![]() ![]() Date posted: December 15, 2009
Date modified: February 5, 2010 *
Draft proposals (optional):
Program staff recommends that draft proposals be submitted four weeks before the deadline.
Time constraints may prevent staff from reviewing draft proposals submitted after that date.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 45.163
Questions?
Contact the staff of NEH’s Division of Education Programs at 202-606-8463
or landmarks@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can
contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.
The Landmarks of American History and Culture program supports series of one-week residence-based workshops for a national audience of K-12 educators. NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture workshops use historic sites to address central themes and issues in American history, government, literature, art, music, and other related subjects in the humanities. The goals of the workshops are to
NEH encourages proposals for Landmarks of American History and Culture workshops that
Workshops, which should be offered two times during the summer, should accommodate forty school teachers (NEH Summer Scholars) at each one-week session.
Because of school calendars, NEH Landmarks workshops for school teachers should begin no earlier than late June and end before the middle of August. NEH recommends that at least one of the two workshops supported by the grant should be held in July.
Participants must be chosen by a selection committee convened by the project director. Landmarks selection committees for school teacher programs customarily consist of three members: the project director, one of the project scholars, and a veteran school teacher. NEH staff will provide general eligibility and selection criteria, along with guidelines for applications to participate in a Landmarks workshop.
Grants for NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture may not be used for
NEH anticipates that awards for Landmarks workshops for school teachers will range between $150,000 and $180,000 in outright funds, assuming that a one-week session costs approximately $75,000 to $90,000.
(Learn more about different types of grant funding.)
Cost sharing
Cost sharing consists of the cash contributions made to a project by the applicant, third parties, and other federal agencies, as well as third party in-kind contributions, such as donated services and goods. Cost sharing also includes gift money raised to release federal matching funds. Cost sharing is not required in this program.
Award period
The award period is fifteen months: October 1, 2010, to December 31, 2011.
Any U.S. nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status is eligible, as are state and local governmental agencies and tribal governments. Individuals are not eligible to apply.
A director who submitted his or her first successful NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture application in 2009 is not eligible to reapply in 2010. First-time directors must instead complete their workshop, and receive evaluations from the NEH Summer Scholars, before they can submit proposals to direct future summer programs.
NEH generally does not award grants to other federal entities or to applicants whose projects are so closely
intertwined with a federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity’s own authorized
activities. This does not preclude applicants from using grant funds from, or sites and materials controlled by,
other federal entities in their projects.
Late, incomplete, and ineligible applications will not be reviewed.
Applicants are encouraged to contact program officers who can offer advice about preparing the proposal, provide samples of previously funded projects, and review preliminary proposal drafts if they are submitted at least four weeks before the deadline. Responses to late-arriving drafts cannot be guaranteed. Although this preliminary review is not part of the formal process and has no bearing on the final outcome of the proposal, previous applicants have found it helpful in strengthening their applications.
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR APPLICATION
You will prepare your application for submission via Grants.gov just as you would a paper application. Your application should consist of the following parts:
1. Table of contents
List all parts of the application and page numbers.
2. Narrative description
Limit the narrative to fifteen double-spaced pages with one-inch margins and a font size no smaller than twelve points. Use appendices to provide concise supplementary material that is directly germane to the project.
Provide a detailed description of the project, consisting of the following sections:
3. Project budget
Provide a budget for the workshop.
A sample budget (1-page PDF) is available for guidance.
All of the items listed must be reasonable, necessary to accomplish project objectives, allowable in terms of the applicable federal cost principles, auditable, and incurred during the grant period. Charges to the project for items such as salaries, fringe benefits, travel, and contractual services must conform to the written policies and established practices of the applicant organization. When indirect costs are charged to the project, care should be taken that expenses included in the organization’s indirect-cost pool are not charged to the project as direct costs.
Budget narrative
A brief budget narrative may be included when requested costs are unusual or not obviously related to the proposed project. Clarification of requested compensation levels may be useful here. If released time from teaching duties is proposed, indicate clearly how it will be used. Provide justifications in the narrative for equipment rentals and purchases.
