SCHC NOFO 2025_101724.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections

Funding Opportunity Number: 20250110-PF

Funding Opportunity Type: New

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.149

Application Deadline: January 10, 2025

Applicants to NEH for awards with expected issuance dates on or after October 1, 2024, should be aware of revisions to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR Part 200) effective from that date. All NEH awards issued on or after October 1, 2024, will be subject to the revised regulations. You may incorporate these changes into your applications now. Additional information is available at https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/2024-Revisions-to-2-CFR-200.

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

It may take several weeks to register with SAM.gov and Grants.gov.

NEH will not grant deadline extensions for lack of registration.

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

OMB control number 3136-0134, expiration date October 31, 2024 https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/2024-Revisions-to-2-CFR-200%22%20/t%20%22_blank mailto:preservation@neh.gov

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Executive Summary The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Preservation and Access is accepting applications for the Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections program. This program helps cultural institutions meet the complex challenge of preserving large and diverse holdings of humanities materials for future generations by supporting environmentally sustainable preventive care measures that mitigate deterioration, prolong the useful life of collections, reduce energy consumption, and strengthen institutions’ ability to anticipate and respond to disasters.

Funding Opportunity Title Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections Funding Opportunity Number 20250110-PF Federal Assistance Listing Number 45.149 Deadline for Optional Draft December 5, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Application Deadline January 10, 2025, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Anticipated Award Announcement August 2025 Anticipated FY 2025 Funding Approximately $2,000,000 Estimated Number and Type of Awards Approximately 15 grants per deadline (including all levels of funding) Award Amounts Planning: up to $50,000

Implementation, Level I: up to $100,000 Implementation, Level II: up to $350,000 Organizations located in a non-contiguous state or jurisdiction, including AK, HI, PR, GU, AS, VI, and NMI may request up to an additional $10,000 for Planning, $20,000 for Implementation Level I, and $70,000 for Implementation Level II to cover increased consultants’ travel costs as well as shipping and material costs.

Cost Sharing/Match Required No Period of Performance Planning: up to two years

Implementation, Level I: up to two years Implementation, Level II: up to three years

Projects must start between October 1, 2025, and January 31, 2026.

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

• accredited institutions of higher education (public or nonprofit)

• state and local governments and their agencies

• federally recognized Native American Tribal governments

See C. Eligibility Information for additional information.

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Program Resource Page https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/sustaining-cultural-heritage-collections

Pre-Application Webinar SCHC Webinar Registration Published Updated

October 4, 2024 October 17, 2024 (added webinar registration link) https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/sustaining-cultural-heritage-collections https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/sustaining-cultural-heritage-collections https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fevents.gcc.teams.microsoft.com%2Fevent%2Fa73ce0db-a9a6-4ceb-b95a-f76da5ba2157%4093b06459-c77d-44b6-af7f-e813cddcdcc3&data=05%7C02%7Cjingram%40neh.gov%7C143407f7417b4a56f0f408dceeca1ca0%7C93b06459c77d44b6af7fe813cddcdcc3%7C0%7C0%7C638647799047661135%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=hUzCqp649TVlH4ln9AdV6MFJEz%2FWr2RcqOk8MuWOIr4%3D&reserved=0

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Table of Contents A. Program Description

1. Purpose

2. Background

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award

2. Summary of Funding

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

2. Cost Sharing

3. Other Eligibility Information

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Application Package

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management

4. Submission Dates and Times

5. Intergovernmental Review

6. Funding Restrictions

E. Application Review Information

1. Review Criteria

2. Review and Selection Process

3. Assessment of Risk and Other Pre-Award Activities

4. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

3. Reporting

G. Agency Contacts

H. Other Information

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A. Program Description

1. Purpose This notice solicits applications for the Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections (SCHC) program.

The SCHC program supports environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies to reduce energy consumption and costs and to strengthen institutional resiliency in the face of increased risks due to global climate change. The program helps cultural heritage institutions (libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations) meet the complex challenge of preserving diverse holdings of humanities collections for future generations.

The 2023 report Held in Trust: Transforming Cultural Heritage Conservation for a More Resilient Future, funded by NEH, identified extreme climate-related disasters as an existential and immediate threat to cultural heritage and its preservation. Cultural heritage faces increased risks of loss and damage associated with fire, flood, tornadoes, hurricanes, sea level rise, and high temperatures. Maintaining preservation environments for cultural heritage collections often requires high energy usage, contributing to climate change and the very risks that threaten collections. Collecting institutions face a dual responsibility, to reduce impacts that contribute to climate change and to adapt to changing environmental conditions.

