Public Impact Projects 2024 NOFO.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Public Impact Projects at Smaller Organizations

Funding Opportunity Number: 20240626-TA

Funding Opportunity Type: New

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.164

Application Deadline: June 12, 2024

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 Public Programs Email: publicpgms@neh.gov Telephone: 202-606-8269 Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1

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

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Executive Summary The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Public Programs is accepting applications for the Public Impact Projects at Smaller Organizations program. This program strengthens the capacity of small and mid-sized museums and cultural organizations to create and develop public humanities programming.

Funding Opportunity Title Public Impact Projects at Smaller Organizations Funding Opportunity Number 20240626-TA Federal Assistance Listing Number 45.164 Deadline for Optional Draft May 8, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Application Deadline June 12, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Anticipated Award Announcement December 2024 Anticipated FY 2025 Funding Approximately $750,000 Estimated Number and Type of Awards Approximately 30 grants Award Amounts Up to $25,000 Cost Sharing/Match Required No Period of Performance Up to two years

Projects must start between March 1, 2025, and May 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/program/public-impact-projects-smaller-organizations

Pre-Application Webinar Join us for the NEH Public Impact Projects live webinar and Q&A session on Thursday, April 25 at 1 p.m. Eastern time. You may also register here.

Published March 22, 2024 https://www.neh.gov/program/public-impact-projects-smaller-organizations https://www.neh.gov/program/public-impact-projects-smaller-organizations https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fevents.gcc.teams.microsoft.com%2Fevent%2F458c6054-08f4-490b-a18a-ab76c4319a4e%4093b06459-c77d-44b6-af7f-e813cddcdcc3&data=05%7C02%7Cdperry%40neh.gov%7Cb5f506802de344f2f76f08dc49e7e7a5%7C93b06459c77d44b6af7fe813cddcdcc3%7C0%7C0%7C638466507569367311%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=sg7ERw9S2B58tqw4wcvSvHTzgDNK166O9k7FFrfhlbU%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fevents.gcc.teams.microsoft.com%2Fevent%2F458c6054-08f4-490b-a18a-ab76c4319a4e%4093b06459-c77d-44b6-af7f-e813cddcdcc3&data=05%7C02%7Cdperry%40neh.gov%7Cb5f506802de344f2f76f08dc49e7e7a5%7C93b06459c77d44b6af7fe813cddcdcc3%7C0%7C0%7C638466507569367311%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=sg7ERw9S2B58tqw4wcvSvHTzgDNK166O9k7FFrfhlbU%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fevents.gcc.teams.microsoft.com%2Fevent%2F458c6054-08f4-490b-a18a-ab76c4319a4e%4093b06459-c77d-44b6-af7f-e813cddcdcc3&data=05%7C02%7Cdperry%40neh.gov%7Cb5f506802de344f2f76f08dc49e7e7a5%7C93b06459c77d44b6af7fe813cddcdcc3%7C0%7C0%7C638466507569375663%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=5OChPgTbBkJCrhccEtXzZKqW6rUNFUumeFiVD%2BvMVKM%3D&reserved=0

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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 Public Impact Projects at Smaller Organizations (PIP) helps small and mid-sized museums and cultural organizations build their interpretive skillset and develop interpretive public humanities programming. The goal of PIP is to help you and your organization identify potential interpretive content based on your collections, increase the interpretive skills of staff and/or volunteers, and/or launch interpretive public programs that attract new audiences.

Successful projects should demonstrate how the humanities matter to audiences and communities. Strong public humanities interpretation is the key factor driving funding decisions under PIP. NEH’s definition of the humanities is wide-ranging and includes fields like history, art history, ethnomusicology, archaeology, anthropology, literature, philosophy, and other areas that offer critical examination of human history and culture (see A2. Background). While PIP does not support performing arts or artmaking activities, it can support analytical programming that uses the humanities to consider the historical or cultural significance of the arts, such as pre- or post-performance programming, is eligible (see Project Design below for further distinction between the arts and the humanities).