The following costs are not allowable and may not appear in project budgets:
4. Appendices
Limit your appendices to essential materials only, including
Number the pages of the appendices and refer to items included in the appendices in the proposal narrative.
Register or Verify Registration with Grants.gov
Applications for this program must be submitted via Grants.gov. Before using Grants.gov for the first time, each organization must register with the Web site to create an institutional profile. Once registered, your organization can then apply for any government grant on the Grants.gov Web site.
If your organization has already registered and you have verified that your registration
is still valid, you may skip this step. If not, please see the Grants.gov checklist to guide you through the registration process. We strongly recommend that you complete or verify your registration at least two weeks before the application deadline, as it takes time for your registration to be processed. If you have problems registering with Grants.gov, call the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726.
Download the Free Adobe Reader software
To fill out a Grants.gov application package, you will need to download and install the current version of Adobe Reader. The latest version of Adobe Reader, which is designed to function with PCs and Macintosh computers using a variety of popular operating systems, is available at no charge from the Adobe Web site (www.adobe.com). Click on “Get Adobe Reader” and then “Download Now.”
Once installed, the current version of Adobe Reader will allow you to view and fill out Grants.gov application packages for any federal agency. If you have a problem installing Adobe Reader, it may be because you do not have permission to install a new program on your computer. Many organizations have rules about installing new programs. If you encounter a problem, contact your system administrator.
Download the Application Package
You can save your application package at any time by clicking the “Save” button at the top of your screen.
Tip: If you choose to save your application package before you have completed it, you may receive
an error message indicating that your application is not valid.
Click “OK” to save your work and complete the package another time. You can also use e-mail to share the
application package with members of your organization or project team.
The application package contains four forms that you must complete in order to submit your application:
To assist applicants, Grants.gov provides a helpful troubleshooting page.
How to Fill Out the SF-424 Short Form
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. In items 6, 7, 8, and 9 below, NEH recommends that the project title, brief project description, project director’s name, primary contact/grants administrator’s name, and authorized representative’s name be typed directly onto the form, instead of being pasted in; pasted-in quotation marks, diacriticals, and other symbols are often converted into question marks during transmittal.
Please provide the following information:
How to Fill Out the Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the following information:
How to Fill Out the Project/Performance Site Location(s) Form
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the requested information. Instructions for each requested data element may be viewed by positioning your cursor over the blank field.
How to Use the NEH Attachment Form
You will use this form to attach the various files that make up your application.
Your attachments must be in Portable Document Format (.pdf). We cannot accept attachments in their
original word processing or spreadsheet formats. If you don’t already have software to convert your
files into PDFs, many low-cost and free software packages will do so. To learn
more, go to www.neh.gov/grants/grantsgov/pdf.html.
When you open the NEH Attachment Form, you will find fifteen attachment buttons, labeled “Attachment 1” through “Attachment 15.” By clicking on a button, you will be able to choose the file from your computer that you wish to attach. You must name and attach your files in the proper order so that we can identify them. Please attach the proper file to the proper button as listed below:
ATTACHMENT 1: To this button, please attach your table of contents. Name the file “contents.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 2: To this button, please attach your narrative. Name the file “narrative.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 3: To this button, please attach your budget. Name the file “budget.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 4: To this button, please attach your appendices. Name the file “appendices.pdf”.
Use the remaining buttons to attach any additional materials (if appropriate). Please give these
attachments meaningful file names and ensure that they are PDFs.
UPLOADING YOUR APPLICATION
TO GRANTS.GOV
When you have completed all four forms, use the right-facing arrow to move each of them to the
“Mandatory Documents for Submission” column. Once they have been moved over, the “Submit” button will
activate. You are now ready to upload your application package to Grants.gov.
During the registration process, your institution designated one or more AORs (Authorized Organization
Representatives). These AORs typically work in your institution’s Sponsored Research Office or Grants Office.
When you have completed your application, you must ask your AOR to submit the application, using the special
username and password that were assigned to him or her during the registration process.