The SCHC program supports environmentally sustainable preventive care, also referred to as preventive conservation or preservation, which includes measures and actions aimed at avoiding, minimizing, and slowing future deterioration or loss of cultural heritage collections, thereby sustaining them for future generations. Cultural heritage institutions may use SCHC awards to manage collections’ environment, including aspects such as temperature, relative humidity, pollutants, and light; provide protective storage enclosures and systems for collections; and safeguard collections from theft, fire, floods, and other disasters. Recipients should use environmentally sustainable methods that reduce reliance on fossil fuels and improve institutional resiliency from current and future disasters.

To plan and implement environmentally sustainable preventive care, reduce carbon emissions, and increase resiliency against disasters and risks due to a changing climate, you should consider the various available guidelines for sustainable preventive care, methods for reducing energy use, and climate disaster mitigation methods (applying methods and strategies that best suit your collection, building, and local climate). See Section H, Applicant Resources. You should also consider:

• the collection materials and associated risks and vulnerabilities due to disasters, climate change, and natural aging;

• the environmental impact of maintaining a preservation environment for collections by evaluating current and desired environmental conditions of the collection storage and/or display spaces;

• avoiding blanket environmental conditions for all objects;

• using passive methods and low energy solutions to improve the preservation environment of collections;

• the thermal and moisture buffering capacity of the building envelope housing the collection against external environmental conditions, and;

https://www.culturalheritage.org/docs/default-source/publications/reports/held-in-trust/held-in-trust-report.pdf https://www.culturalheritage.org/docs/default-source/publications/reports/held-in-trust/held-in-trust-report.pdf

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• the embodied carbon (the greenhouse gas emissions associated with extraction, production, transport, and manufacturing) and life cycle assessment (framework that accounts for all impacts of a product, from raw material extraction through the end of the product’s life) of materials used for building renovations and housing collections favoring regenerative materials that have low or negative impacts on the environment.

Additional considerations for non-contiguous states and jurisdictions If your organization is located in a non-contiguous state or jurisdiction, including AK, HI, PR, GU, AS, VI, and NMI, you may request up to an additional $10,000 for Planning, $20,000 for Implementation Level I, and $70,000 for Implementation Level II to cover increased travel costs for consultants from outside your state or jurisdiction and/or increased shipping and material costs for preservation furniture, housing supplies, HVAC equipment, and building material compared with costs in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia.

Additional funds may not be used for salary or labor.

Project Teams SCHC Planning and Implementation Level II projects require a collaborative, multidisciplinary professional team appropriate to the level of funding requested and goals of the project. The team may consist of consultants and contracted professionals and should include members of your institution’s staff. Team members might include cultural heritage professionals knowledgeable in environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies and/or disaster preparedness, architects, building engineers, conservation scientists, conservators, curators, and facilities managers, among others. While Implementation Level I projects do not require multidisciplinary teams, the project team should have relevant expertise to meet the goals of the project. All SCHC projects must include a preservation/conservation professional who works with cultural heritage collections on the project team. You must identify all members of the team in the application, and they should work collaboratively throughout the planning and implementation processes.

Funding categories The SCHC program offers three levels of funding: Planning, Implementation Level I, and Implementation Level II.

You should choose the level appropriate to the scope and maturity of the proposed project. You are not required to obtain a Planning award prior to applying for a Level I or Level II award, nor are you required to have received a Level I award prior to applying for a Level II award. An award from NEH for one stage of a project does not commit the agency to continued support.

NEH evaluates applications for each stage of a project independently.

Before applying to any level of this program, you should have established an environmental monitoring program (collecting temperature and relative humidity data) and completed a basic preservation assessment or conservation assessment that identified preservation challenges, risks, and priorities. You may also consider developing a collection management plan, a preservation plan, an emergency plan, and/or a climate action plan prior to applying.

If you have not yet completed initial assessments and planning to address long-term collection care needs in an environmentally sustainable manner, you may wish to consider other NEH programs, such as Climate Smart Humanities Organizations or Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions. If you are requesting funding for preservation activities, supplies, or equipment of a total cost of $10,000 or less, consider applying to the Preservation Assistance https://www.neh.gov/program/climate-smart-humanities-organizations-0 https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/preservation-assistance-grants-smaller-institutions https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/preservation-assistance-grants-smaller-institutions

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Grant program. You may email preservation@neh.gov to consult with a program officer about which award is best for your project. See Related funding opportunities.

