.) have been properly saved as PDF files. Do not simply rename your non-PDF files with PDF extensions. If an attachment contains multiple documents, you must merge those documents into a single PDF. Do not attach a zip file containing multiple PDFs.

Visit Grants.gov’s Adobe Software Compatibility page to verify the compatibility of your current software or to download the appropriate version. Even if you choose to complete the online webforms in Workspace, you will need to convert the files that you will attach (to the Attachments Form) into PDFs. If you have a problem installing Adobe Reader, it may be https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=d18afa8261f74bd59854a0ab2fb8f8a3&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1450 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/adobe-software-compatibility.html

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because you do not have permission to install a new program on your computer. Many organizations have rules about installing new programs. If you encounter a problem installing Adobe Reader, contact your system administrator.

When you open the Attachments Form, you will find fifteen attachment buttons, labeled “Attachment 1” through “Attachment 15.” By clicking on a button, you will be able to choose the file from your computer that you wish to attach.

Note the following Grants.gov file naming conventions: limit file names to 50 or fewer characters. Do not attach any documents with the same name. All attachments should have a unique name. Use only the following UTF-8 characters when naming your attachments: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, underscore, hyphen, space, period, parenthesis, curly braces, square brackets, ampersand, tilde, exclamation point, comma, semi colon, apostrophe, at sign, number sign, dollar sign, percent sign, plus sign, and equal sign. Attachments that do not follow this rule may cause the entire application to be rejected or cause issues during processing.

Grants.gov may accept and validate your submission even if required components are missing.

This may result in NEH rejecting your application as incomplete. It is your responsibility to ensure that all required components are properly attached and submitted.

Attachments Provide the following items in the order specified below to complete the content of the application. Each attachment must be saved as a PDF and named in accordance with naming conventions outlined in the Application Components Table.

Attachment 1: Annual plan The annual plan presents a concise summary of the council’s plan for the corresponding funding period (November 1, 2020 – October 31, 2021). The submission will be reviewed along with the application.

In no more than 1,000 words, please define the following for the upcoming funding period (November 1, 2020 - October 31, 2021):

1. The council’s strategic objectives

2. The council’s anticipated outcomes, aligned to strategic objectives

3. The council’s audiences served and plan to reach new and/or underserved audiences

4. The council’s process to solicit nominations for board members

5. Anticipated challenges and/or changes in the council’s organization, operations, and/or governance, as well as plans to manage change or mitigate risk

Additionally, and excluded from the word count, please provide the following information:

1. The total number of board members as per by-laws (including gubernatorial appointees)

2. The total current board membership

a. Length of regular appointment term (in years)

b. Renewable term (yes/no)

c. Maximum years of continuous service

3. The number of gubernatorial appointees as per by-laws

a. Length of term (in years)

b. Renewable term (yes/no)

c. Maximum years of continuous service

d. Co-extensive with governor’s term (yes/no)

4. The number of members on which you base the number of gubernatorial appointees

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5. The length of term for board chairs (in years)

a. Renewable (yes/no)

b. Maximum years of continuous service

Use a font size no smaller than 11 points. Name the file plan.pdf.

Attachment 2: Explanation of delinquent federal debt (conditionally required) If you are delinquent in the repayment of any federal debt, provide explanatory information on a separate page or pages. Also provide evidence that you have entered into a repayment agreement with the Internal Revenue Service, and that you are current on all payments due.

Examples of relevant debt include student loans, delinquent payroll or other taxes, audit disallowances, and benefit overpayments. See OMB Circular A-129.

Name the file delinquentdebt.pdf.

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management All organizations must submit their applications for NEH funding via Grants.gov Workspace.

Before using Grants.gov for the first time, each organization must have an Employer Identification Number (EIN) and register with Grants.gov.

The Grants.gov registration process requires completing information in three separate systems:

1. Dun and Bradstreet (https://fedgov.dnb.com/webform)

2. System for Award Management (SAM) (https://www.sam.gov/SAM/)

3. Grants.gov (https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html)

Organizations must obtain a Unique Entity Identifier, currently a valid Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (D-U-N-S®) number. Organizations must also register with the System for Award Management (SAM) and continue to maintain active SAM registration with current information at all times during which you have an active federal award or an application or plan under consideration by an agency (unless the applicant is an individual or federal agency that is exempted from those requirements under 2 CFR §25.110(b) or (c), or has an exception approved by the agency under 2 CFR §25.110(d)).

If you have not already done so, SAM.gov will require entities to create a Login.gov user account.