To submit your application, your computer must have an active connection to the Internet. To begin the
submission process, click the “Submit” button. A page will appear, asking you to sign and submit your
application. At this point, your AOR will enter his or her username and password. When you click the
“Sign and Submit Application” button, your application package will be uploaded to Grants.gov. Please note
that it may take some time to upload your application package, depending on the size of your files and
the speed of your Internet connection.
After the upload is complete, a confirmation page will appear. This page, which will include a tracking number, indicates
that you have submitted your application to Grants.gov. Please print this page for your records. The AOR will
also receive a confirmation e-mail message.
NEH suggests that you submit your application no later than 5:00 p.m.
Eastern Time on the day of the deadline. Doing so will leave you time to contact the Grants.gov help desk for support, should you encounter a technical problem of some kind. The Grants.gov help desk is now available seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day (except on federal holidays), at 1-800-518-4726. You can also send an e‑mail message to support@grants.gov.
Deadlines
Draft proposals (optional): Program staff recommends that draft proposals be submitted at least four weeks before the deadline. Time constraints may prevent staff from reviewing draft proposals submitted after that date.
Applications must be received by Grants.gov on or before March 16, 2010. Grants.gov will date- and time-stamp your application after it is fully uploaded. Applications submitted after that date will not be accepted.
Proposals for Landmarks in American History and Culture: Workshops for School Teachers are evaluated according to the following criteria:
Review and selection process
Knowledgeable persons outside NEH will read each application and advise the agency about its merits.
NEH staff comments on matters of fact or on significant issues that otherwise would
be missing from these reviews, then makes recommendations to the National Council on the Humanities.
The National Council meets at various times during the year to advise the NEH chairman on grants.
The chairman takes into account the advice provided by the review process and, by law, makes
all funding decisions.
Award notices
Applicants will be notified by mail by September 2010 of the decision. Institutional grants administrators and project directors of successful applications will also receive at that time award documents by mail. Applicants may obtain the evaluations of their applications by sending a letter or e-mail message to:
Landmarks of American History and Culture
Workshops for School Teachers Division of Education Programs National Endowment for the Humanities Room 302 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20506 or landmarks@neh.gov.
Administrative requirements
Before submitting an application, applicants should review their
responsibilities as an award recipient and the lobbying certification requirement.
Award conditions
The requirements for awards are contained in the General Terms and
Conditions for Awards to Organizations, any specific terms and conditions contained in the award document,
and the applicable
OMB circulars governing federal grants
management.
Reporting requirements
A schedule of report due dates will be included with the award document.
Interim and final performance reports will be required. Further details can be found in Performance Reporting Requirements.
A final Federal Financial Report (SF-425) will be due within ninety days after the end of the award period.
If you have questions about the program, contact:
Landmarks of American History and Culture:
Workshops for School Teachers Division of Education Programs National Endowment for the Humanities Room 302 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20506 202-606-8463 landmarks@neh.gov
If you need help using Grants.gov, contact:
Grants.gov: www.grants.gov
Grants.gov help desk: support@grants.gov Grants.gov customer support tutorials and manuals : www.grants.gov/applicants/resources.jsp Grant.gov support line: 1-800-518-GRANTS (4726) Grants.gov troubleshooting tips.
Privacy policy
Information in these guidelines is solicited under the authority of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities
Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 956. The principal purpose for which the information will be used is to process the
grant application. The information may also be used for statistical research, analysis of trends, and Congressional
oversight. Failure to provide the information may result in the delay or rejection of the application.
Application completion time
The Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies to supply information on the time needed to complete forms
and also to invite comments on the paperwork burden. NEH estimates that the average time to complete this application is fifteen hours per response. This estimate includes time for reviewing instructions, researching, gathering, and maintaining the information needed, and completing and reviewing the application.
Please send any comments regarding the estimated completion time or any other aspect of this application,
including suggestions for reducing the completion time, to the Office of Publications, National
Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, DC 20506; and to the Office of Management and Budget,
Paperwork Reduction Project (3136-0134), Washington, DC 20503. According to the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless
it displays a valid OMB number.
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