The SCHC program does not support new construction or facility expansion. You may not use grant funds to install climate control, security, storage equipment, or fire protection systems in a building under construction or newly constructed but not yet in use. Implementation projects, both Level I and Level II, may cover costs associated with building alterations and renovations necessary to implement environmentally sustainable preventive care measures for collection spaces. Awards may support planning or implementing the rehousing and movement of collections into a new building if the primary purpose of the move advances institutional environmental sustainability and/or resilience. Implementation Level I and II projects must be at a stage of schematic design when you submit the application.

Planning The Planning category provides funding to develop and assess environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies in collection spaces. These awards are up to $50,000 for a two-year period of performance.

You might use a Planning award to plan, study, evaluate, examine, measure, and/or test:

• collection space temperature and relative humidity targets considering environmentally sustainable guidelines

• passive (nonmechanical) and low-energy systems for managing environmental conditions such as:

o preservation microclimates o collection space and/or building envelope thermal and moisture buffering performance o collection space and/or building envelope air leaks o natural ventilation methods

• actively managed mechanical systems to achieve desired conditions along with energy and cost savings, such as:

o adjusting the operating protocols for climate control systems (planned shutdowns, setbacks, seasonal setpoints) o reducing outside air intake o adjusting fan speeds o recommissioning or tuning small-scale climate control systems o replacing components of HVAC systems o energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions

• installation of on-site renewable energy sources

• lighting collection spaces that protect collections while improving energy efficiency and reducing heat load

• institutional resilience in the face of disasters resulting from current and future effects of climate change or other disasters such as:

o risk assessment and mitigation o building performance during extended power outages or other emergency situations o landscaping to mitigate risks to buildings holding collections

Implementation Levels I and II The Implementation Level I category provides funding to implement environmentally sustainable preventive care projects that address specific, discrete preservation challenges that have been identified through an assessment. Level I awards support projects that derive from a

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general preservation needs assessment, risk assessment, or other targeted collections assessment conducted by internal or consulting professionals who have identified preservation challenges and priorities and prepared an assessment report or summary. You should apply for this level of funding if you are ready to implement small-scale environmentally sustainable preventive care measures as a result of such assessments. These awards are up to $100,000 for a period of performance of up to two years.

The Implementation Level II category provides funding to implement environmentally sustainable preventive care projects. Projects may address large or multifaceted preservation challenges that have been identified through assessments. Projects must be informed by a planning phase conducted by a multidisciplinary collaborative professional team appropriate to the goals of the project such as architects, HVAC engineers, building engineers, lighting specialists, conservators, curators, facilities managers, and specialists in environmentally sustainable preventive care and/or disaster preparedness. These awards are up to $350,000 for a period of performance of up to three years.

The primary differences between Implementation Level I and Implementation Level II are:

1) The scope and size of the project. Level I projects are typically smaller, distinct projects while Level II projects can be large and/or multifaceted.

2) The planning pre-requisites. Both levels require a preservation needs assessment or other focused assessment that informs the project. For Level II projects, that assessment should be performed by a multidisciplinary collaborative team appropriate to the project.

You might use an Implementation Level I or II award to implement, upgrade, install, and/or improve:

• passive (nonmechanical) and low-energy systems for managing environmental conditions to reduce risk and/or improve energy efficiency, and allow for greater temperature and relative humidity ranges in building-wide spaces such as:

o improving the thermal and moisture performance of a building envelope by installing, UV blocking window filters or shades, sealing windows and doors, sealing ducts, weatherproofing, insulation, or vapor barriers o reorganize collections by material type, locating more vulnerable collections in spaces that are more naturally stable o create preservation microclimates for vulnerable collections

• actively managed mechanical systems to achieve desired conditions along with energy and cost savings such as:

o building automation systems to enable more active management of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to improve energy efficiency o HVAC systems or components to improve energy efficiency

• renewable energy systems such as:

o solar panels o heat pumps o geothermal

• lighting systems and controls to achieve energy efficiency and light levels suitable for collections