Applicants renewing or updating their registrations are strongly advised to know the e-mail address associated with their current SAM.gov user account. Using the same e-mail address allows SAM.gov to automatically migrate your roles. If a different e-mail address is provided, your roles will need to be reassigned. This could cause delays in renewing or updating your SAM.gov registration. As of February 2, 2019, you will be required to review and agree to the Financial Assistance Representations and Certifications when registering or renewing in SAM.gov. These are a common set of certifications and representations required by federal statutes or regulations in accordance with Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations. You can review your organization’s SAM registration here.

NEH may not make an award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable D-U-N-S® and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time NEH is ready to make an award, NEH may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive an award and use that determination as the basis for making an award to another applicant.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/circulars/A129/a-129.pdf https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/workspace-overview.html https://fedgov.dnb.com/webform https://www.sam.gov/SAM/ https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=a6de19ef87dd3683cbfcb9e3d261fffa&mc=true&node=se2.1.25_1110&rgn=div8 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=a6de19ef87dd3683cbfcb9e3d261fffa&mc=true&node=se2.1.25_1110&rgn=div8 https://www.sam.gov/SAM/

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If you have already completed Grants.gov registration for NEH or another federal agency, confirm that the registration is still active and that the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) has been approved.

If you fail to allow sufficient time to complete registration with SAM or Grants.gov, you will not be eligible for a deadline extension or waiver of the online submission requirement.

4. Submission Dates and Times The due date for applications under this announcement is May 22, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Incomplete or missing applications will result in funding delays.

Confirm that you successfully submitted your application. It is your responsibility as an applicant to confirm that Grants.gov and subsequently NEH have received your application.

NEH will assign a tracking number beginning with SO- to your application when it has been received by the agency. The assignment of a tracking number does not guarantee that the application is free of technical problems (such as missing attachments or failure to convert attachments to PDFs). If NEH’s system detects a technical problem with your application after retrieving it from Grants.gov, NEH will send you an email notification.

Once an applicant formally submits an application, NEH will not comment on its status except with respect to issues of completeness and eligibility.

5. Intergovernmental Review This funding opportunity is not subject to intergovernmental review under Executive Order 12373.

6. Funding Restrictions Awards to support projects beyond the first budget year will be contingent upon Congressional appropriation, satisfactory progress in meeting the project’s objectives, and a determination that continued funding would be in the best interest of the Federal Government.

Funds under this notice may not be used for the following purposes:

• promotion of a particular political, religious, or ideological point of view

• advocacy of a particular program of social or political action

• support of specific public policies or legislation

• lobbying

• purchase of land or facilities, construction or renovation

• subawards funded in whole or in part with federal funds to organizations that are not registered in the System for Award Management (SAM)*

• overlapping project costs with any other pending or approved application(s) for federal funding

• projects that fall outside of the humanities (including the creation or performance of art;

creative writing, autobiographies, memoirs, and creative nonfiction; and empirically based social science research or policy studies)

*Subrecipients of non-federally funded subawards do not have to register in SAM. Non-federally funded subawards for humanities programming may be used to satisfy required cost share/match if the subrecipient is eligible and all costs included in the subaward are allowable and allocable to the project.

https://www.grants.gov/help/html/help/Applicants/CheckApplicationStatus/CheckApplicationStatus.htm https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12372.html https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12372.html

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All program income generated as a result of awarded funds must be used for approved project-related activities. The program income alternative(s) applied to the award(s) under the program will be cost sharing and matching. Post-award requirements for program income can be found at 2 CFR §200.307.

E. Application Review Information

1. Review Criteria Applications in this program are reviewed for eligibility, completeness, and responsiveness.

2. Review and Selection Process Based on the information provided in the Compliance Supplement Form, NEH staff prepare a report on the state humanities councils and present it to the National Council on the Humanities each July. The National Council advises the NEH chairman on grants. The chairman takes into account the advice provided during this review process and, by law, makes all funding decisions.

3. Assessment of Risk and Other Pre-Award Activities While State Humanities Councils General Operating Support Grants are awarded based on a legislatively mandated formula, applicants to this program are held to the same standards as all other NEH applicants. Prior to making an award, NEH will conduct a risk assessment of successful applicants, consistent with Uniform Administrative Requirements 2 CFR §200.205.

