NEH’s Office of Federal/State Partnership (FSP) requires assistance to develop a new method to calculate the discretionary award level for General Operating Support awards for the state and jurisdictional humanities councils

NEH’s Office of Federal/State Partnership (FSP) requires assistance to develop a new method to calculate the discretionary award level for General Operating Support awards for the state and jurisdictional humanities councils. This includes:  

• Creation of a new methodology / formula utilizing various equity and population data sets.     

• Identification, collection, and creation of data sources using multiple variables (such as population, income levels, rural/suburban/exurban/urban designations, educational attainment, public assistance metrics, etc.) to support data-informed decision-making.    

• Development of several mutually exclusive competing models for the purpose of comparison and selection; these optional models will use different data sets and/or methodologies to calculate the discretionary portion of awards.  

• Presentation of the models / methodologies, along with preliminary ranking results, to internal and external stakeholders for input.  

• Once a model is selected, delivery of documentation and description of base model parameters (i.e. weighting, etc) to inform the development of an internally development policy document / recommendation report.  

Consultant responsibilities  

The consultant will:  

• Research and identify options for bringing an equity lens to the calculation, including but not limited to community data, such as:  

• Income levels  

• Rural/suburban/exurban/urban designations  

• Educational attainment  

• Number of public schools, funding info, seats based on populations  

• Public assistance metrics  

• Population 

• Access to fundraising/foundation support 

• Number of public libraries per state/county/city/town  

• Number of cultural organizations per state (museums, historical societies, theaters, etc.)  

• Population quartiles (60 percent equal, 40 percent population)  

• Demographic information 

• Identify, collect, aggregate, and document data sources. 

• Develop model documentation for the Office of Federal/State Partnership to document research and outline recommendations for equity approach data sources.   

• Develop sample formula methodologies (in Excel or similar format) and talking points and present recommendations for distribution of the discretionary portion of the funding formula to meet Chair’s/NEH’s equity goals to the NEH working group.  

• Create talking points and PowerPoint slides the data sources, proposed formulas, and recommendations to the NEH working group and the Chair’s Office, and externally to the SHCs. 

• Document formulae, data sources, and models for FSP/ODE/OPB to use to develop an internal policy document and Excel (or similar format) template to use to implement the formula in future years. 

Deliverables   

• Excel template or CSV files or API call, with instructions, to be used by OPB to calculate annual awards.   

• Information about data sets researched by the consultant including: 

• Reference list of data including source (agency, organization), date of publication, description, publisher (database, journal, etc.), URL.   

• Documents outlining the data sets, sample formulas, and consultant recommendations.   

• Data sources (with current links/spreadsheets) to provide data on: 1) state/county income levels for all 56 states and jurisdictions; 2) rural/suburban/exurban/urban designations by state or jurisdiction for all 56 states and jurisdictions; 3) education attainment data by state/jurisdiction for all 56 states and jurisdictions; 4) public schools by state/jurisdiction including funding information and enrollment numbers for all 56 states and jurisdictions; 5) Number of public libraries per state/jurisdiction for all 56 states and jurisdictions; 6) cultural organizations per state/jurisdiction for all 56 states and jurisdictions; and/or any other relevant data sets that arise in the process of creating a model.   

• Why these data sources are recommended and how they might meet NEH’s goals of equitable distribution of federal funds by state/jurisdiction.   

• A description of the ease or difficulty of assembling each data source. 

• At least three sample models of GOS formula using each of the recommended equity approaches to present to the NEH Chair.   

• Participation in 1 meeting with selected SHC representatives to discuss the final recommendations.  

Timeframe 

November 2023 – June 2024 (expected) 

• November 2023: Begin work 

• February 2024: Presentation of data sources and initial recommendations  

• April 2024: Presentation to the NEH Chair 

• May 2024: Final revisions by consultant 

• June 2024: All deliverables due to FSP/NEH