• institutional resiliency in the face of disasters resulting from current and future effects of climate change or other disasters such as:

o improve security

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o building and landscaping improvements to protect collections from fire, floods, pollutants, and other disasters o storage systems to rehouse vulnerable collections

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

• plans and specifications to reduce energy consumption and costs

• energy reduction test data

• environmentally sustainable collections management and preventive care plans

• assessments, reports, and/or modification plans for the building envelope

• and installation plans for climate control, lighting, security, and other building systems

• assessments, reports, and/or modification of collections storage systems

• plans to improve resiliency against disaster

The outcomes of a successful Implementation Level I or Implementation Level II award may include, but are not limited to:

• improved collections storage or display environment

• effective microclimates for vulnerable collections objects

• reduced energy consumption and costs

• improved lighting systems

• improved security

• reduced risk from disasters

• resiliency against climate change risks

You will describe your project outputs, and how they would support the overall purpose of the SCHC program, in the Project results and dissemination section of Attachment 1: Narrative. If you receive an award, NEH will assess your performance based on the outputs you identify in the proposal. See F3. Reporting.

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

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

Compliance with Federal Regulations Regarding Building Modifications If your project involves planning or implementing any modifications or changes to your building’s interior, exterior, or mechanical systems such as alteration, renovation, repair, rehabilitation, demolition, or ground disturbance, or if you seek to modify building envelopes for better climate control, install or modify HVAC systems, install alternate energy sources, install lighting systems, or install storage furniture you must comply with the following laws, as applicable:

• National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. § 4321, et seq.)

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title42/chapter55&edition=prelim https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title42/chapter55&edition=prelim

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• Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) (54 U.S.C. § 306108)

• Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. § 3141, et seq.)

• Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) (Pub. L. 117-58 § 70901, et seq.)

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq.)

You should include the costs of compliance with these laws and build sufficient time into your project workplan to account for a potentially lengthy review period if NEH decides to fund your application. See section F2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements for additional details.

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.

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 https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=54+U.S.C.+%A7306108&f=treesort&fq=true&num=18&hl=true&edition=prelim&granuleId=USC-prelim-title54-section306108 https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=54+U.S.C.+%A7306108&f=treesort&fq=true&num=18&hl=true&edition=prelim&granuleId=USC-prelim-title54-section306108 https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml;jsessionid=01381062F632D4668F5E03EB3B4CFCF0?req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title40-chapter31-subchapter4&saved=%7CKHRpdGxlOjQwIHNlY3Rpb246MzE0MSBlZGl0aW9uOnByZWxpbSk%3D%7C%7C%7C0%7Cfalse%7Cprelim&edition=prelim https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/s1303/BILLS-117s1303is.pdf https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2018-title42/pdf/USCODE-2018-title42-chap126-sec12101.pdf 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 https://www.neh.gov/news/american-tapestry-weaving-together-past-present-and-future

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humanities projects that align with these three themes – strengthening our democracy, advancing equity for all, and addressing our changing climate – the American Tapestry initiative seeks to tell our country’s history in all its complexity and diversity.

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

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

NEH especially welcomes projects that preserve and extend the reach of collections chronicling Muslim American and/or Jewish American experiences, including the history of Islamophobia and/or antisemitism in the United States.

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

B. Federal Award Information

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

NEH will provide funding in the form of grants.

2. Summary of Funding

Award amounts If you are applying for a Planning award, you may request up to $50,000.

If you are applying for a Level I Implementation award, you may request up to $100,000.

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

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If you are applying for a Level II Implementation award, you may request up to $350,000.

These totals include the sum of direct and indirect costs.

If your organization is located in a non-contiguous state or jurisdiction including AK, HI, PR, GU, AS, VI, and NMI you may request up to an additional $10,000 for Planning, $20,000 for Implementation Level I, and $70,000 for Implementation Level II to cover increased travel, shipping, and material supply costs from outside the state or jurisdiction. Additional funds may not be used for salary or labor costs.

NEH anticipates awarding approximately $2,000,000 among an estimated 15 recipients.

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 If you are applying for a Planning award or an Implementation Level I award, you may request a period of performance up to two years.

If you are applying for an Implementation Level II award, you may request a period of performance up to three years.

You may request a period of performance start date between October 1, 2025, and January 31, 2026.

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 unless you request federal matching funds.

Cost sharing refers to project costs that are covered with non-NEH funds. NEH distinguishes between two types of cost sharing: voluntary cost sharing and federal matching funds.

