The instructions below provide guidance on obtaining and working Grants.gov applications. An applicant must thoroughly read the Museum Grants for African American History and Culture guidelines (PDF, 467KB) for guidance on composing the application narrative, filling out the forms, supplying the appropriate documentation, etc.

Find Grant Opportunities
Get Registered
Apply for Grants
Grants.gov Help
Application Forms

Organizations that are applying under the January 15, 2008, deadline for the Museum Grants for African American History and Culture program must submit their applications through Grants.gov, the federal government’s online application system. The Grants.gov system will accept applications through 11:59 P.M. eastern time on January 15.

While the deadline is January 15, 2008, IMLS recommends strongly that applicants REGISTER EARLY and COMPLETE AND SUBMIT THEIR APPLICATION EARLY. All applicants who are using Grants.gov must register with Grants.gov before submitting their application. The multistep registration process generally cannot be completed in a single day. Applicants who are not already registered should allow at least two weeks to complete this one-time process. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE WEEK OF THE APPLICATION DEADLINE TO REGISTER.

Find Grant Opportunities: www.grants.gov/applicants/find_grant_opportunities.jsp

Search opportunities
• Basic search
• Browse by category
• Browse by agency
• Advanced search

Email subscription
• All grants
• Advanced criteria
• Specific Funding Opportunity Number (FON)
• Unsubscribe

Get Registered: www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp

Step 1: Register your organization
• Request a DUNS number
• Register with CCR
• Organization registration checklist

Step 2: Register yourself as an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR)

Step 3: Get authorized as an AOR by your organization

Apply for Grants: www.grants.gov/applicants/apply_for_grants.jsp

Step 1: Download a grant application package

IMLS applicants must download two packages to get all of the necessary forms and instructions:

1. Download Application Instructions: This package contains the grant application guidelines (which include instructions for completing the application) and the IMLS forms for budget, program information, and any others related to this specific program.
2. Download Application Package: This package has the face sheet (SF-424s, “Application for Federal Domestic Assistance/Short Organizational Form”), Abstract, and the Attachments form.

Step 2: Complete the grant application package

Step 3: Submit the completed grant application package

Important deadline information: Applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. on January 15, 2008 in the Grants.gov system. Within 48 hours of submitting a grant application, applicants will receive two email messages from Grants.gov:

• The first will confirm receipt of the application by the Grants.gov system.
• The second will indicate that the application has either been successfully validated by the system prior to transmission to the grantor agency OR has been rejected due to errors.

Only applications validated by the Grants.gov system will be available to IMLS for the grant review process.

Applicants are encouraged to not wait until the final hours prior to the deadline to submit their applications. Submitting early may enable an applicant to deal with unexpected problems.

Step 4: Track the status of a submitted grant application package

Grants.gov Help

For direct assistance with Grants.gov, contact the Grants.gov Help Desk via e-mail at support@grants.gov, or call them at 1-800-518-4726 from 7:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

The Grants.gov help desk will assign a case number to each inquiry. This number only documents the inquiry to the help desk and is in no way related to the tracking number that Grants.gov will assign an application once it has been successfully submitted.

Help is also available on the Grants.gov Website: www.grants.gov/help/help.jsp

• User manual for applicants: www.grants.gov/assets/GDG_AppUserGuide_0207.pdf
• Frequently asked questions (FAQs): www.grants.gov/help/faq.jsp
  • General FAQs
  • Applicant FAQs
  • Submit application FAQs
  • Adobe Reader and PureEdge Viewer FAQs
• How to convert documents to PDF: www.imls.gov/pdf/PDFConversion.pdf
• Download PureEdge and Adobe software: Step 3 in www.grants.gov/applicants/apply_for_grants.jsp
• Glossary: www.grants.gov/help/glossary.jsp
• DUNS Help: http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform
• DUNS FAQs: http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/displayFAQPage.do
• CCR help:
  • Central Contractor Registration Handbook: www.ccr.gov/doc/CCR_Handbook.pdf
  • CCR FAQs: www.ccr.gov/FAQ.aspx

NOTE: Once an organization has registered with the CCR, the registration must be renewed each year. Go to: www.ccr.gov/Renew.aspx.

Application Forms

For convenience, Microsoft Word versions of the forms are provided below. PLEASE NOTE, however, that you must submit your application as a series of PDF attachments. For assistance in converting your documents to PDF, go to www.imls.gov/pdf/PDFConversion.pdf.