NEH Grant Programs
Date posted: December 3, 2009
Date modified: February 4, 2010 *
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 45.168
Questions?
Contact Edie Manza at 202-606-8254 or via
e-mail at fedstate@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.
Grant Program Description
We the People Project Grants for State Humanities Councils support programs sponsored by state humanities councils that explore significant events and themes in American history and culture, and that advance knowledge of the principles that define America. Councils are encouraged to think of ways to explore themes related to We the People through both new and existing programs. To learn more about We the People, visit the program’s Web site.
Projects may combine a variety of programming formats and should reach as broad an audience as possible. Projects may include
  • theme-based RFPs (Requests for Proposals),
  • reading or film discussion series,
  • lectures,
  • speakers’ bureau presentations,
  • teachers’ institutes,
  • temporary exhibitions,
  • publications,
  • media programs, and
  • Web sites.
Providing access to grant products
As a taxpayer-supported federal agency, NEH endeavors to make the products of its grants available to the broadest possible audience. Our goal is for scholars, educators, students, and the American public to have ready and easy access to the wide range of NEH grant products. Such projects may include reading and discussion programs, traveling exhibitions, teachers’ institutes, conferences, speakers’ bureaus, community programs in the humanities, digital tools, Web sites, and the like. For projects that lead to the development of Web sites, all other considerations being equal, NEH gives preference to those that provide free access to the public.
III. Award Information
Successful applicants will be awarded a grant in outright funds, matching funds, or a combination of the two, depending on the request of the applicant. The award amount for a council will not exceed the amount of FY 2010 funding that has been allocated to the council for We the People programming.
(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, unless the council is requesting federal matching funds. In this case, gift funds equal to the amount of matching funds must also be included in the budget and expended on project activities. Both the gift funds and the federal matching funds must be expended solely on We the People project activities during the grant period.
The grant period may run between twelve and eighteen months. In determining the grant period, applicants should refer to Articles 12 and 6 of the General Terms and Conditions for Awards to Organizations. The grant period is the span of time designated in the grant award, or an amendment thereto, during which the grantee has the authority to obligate grant funds and undertake project activities. Normal grant beginning dates are determined by the National Council meeting at which the application is considered. Applications received by the March 17, 2010, deadline will be considered at the National Council meeting in May and should have a beginning date no earlier than July 1, 2010. Applications received by the May 5, 2010, deadline will be considered at the National Council meeting in July and should have a beginning date no earlier than September 1, 2010. However, when a grantee determines that it is necessary, project costs may be incurred in the ninety-day period prior to the beginning date of the grant period. For more on this provision, see Article 6.
Eligibility
Only the 56 state humanities councils are eligible to apply. These councils are independent nonprofit organizations that operate in the United States, the U.S. territories, and Washington, DC. The 56 councils have been established in accordance with NEH’s authorizing legislation.
Late, incomplete, and ineligible applications will not be reviewed.
Application and Submission Information
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR APPLICATION
Application advice and proposal drafts
Applicants may submit by e-mail (to fedstate@neh.gov) a draft of the narrative and budget sections of their proposals. Staff recommends that proposal drafts be submitted by February 17, 2010, for proposals that are to be submitted at the March 17th deadline, and by April 2, 2010, for proposals that are to be submitted at the May 5th deadline. A response cannot be guaranteed if the draft arrives later. The preliminary proposal gives an applicant the opportunity to receive staff comments about the substance and format of the application. Although this preliminary review is not part of the formal evaluation process and has no bearing on the final outcome of the proposal, previous applicants have found it helpful in strengthening their applications. Once NEH has received a formal application, its staff will not comment on its status except with respect to questions of completeness or eligibility.
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR APPLICATION
You will prepare your application for submission via Grants.gov just as you would a paper application. All documents should have one-inch margins and should use a twelve-point font. Your application should consist of the following parts.
  1. Narrative
    The project narrative is limited to two single-spaced pages and should not exceed 850 words. The narrative should be written for a nonspecialist audience and should clearly describe the project, its principal activities, the specific audiences to be served, and the estimated number of people to be reached. Describe all activities to be funded by the grant.
  2. Project rationale
    The project rationale should not exceed 125 words. The project rationale should describe the project’s relationship to the principal themes and goals of the We the People program.
  3. Project budget and funding distribution
    Using the instructions, complete the budget form (1-page PDF).
    The budget request should not exceed the amount of FY 2010 funding that has been allocated by NEH to the council for We the People programming.
    If the council is requesting federal matching funds, gift funds equal to the amount of matching funds must also be budgeted and expended on project activities. The expenditure of gift funds should be shown in the second column (the “Other” column), and the amounts in the first column (the “NEH” column) should equal the sum of the outright and matching funds requested from NEH. If no matching funds are being requested, only the first column (the “NEH” column) needs to be completed.
    Councils may include indirect (overhead) costs in their budgets. They can do so by charging a flat rate of up to 12 percent of direct costs, less distorting items (including, but not limited to, capital expenditures, participant stipends, fellowships, and the portion of each subgrant or subcontract in excess of $25,000). Please note that auditable records of all indirect cost charges must be maintained.
    You should append to the budget a passage that briefly describes the funding distribution among projects. The passage should indicate how the council’s We the People funding would be distributed among the different project activities (e.g. conference, $10,000; regrant program, $15,000; reading and discussion, $5,000). The description should not exceed 300 characters.
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION VIA GRANTS.GOV
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
To submit your application, you will need to download the application package from the Grants.gov Web site. You can download the application package at any time. (You do not have to wait for your Grants.gov registration to be complete.) Click the button at the right to download the package.