This assessment includes considerations such as past performance, as applicable; assessment of management systems; continued applicant eligibility; and compliance with any public policy requirements. You may be asked to submit additional programmatic or administrative information or to undertake certain activities in anticipation of an award. This assessment guards against the risk that federal financial assistance might be wasted, used fraudulently, or abused. Based on its risk assessment, NEH will include in the award documents specific conditions designed to mitigate the effects of the risk, or it may withhold a portion or all of the award.

NEH is required to review and consider any information about your organization that is in the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS). You may review and comment on any information about your organization that a federal awarding agency previously entered. NEH will consider any of your comments, in addition to other information in FAPIIS in making a judgment about your organization’s integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under federal awards when completing the review of risk posed as described in 2 CFR §200.205. A determination that an applicant is not qualified will be reported by NEH to

FAPIIS (2 CFR §200.212).

4. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates Applicants will be notified of funding decisions by e-mail in October 2020. For successful applicants, this notification is not an authorization to begin performance or incur related costs.

F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices State and jurisdictional humanities councils will receive award documents from the NEH Office of Grant Management by e-mail in October 2020.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=2262ad9c20e9d3a49f2c569c773c8aa1&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1307 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=2262ad9c20e9d3a49f2c569c773c8aa1&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1205 https://www.fapiis.gov/ https://www.fapiis.gov/ https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=2262ad9c20e9d3a49f2c569c773c8aa1&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1205 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=2262ad9c20e9d3a49f2c569c773c8aa1&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1205 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=2262ad9c20e9d3a49f2c569c773c8aa1&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1205 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=2262ad9c20e9d3a49f2c569c773c8aa1&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1212

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In the event that NEH is operating under a continuing resolution, councils may receive a partial award(s). When NEH has received the full appropriation for a given federal fiscal year, award amounts will be determined and each council will receive the balance of their award.

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 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 General Support Grants to State Humanities Councils (for grants issued on or after December 26, 2014), and the specific terms and conditions in the Notice of Award.

Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility, and Voluntary Exclusion Certification You must comply with 2 CFR §§180.335 and 180.350 with respect to providing information regarding all debarment, suspension, and related offenses information, as applicable.

1) The prospective recipient certifies, by submission of this application, that neither it nor its principals is presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from participation in this transaction by any federal department or agency.

2) Failure to make required disclosures can result in any of the remedies described in 2 CFR §200.338, including suspension or debarment. (See also 2 CFR parts 180 and 3369).

3) Where the prospective recipient is unable to attest to the statements in this certification, an explanation must be included in Attachment 2: Explanation of delinquent federal debt.

Issuing Subawards and Subrecipient Monitoring Recipients may only issue subawards using NEH funds and other federal funds contributed as cost share to organizations registered with the System for Award Management (SAM). Non-federal funds contributed as cost share may be used to issue subawards to organizations not registered in SAM.

Subrecipients of non-federally funded subawards do not have to register in SAM. Non-federally funded subawards for humanities programming may be used to satisfy required cost share/match if the subrecipient is eligible and all costs included in the subaward are allowable and allocable to the project.

State and jurisdictional humanities councils must monitor the performance of subrecipients consistent with 2 CFR §200.331.

Providing access to NEH-funded products As a taxpayer-supported federal agency, NEH endeavors to make the products of its awards available to the broadest possible audience. Our goal is for scholars, educators, students, and the American public to have ready and easy access to the wide range of NEH award products.

All other considerations being equal, NEH gives preference to those that provide free access to the public.

NEH recipients and subrecipients must follow the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which is designed to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. For more information consult Design for Accessibility: A Cultural Administrator's Handbook.

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-general-support-grants-state-humanities-councils-after-dec-2014 https://www.neh.gov/general-terms-and-conditions-general-support-grants-state-humanities-councils-after-dec-2014 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?node=2:1.1.1.2.9.3.3.8&rgn=div8 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8484a1410effbe760bcb6b134d9c035a&mc=true&node=pt2.1.180&rgn=div5#se2.1.180_1350 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=2262ad9c20e9d3a49f2c569c773c8aa1&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1338 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=2262ad9c20e9d3a49f2c569c773c8aa1&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1338 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr180_main_02.tpl https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=902a748402bef7d8543f27adaf553773&mc=true&node=pt2.1.3369&rgn=div5 https://www.sam.gov/SAM/ https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=6fefec0a6f25524d4e245265edd96dba&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1331 https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/Design-for-Accessibility.pdf

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Copyright information NEH recipients may copyright any work that is subject to copyright and was developed, or for which ownership was acquired, under an award. In accordance with 2 CFR §200.315 (b), NEH reserves a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable right to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the work for federal purposes, and to authorize others to do so. NEH has typically exercised this right in consultation with recipients to publish an excerpt from resulting grant product(s) in Humanities magazine or on the NEH website.