Public interpretation, according to NEH, refers to providing audiences with analytical presentations or discussions exploring the historical and/or cultural significance of a topic.

Proposals must demonstrate this to be successful. Examples of public interpretation are curatorial wall texts in an exhibition, analytical ideas offered by tour guides, historical trail markers, or a panel discussion with humanities experts who may help audiences understand resources like a documentary film, work of art, historic district, or work of literature. Collections review with a goal of new interpretation and storytelling using the collection is eligible; whereas a general collection preservation assessment by a conservator, for example, is not allowable.

Similarly, PIP can support limited oral history collection provided that you clearly articulate how, during the period of performance for the award, the content of the oral histories will be used to plan interpretation or will be incorporated into public programs. For more information regarding ineligible activities see D. 6 Funding Restrictions.

Intended applicants NEH encourages proposals from first time applicants and those who have not received prior NEH funding. For the purposes of this program, NEH is targeting organizations that meet at least two of the following criteria:

• Your annual operating budget is under $1,000,000

• You are in a community with a population of fewer than 300,000 people

• Your employed staff totals 25 people or fewer

• You rely on volunteers and/or part-time staff to perform the majority of daily operations

• Your core mission is to interpret under-told stories and/or your core audience is drawn from underserved populations (e.g., communities of color, LGBTQ+ communities, residents of rural areas, disability communities, U.S. religious minorities, and persons experiencing persistent poverty)

• Your organization is officially designated as an Historically Black College or University (see the list on the Department of Education’s website), Hispanic Serving Institution (see the eligibility matrix and list on the Department of Education’s website), or Tribal College or University (TCU) recognized by the Department of Education bookmark://_2._Background/ https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/ https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/eligibility.html

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If your organization is a public-serving subordinate of a large parent entity – such as a small museum at a university or a cultural center run by a municipality – and otherwise meets the above criteria, you may still be a good match for this program. In such cases, your organization must be programmatically and administratively distinct from the parent organization, maintain its own staff and budget, and have an independent board or group that is responsible for oversight and management.

In the organizational profile attachment, you will provide information on your staff, budget, audience, and mission. This will help NEH understand how you align with the criteria above.

Peer reviewers will assess the suitability of your organization to this funding opportunity based on the organizational profile and your narrative.

Project design Humanities content and scholarship-based interpretation are central to the awards made in this program. A grounding in scholarly research and emphasis on interpretation of content are core aspects that distinguish NEH-funded projects from other grant programs, such as the artmaking and performance-based projects supported by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

PIP supports planning and/or implementation of projects that interpret and analyze humanities topics for public audiences. As such, applicants must collaborate with at least one humanities scholar or a public interpretive specialist who helps organizations identify compelling stories for the public and relate them in accessible ways. Projects should also help expand your audience reach; thus, you must also work with at least one community expert such as a local historian, genealogist, community elder, or knowledge bearer. You should describe the qualifications and suitability of outside consultants and experts in your narrative and include a one-paragraph biography for each outside consultant in your Attachment 4:

Biographies of key personnel, scholars, and consultants.

You must center your project on interpretation and public programming. This may include activities that expand your capacity to offer engaging public interpretation, create and implement interpretive programs, or do both. NEH encourages you to assess your current humanities programming and its relevance to your community and surrounding neighborhoods.

You should consider the relevance of humanities scholarship to your mission and how humanities concepts enrich the experiences of your audiences.

When designing your project, consider the following questions:

• What are your organization’s humanities interpretive needs or programmatic goals?

• How would achieving these needs or goals benefit public audiences?

• How might these goals expand your audience reach?

• How might new approaches to interpretation enable you to engage underserved audiences?