Save the application package to your computer’s hard drive. To open the application package, select the file and double click. You do not have to be online to work on it.
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 all the required forms, 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:
  1. Application for Federal Domestic Assistance - Short Organizational (SF-424 Short)—this form asks for basic information about the project, the project director, and the institution.
  2. Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs—this form asks for additional information about the project director, the institution, and the budget.
  3. Project/Performance Site Location(s)—this form asks for information about the primary site(s) at which grant activities will take place.
  4. NEH Attachment Form—this form allows you to attach your narrative, project rationale, and budget.
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 administrators 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:
  1. Name of Federal Agency: This will be filled in automatically with “National Endowment for the Humanities.”
  2. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: This will be filled in automatically with the CFDA number and title of the NEH program to which you are applying.
  3. Date Received: Please leave blank.
  4. Funding Opportunity Number: This will be filled in automatically.
  5. Applicant Information: In this section, please supply the name, address, employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), DUNS number, Web site address, and congressional district of the institution. Also choose the “type” that best describes your institution (you only need to select one).
    If your institution is located, for example, in the 5th Congressional District of your state, put a “5.” If your institution doesn’t have a congressional district (e.g. it is in a state or U.S. territory that doesn't have districts or is in a foreign country), put a “0” (zero).
    All institutions applying to federal grant programs are required to provide a DUNS number, issued by Dun & Bradstreet, as part of their application. Project directors should contact their institution’s grants administrator or chief financial officer to obtain their institution’s DUNS number. Federal grant applicants can obtain a DUNS number free of charge by calling 1-866-705-5711. (Learn more about the requirement.)
  6. Project Information: Provide the title of your project. Your title should be brief (no more than 125 characters), descriptive, and substantive. It should also be informative to a nonspecialist audience. Provide a brief (no more than one thousand characters) description of your project. The description should be written for a nonspecialist audience and clearly state the importance of the proposed work and its relation to larger issues in the humanities. List the starting and ending dates for your project.
  7. Project Director: Provide the last four digits of the Social Security Number, name, title, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers for the project director.
    Disclosure of Social Security Numbers is optional. NEH uses them for internal application processing only.
  8. Primary Contact/Grants Administrator:Provide the contact information for the official responsible for the administration of the grant (i.e., negotiating the project budget and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the award). This person is often a grants or research officer, or a sponsored programs official. Normally, the Primary Contact/Grants Administrator is not the same person as the Project Director. If the project director and the grants administrator are the same person, skip to Item 9.
  9. Authorized Representative: Provide the contact information for the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) who is submitting the application on behalf of the institution. This person, often called an “Authorizing Official,” is typically the president, vice president, executive director, provost, or chancellor. In order to become an AOR, the person must be designated by the institution’s E-Business Point of Contact. For more information, please consult the Grants.gov user guide, which is available at www.grants.gov/applicants/resources.jsp.
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:
  1. Project Director: Use the pull-down menu to select the major field of study for the project director.
  2. Institution Information: Use the pull-down menu to select your type of institution.
  3. Project Funding: Enter your project funding information. Note that applicants for Challenge Grants should use the right column only; applicants to all other programs should use the left column only.
  4. Application Information: Indicate whether the proposal will be submitted to other NEH grant programs, government agencies, or private entities for funding. If so, please indicate where and when. NEH frequently cosponsors projects with other funding sources. Providing this information will not prejudice the review of your application.
    For Type of Application, check “new” if the application requests a new period of funding, whether for a new project or the next phase of a project previously funded by NEH. Check “supplement” if the application requests additional funding for a current NEH grant. If requesting a supplement, provide the current grant number. Before submitting an application for a supplement, applicants should discuss their request with an NEH program officer.
    For Project Field Code, use the pull-down menu to select the humanities field of the project. If the project is multidisciplinary, choose the field that corresponds to the project’s predominant discipline.
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 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 narrative. Name the file “narrative.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 2: To this button, please attach your project rationale. Name the file “rationale.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 3: To this button, please attach your budget. Name the file “budget.pdf”.
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 includes 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.
To assist applicants, Grants.gov provides a helpful troubleshooting page.
Deadlines
Applications must be received by Grants.gov by March 17, 2010 (for projects beginning July 2010), or by May 5, 2010 (for projects beginning September 2010). Grants.gov will date- and time-stamp your application after it is fully uploaded. Applications submitted after the relevant date will not be accepted.
Application Review
Evaluation criteria
Grant proposals should demonstrate how the project
  • is grounded in the humanities;
  • explores significant events or themes in American history and culture; and
  • has broad appeal and effectively engages its targeted audience.
Review and selection process
NEH staff comments on matters of fact or on significant issues that otherwise would be missing from the review of the applications, 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 Administration Information
Award notices
Applicants will be notified by letter in June 2010 (for the March deadline) and August 2010 (for the May deadline). Institutional grants administrators and project directors of successful applications will also receive at that time award documents by mail.
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.
Please note that We the People Project Grants for State Humanities Councils are subject to the General Terms and Conditions for Awards to Organizations, and not the General Terms and Conditions for General Support Grants to State Humanities Councils. Some of the provisions for awards to organizations may be different from the ones outlined for a state humanities council’s general operating support. For example, fundraising costs, which are an allowable cost in a council’s grant for general operating support, may not be charged to a project grant.
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.
Points of Contact
If you have questions about the program, contact:
Edie Manza
Federal/State Partnership
National Endowment for the Humanities
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20506
202-606-8254
fedstate@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
Other Information
Privacy policy
Information in these guidelines is solicited under the authority of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 956. 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, D.C. 20506; and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (3136-0134), Washington, D.C. 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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