Acknowledging NEH support All materials publicizing or products resulting from NEH-funded activities must contain an acknowledgment of NEH support. Consult the Acknowledgment and Publicity Requirements for NEH Awards and Publicizing Your Project pages on the NEH website for guidance on acknowledging NEH support and promotion.

Eliminate Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Help NEH eliminate fraud and improve management by providing information about allegations or suspicions of waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement, research misconduct (fabrication, falsification, plagiarism), or unnecessary government expenditures, during the period of award performance, to the NEH Office of the Inspector General.

3. Reporting Recipients must comply with the following reporting and review activities:

1.) SF-424-A Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs. Sixty days after the full general operating support grant amount for a given federal fiscal year has been awarded, each council must submit a corresponding SF-424-A and accompanying budget narrative. It must be submitted online in eGMS Reach. Further information will be included in the Notice of Action.

2.) Federal Financial Report. Recipients must submit the Federal Financial Report (SF-

425) on an annual basis. It must be completed online in eGMS Reach. Further information will be provided in the Notice of Action.

3.) Final Financial Report. Recipients must submit a final financial report within 90 calendar days after the period of performance ends. The final financial report must be submitted online in eGMS Reach. Further information will be provided in the Notice of Action.

4.) Activities and Outcomes Report. Each council must submit this performance report summarizing its activities and outcomes on annual basis. This report will be due annually on January 31. Further information will be provided in the Notice of Action.

5.) Board Minutes with Subaward Summary. Each council must submit minutes of its board meetings and a report that outlines subawards made during the funding period on an annual basis. This report will be due annually on January 31. Further information will be provided in the Notice of Action.

6.) Current Board and Staff. Each council must submit a list of its current board members and staff on an annual basis. This report will be due annually on January 31.

It must be submitted online in eGMS Reach. Further information will be provided in the Notice of Action.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=245f872e0bd31305c176712cd2b8b767&mc=true&node=se2.1.200_1315&rgn=div8 https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/acknowledgment-and-publicity-requirements-neh-awards https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/acknowledgment-and-publicity-requirements-neh-awards https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/publicizing-your-project https://www.neh.gov/about/oig

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Learn more about Performance Reporting Requirements and Financial Reporting Requirements.

G. Agency Contacts If you have questions about the program, contact:

Office of Federal/State Partnership National Endowment for the Humanities 400 Seventh Street, SW Washington, DC 20506 202-606-8254 fedstate@neh.gov

If you have questions about registering or renewing your registration with login.gov or SAM.gov, contact the Federal Service Desk Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time at:

The Federal Service Desk: FSD.gov U.S. calls: 866-606-8220 International calls: +1 334-206-7828

For assistance in registering with or submitting your application through Grants.gov, contact Grants.gov 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, excluding federal holidays at:

Grants.gov Applicant Support Telephone: 1-800-518-4726 International Calls: 606-545-5035 Email: support@grants.gov Grants.gov Support Self-Service Knowledge Base

Always obtain a case number when calling for support.

H. Other Information

Privacy policy Information in these guidelines is solicited under the authority of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 956 et seq. The principal purpose for which the information will be used is to process the application. The information may also be used for statistical research, analysis of trends, and Congressional oversight. Failure to provide the information may result in the delay or rejection of the application.

Application completion time The Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies to supply information on the time needed to complete forms and also to invite comments on the paperwork burden. NEH estimates that on average it takes fifteen hours to complete this application. This estimate includes time for reviewing instructions, researching, gathering, and maintaining the information needed, and completing and reviewing the application.

You may send any comments regarding the estimated completion time or any other aspect of this application, including suggestions for reducing the completion time, to the Chief Funding Opportunity Officer at grantmanagement@neh.gov. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/performance-reporting-requirements https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/financial-reporting-requirements https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/financial-reporting-requirements mailto:fedstate@neh.gov https://www.fsd.gov/fsd-gov/home.do mailto:support@grants.gov https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html https://cscnpsprod.service-now.com/hhs_grants?id=hhs_grants_sp http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:20%20section:956a%20edition:prelim) mailto:grantmanagement@neh.gov

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of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number. The OMB Control Number for this notice of funding opportunity is 3136- 0134, expiration date June 30, 2021.

3. Reporting