Projects focused on increasing your interpretive capacity might involve staff development, evaluation, or interpretive planning. Public programming activities may take many forms, such as exhibitions, walking tours, or public discussions. NEH encourages you to collaborate with community members as you develop and implement interpretive projects. We particularly invite projects that foster new community partnerships or co-curation, such as training community members to conduct research or oral histories that are utilized during the project to form the basis for an interpretive public program. NEH also welcomes approaches that creatively engage

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your community and extend audience reach, such as bringing public interpretation to spaces outside your organization (e.g., parks, local government buildings, and public transportation).

Peer reviewers will evaluate proposed engagement based on its potential to provide opportunities for critical thinking and deep analysis of humanities themes and takeaway ideas.

Similarly, reviewers will evaluate the potential for your proposed activities aimed at strengthening interpretive capacity using evaluation, staff development, or interpretive planning to reach your audience and improve its engagement with your content.

Allowable activities include but are not limited to:

• hiring an interpretive consultant to help you think creatively about hidden strengths of your collections or to generate new ideas for engagement with audiences

• working with an evaluator to conduct focus groups, or front-end or formative evaluations aimed at connecting with your surrounding community

• consultation with scholars and interpretive consultants to develop new narrative frameworks for your collections or site

• professional development to enhance staff and volunteer skills to present and plan public programing, including attendance at conferences focused on new interpretive approaches and best practices, or the creation and implementation of interpreter training specifically for your organization

• long-term strategic exhibition or interpretive planning

• visits to other organizations to observe interpretive best practices

• planning and/or delivery of interpretive public programs

• co-curation projects that engage community members in doing the work of the humanities (e.g., primary research, oral histories, and composing interpretive content), resulting in a publicly available interpretive project, such as an exhibition or website

• development or implementation of programming to amplify a traveling exhibition hosted at your institution (exhibition fees and shipping are not allowable costs in this program)

Sample projects See the Public Impact Projects program webpage for a link to the full list of recently funded PIP projects.

Awarded projects include:

• Arthurdale Heritage, Inc., will work with an interpretive consultant to craft a five-year plan to update the interpretation of the New Deal Homestead Museum in Arthurdale, West Virginia. Arthurdale, home to 1,200 residents, is an historic district that was established in 1933 as the nation’s first New Deal community.

• The Athens County Historical Society and Museum of Athens, Ohio will explore largely untold BIPOC stories across eighteen counties in southeast Ohio through the “Invisible Ground” historical marker and podcast project.

• The Poudre Heritage Alliance of Fort Collins, Colorado will support a professional interpreter training program for its small staff, and consultation with historians and tribal leaders to develop new interpretive content on the Indigenous history of the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area.

• The Gold Nugget Museum in Paradise, California will use the wider context of wildfire history to create a new interpretive exhibit titled “Out of the Ashes,” which will tell the

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stories of the people and environment of Butte County, which was destroyed by the Camp Fire of 2018.

• The Center for African American History and Culture at Virginia Union University, an HBCU in Richmond, Virginia will convene historians to develop a permanent exhibition on the history of Black women’s higher education and will arrange for new interpretive training for its small staff.

Program Outcomes and Outputs The outcomes of a successful PIP award may include but are not limited to:

• an assessment report outlining potential interpretive methods and/or storylines

• participation of staff and/or volunteers in professional development training in new interpretive methods and/or content

• an interpretive plan for the implementation of new public programs

• a new exhibition, tour, or other public programs

You will describe your project outcomes and outputs and how they would support the overall purpose of the PIP program in Attachment 1: Narrative.

See D6. Funding Restrictions for unallowable activities.

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

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;

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.

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 https://securegrants.neh.gov/publicquery/main.aspx https://www.neh.gov/about

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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 explore the Muslim American and/or the Jewish American experience, including the history of Islamophobia and/or antisemitism.

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.

https://www.neh.gov/news/american-tapestry-weaving-together-past-present-and-future https://www.neh.gov/unitedwestand https://www.neh.gov/bsi https://www.neh.gov/bsi

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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 $25,000. This includes the sum of direct and indirect costs.

NEH anticipates awarding approximately $750,000 among an estimated 30 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 up to two years with a start date between March 1, 2025, and May 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.

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.