Voluntary cost sharing 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 include only funds you are requesting from NEH.

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

Federal matching funds You may request a portion of the award amount in federal matching funds to leverage third party funding. Funds to satisfy a matching requirement must be from sources outside of the applicant institution (a third party) consistent with the NEH Federal Matching Funds Guidelines. If you request federal matching funds, you must raise third-party non-federal gifts dollar-for-dollar.

Include third-party non-federal gifts on your Research and Related Budget and identify what project activities they will support in the budget justification.

Successful applicants will receive an offer of federal matching funds, subject to specific regulatory and other conditions. NEH will certify the allowability of these gifts and will issue the award only when you have met the conditions of the offer. The full amount of federal matching funds may not be available for release in the first year of a multi-year period of performance.

Typically, NEH distributes federal matching funds on an annual basis over the period of performance.

If NEH selects your project for funding, you must raise and certify all eligible gifts and pledges by six months prior to the end of the period of performance. NEH advises applicants who are requesting matching funds to consider a period of performance that allows adequate time to raise and certify funds. If you fail to certify required gifts by the deadline and do not request an extension, by the end of the offer period, the matching funds offer may be withdrawn. See NEH Federal Matching Funds Guidelines.

NEH will not release federal matching funds until you raise and certify eligible gifts. In-kind gifts and funds derived from the recipient organization are not eligible sources of certified gifts in this program.

https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/federal-matching-funds-guidelines https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/federal-matching-funds-guidelines https://nehemail.sharepoint.com/teams/nofo/Shared%20Documents/NOFOs/Preservation%20&%20Access/Sustaining%20Cultural%20Heritage%20Collections/2025/Disclosure#_Standard_Form-LLL,_

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

Learn about types of funds NEH offers.

3. Other Eligibility Information 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.

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

If NEH has previously made an award in support of your project, you may apply for a new or subsequent stage of the project, which NEH will assess using the 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. Proposals for the construction of permanent improvements to lands or facilities that belong to another federal agency are typically ineligible for NEH support. You may use funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in your project, but you may not use them as gifts to release federal matching funds.

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

Except for the rare cases covered by its late submission policy, NEH 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.

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

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D. Application and Submission Information

1. Application Package You must apply using Grants.gov Workspace or a Grants.gov system-to-system solution. You can find this funding opportunity in Grants.gov under number 20250110-PF. 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 preservation@neh.gov to request a paper copy of this notice.

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

Application formatting Your application attachments must be PDFs and conform to the following formatting requirements, unless otherwise indicated:

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

• at least one-inch margins on all sides for all pages

• a font no smaller than 11 points

In addition, NEH encourages you to format your attachments consistent with the following:

• single-spacing

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

• any standard citation style (include citations in page counts)

Application Component Table NEH has assigned each application component one of the following designations:

• Required: You must submit this component.

• Conditionally required: You must submit this component if your proposal meets the specified conditions.

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

• Conditionally required for recipients: You are encouraged but not required to submit this component when you apply. You must submit it if you receive an award if your proposal meets the specified conditions.

NEH will not review applications missing any required documents or relevant conditionally required documents.

https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/sustaining-cultural-heritage-collections

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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.

Application Component File Name Designation Page limit Attachments 1: Narrative narrative.pdf Required 10 pages for Planning and Implementation, Level I projects;

12 pages for Implementation, Level II projects (see narrative instructions) (mandatory)

2: Work plan workplan.pdf Required 2 pages (suggested)

3: List of personnel personnel.pdf Required 4: Résumés resumes.pdf Required 2 pages each

(suggested) 5: History of awards history.pdf Recommended 1 page

(suggested) 6: Assessments and studies assessments.pdf Recommended 7: Technical specifications specifications.pdf Recommended

8: Letters of commitment and support letters.pdf Recommended

9: Site conditions site.pdf Recommended for applicants (Conditionally required for recipients – see description)

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10: Build America, Buy America assurance assurance.pdf Recommended for applicants (Conditionally required for recipients – see description)

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

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

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

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

Required

Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs

Required

Project/Performance Site(s) Location Form

Required

Research and Related Budget and Budget Justification

Required

Attachments Form Required Certification Regarding Lobbying Conditionally

Standard Form-LLL “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities”

Conditionally

Application Components: Attachments Each attachment must be a single PDF file. See the Attachments Form instructions for further guidance about file requirements. Read this section 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 ten single-spaced pages for Planning projects and Implementation Level I projects or twelve single-spaced pages for Implementation Level II projects. Do not include a cover sheet, executive summary, or a table of contents. You may include images, charts, diagrams, references, footnotes, and endnotes if they fit within the page limit.