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

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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

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

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 multiple applications for separate and distinct projects under this notice. An individual may serve as project director for multiple proposed projects under this notice. If an individual will serve as project director on multiple applications, you should explain in the narratives how the project director would allocate their time between the awards.

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 projects.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=3aeab4e3a836f5b6807999701e518c94&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1306 https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/types-funding https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E/subject-group-ECFRea20080eff2ea53/section-200.403

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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 publicpgms@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 20240626-TA. There is also a link on the program resource page.

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

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

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

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

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 components must conform to the following formatting requirements, unless otherwise indicated:

• pages no larger than standard letter (8 ½" x 11”)

• at least one-inch margins on all sides for all pages 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:publicpgms@neh.gov https://www.neh.gov/grants/policy-on-late-submissions https://www.neh.gov/program/public-impact-projects-smaller-organizations mailto:publicpgms@neh.gov

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• a font no smaller than 11 points In addition, NEH encourages you to format your components consistent with the following:

• single-spacing

• a readable font such as Arial, Georgia, Helvetica, or Times New Roman

• any standard citation style (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.

• Conditionally required for recipients: You are encouraged but not required to submit this component when you apply. You may submit it if you receive an award.

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.

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

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Application 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 or fewer. Do not include an executive summary, cover page, or table of contents. You may include images, charts, diagrams, footnotes, or endnotes if they fit within the page limit.

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

Application Component File Name Designation Page limit Attachments 1: Narrative narrative.pdf Required 5 (mandatory) 2: Organizational profile profile.pdf Required 2 (mandatory 3: Work plan workplan.pdf Required 4: Biographies of key personnel, scholars, and consultants bios.pdf Required One paragraph per person (suggested)

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

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

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

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

Required

Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs

Required

Project/Performance Site(s) Location Form

Required

Research and Related Budget and Budget Justification

Required

Attachments Form Required

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Relationship to the humanities (aligns with review criteria Audience and institutional impacts and Relationship to the humanities) (recommended length two pages)

• Describe the role that humanities content, programs, and activities play at your institution. Summarize the scope of your humanities-related collections and/or resources, and briefly describe your existing public-facing projects and/or recent exhibition history if applicable. If your institution is new to humanities-related work, describe how you envision the proposed humanities project relating to its mission. In your Organizational Profile, you will have the opportunity to further demonstrate the organization’s relationship to the humanities.

• Discuss how this project would employ humanities scholarship and key humanities resources, such as archival and artifact collections, literature, or works of art.

• Explain how the project includes at least one humanities scholar or public interpretive specialist, and at least one community expert, such as a local historian, community elder, or knowledge bearer. Provide a three-sentence description of the background for each, explaining how the person will help shape the project.

Audience: (aligns with review criteria Audience and institutional impacts and Institutional suitability) (recommended length one page)

• Describe your institution’s relationship with your current audiences and broader community, including any underserved communities, if relevant. You will provide audience demographic information in your Organizational Profile.

• Discuss how you currently engage audiences in interpretation of humanities ideas. If your organization does not currently offer public interpretation, explain why it is important to add humanities-based public programs for your audiences.

• Explain how the proposed project(s) would advance your audience impact.

• If you propose to target a particular audience, such as senior citizens or residents of a specific neighborhood, explain why you have identified this community and why this project would appeal to them.

• If applicable, discuss the need within the community that this project would address.

Activities and outcomes: (aligns with review criteria Audience and institutional impacts, Relationship to the humanities, and Project feasibility) (recommended length two pages)

• Summarize your proposed activities, explaining how they strengthen current or future public interpretations of the humanities at your institution. Describe how this project will foster discussion of humanities ideas at your organization, whether internally among staff and volunteers, externally among your audiences, or both.

• If you are proposing internally focused activities to expand your interpretive programming (such as undertaking an assessment of interpretive directions, conducting front-end evaluation, or professional training), describe the organizational challenges the proposed activities would address.

• If you propose to implement an interpretive program, describe the format and intended content of the proposed final public program.