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

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Introduction (aligns with criteria 1 and 2) Provide an overview of your proposed project and explain how it fits into your institution’s preservation priorities and environmental sustainability goals.

Provide a brief profile of your organization. Include your institutional history and mission, a summary of collections, the collection’s relevance to your institution’s mission, and identify plans or policies that guide the collections’ development. Aso include a brief discussion of your institution’s facilities specifying whether your organization owns or leases the facilities, number of staff, and operating budget. Describe your institution’s size and capacity, and the appropriateness of engaging in activities at the requested level of funding.

Briefly explain how your project addresses environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies and/or resiliency to disasters as a result of climate change or human activity. Discuss how your project meets municipal, state, or federal decarbonization guidelines, if applicable.

Significance of Collections (aligns with review criterion 1) Describe in detail the nature, size, and intellectual content of the collections that are the focus of the project. Discuss their current, past, or potential use in support of the humanities, and describe the audiences that your institution serves. Provide examples of exhibitions, educational programs, research projects, and publications to illustrate how the collections have been used to examine humanistic themes and ideas. Discuss the relation of the collections to similar holdings in other repositories.

Institutional and Project History (aligns with review criteria 2 and 4) Describe the current level of administrative and intellectual control of the collections. Provide a brief overview of preventive care practices and policies at your institution. For example, identify policies, practices, and systems to manage environmental conditions, provide appropriate storage, and protect collections from fire, pollutants, theft, pests, and other disasters. Explain how the proposed project relates to any institutional environmental sustainability or climate change resiliency initiatives such as your strategic plan, decarbonization goals, climate action plan, preservation plan, or other long-range planning efforts.

Discuss previous preservation actions, research, assessments, planning, or specialized studies that are directly relevant and that lay a foundation for the proposed project. This may include general preservation or conservation assessments, risk assessments, environmental monitoring programs, energy assessments, specialized consultations, and results of multidisciplinary collaborative professional team planning. Describe the findings of these activities in detail and how it informs the proposed project. Include in the discussion a description of the collections’ present condition and define the preservation challenges and risks that the project would address. You may include written reports and visual documentation in Attachment 6:

Assessments and studies to illustrate the preservation problems you identify in this section.

Provide the rationale for the proposed planning or implementation activities, including expected outcomes.

Methods and Standards, Sustainability and Resiliency (aligns with review criteria 2 and 3) For both Planning and Implementation projects, explain and justify the proposed methods and procedures in detail. Discuss how you will explore or employ environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies and what research, standards or guidelines, and practices provide a

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basis for the project. Describe how you will collect data to assess the effectiveness of the environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies implemented (i.e., conditions, energy use, cost). Describe how the project will improve the preservation environment of the collection, reduce energy usage, reduce energy costs, and/or improve resiliency against disasters.

For Planning and Implementation II projects Discuss the knowledge and skills that the collaborative multidisciplinary planning team needs, explain how you have assembled the team, and discuss the ways in which the team will collaborate to meet project goals.

For Planning projects Show how the project’s framework and methods relate to the expected outcomes. Describe any planned testing, modeling, or project-specific research, and explain how such activities could help you identify environmentally sustainable preventive care strategies.

If you are not following or are modifying the recommendations of assessors and specialists, explain why. Discuss any measures that you will take to ensure that the collections are professionally maintained and protected during the project.

For Implementation projects to rehouse and improve collections storage Describe the methods and materials you will use to rehouse the collections and discuss the development of the storage plan. Explain how the proposed project will support institutional environmental sustainability and/or long-term institutional resilience in the face of emergencies. As applicable, refer to institutional, regional, and/or national disaster plans and/or networks. If the project involves the movement or relocation of collections, explain the current levels of intellectual and physical control and how collections will be safely moved or relocated.

For Implementation projects to improve and manage collection environmental conditions Describe the steps you will take to improve environmental conditions for humanities collections and define expected conditions (i.e., temperature, RH ranges, light levels). As relevant, describe the primary design features of proposed passive measures, mechanized systems, and equipment to manage or control conditions. Discuss how the proposed project supports institutional environmental sustainability initiatives.