• Detail the expected outcomes of the project. Explain the interpretive goal(s) the project would advance. Describe how you anticipate the project will enhance your organization’s public interpretation in the short term, and for long-term planning.

Name the file narrative.pdf.

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Narrative Alignment

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

Narrative Section Review Criteria

Relationship to the humanities Audience and institutional impacts, Relationship to the humanities

Audience Audience and institutional impacts, Institutional suitability

Activities and outcomes Audience and institutional impacts, Relationship to the humanities, Project feasibility

Attachment 2: Organizational Profile (required) (aligns with review criteria Project feasibility and Institutional suitability) Provide the institution’s URL (if applicable) and the following information in the form of an outline:

1. Relevant facts and statistics about your institution or organization:

a. year founded

b. mission statement, if you have one. If you do not have a mission statement, provide a short statement of the organization’s focus.

c. annual budget

d. number of staff members (full-time and part-time)

e. number of volunteers and general description of volunteer responsibilities

f. accreditations or affiliations (if applicable)

g. hours of public operation

2. Audience data: to the best of your ability with data available, describe:

a. the population of the geographic region you serve and the geographic boundary of that region (such as the size of the radius you serve around your location, or naming the states of your tri-state area)

b. average annual attendance

c. racial and ethnic demographics of your audience, and if different, of the region where you are located

d. economic demographics of your audience, and if different, of the region where you are located

e. additional information about unique qualities of your audience and region you wish to share (e.g., your region being home to the largest Islamic community in the Midwest, or your institution offering programs for LGBTQ+ youth)

f. cost to participants, if any, such as fees for admission, event registration, or special tours.

If your project involves institutional partners, only the applicant of record must provide an organizational profile.

The organizational profile must not exceed two pages. Name the file profile.pdf.

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Attachment 3: Work plan (required) (aligns with review criteria Project feasibility) 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.

Describe the activities that will take place during the period of performance to achieve each of the proposed objectives. Use a timeline that includes each activity and identifies responsible staff, scholars, and consultants. Explain how outcomes from one activity will carry over into the next. For multi-institutional collaborative projects, discuss the distribution of responsibilities across each institution. As appropriate, identify meaningful support and collaboration with key stakeholders in planning, designing, and implementing activities.

Name the file workplan.pdf.

Attachment 4: Biographies of key personnel, scholars, and consultants (required) (aligns with review criteria, Project feasibility, and Personnel) Provide short biographies for the project director and all key personnel, including advisors, and consultants. Describe each individual’s role in the project and explain their qualifications to fulfill those responsibilities. For new or vacant positions provide a brief job description in place of the biography.

Your project team must include at least one humanities scholar or public interpretive specialist, and at least one community expert such as a local historian, community elder, or knowledge bearer.

The biographies have a suggested length or one paragraph per person. You do not need to include résumés.

Name the file bios.pdf.

Attachment 5: 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.

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

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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. Name the file subrecipient.pdf.

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

Name the file subrecipient.pdf.

Attachment 6: 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 7: Explanation of delinquent federal debt (conditionally required for recipients) If your organization is delinquent in the repayment of any federal debt, explain why. Provide evidence that you have entered into a repayment agreement with the Internal Revenue Service, if applicable, and that you are current on all payments due. Examples of relevant debt include delinquent payroll or other taxes, audit disallowances, and benefit overpayments. See OMB Circular A-129.

Name the file delinquentdebt.pdf.

Application Components: Grants.gov Forms

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

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.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/legacy_drupal_files/omb/circulars/A129/a-129.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/legacy_drupal_files/omb/circulars/A129/a-129.pdf https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

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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 a month and end on the last day of a 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.

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

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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 name. See the Grants.gov Online User Guide.

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

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

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

3. Project Funding Enter the amount requested under “Outright Funds.” Do not enter anything under “Federal Match” or “Cost Sharing.”

Learn more about the types of funding NEH offers.

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

For type of application, check “new.”

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

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