How to Apply for this Grant
- Read this Announcement
- Read the Application Instructions
- Download the Application from Grants.gov
Questions?
- Contact the NHPRC
E-mail:
nhprc@nara.gov* 
Telephone: 202-357-5010 
Fax: 202-357-5914
* Please see our Privacy Statement
Grant Announcement:
Publishing Historical Records
The National Historical Publications and Records Commission supports projects that promote the preservation and use of America's documentary heritage essential to understanding our democracy, history, and culture.
The following grant application information is for Publishing Historical Records.
- See also Publishing Historical Records-Founding Era grants and Publication Subvention grants.
NHPRC support begins no earlier than June 1, 2009.
See the Application Cycle for additional information.
Grant Program Description
Projects may focus on the papers of major figures from American life or cover broad historical movements in politics, military, business, reform movements, the arts, and other aspects of the national experience. The historical value of the records and their expected usefulness to broad audiences must justify the costs of the project.
Grants are awarded for collecting, describing, preserving, compiling, editing, and publishing documentary source materials. The NHPRC does not fund proposals to purchase historical records; it also does not fund proposals to publish the papers of anyone who has been deceased for fewer than ten years.
Eligible Activities Include:
- Scholarly documentary editions in printed and bound volumes.
- Scholarly documentary editions in online, compact disc, and other formats.
- Image editions in online, compact disc, microfilm, and other formats.
- Conversion of existing print and microfilm editions to electronic publications.
- Combinations of the above.
Previously Funded Projects
A publishing project that has received NHPRC support can apply for a grant for a new or subsequent stage of that project. These proposals receive special consideration to assure project continuity, provided that they have successfully completed the performance objectives associated with previous NHPRC grant awards. Proposals must be substantially updated, including a description of the new activities and a justification of the new budget. The applicant must describe how the previously-funded project met its goals.
New Projects
Applicants not previously funded may apply for a grant to begin an historical documents publishing project. These applications are considered with other new proposals and will be judged by the same criteria as others in that competition. Applicants should be aware that the Commission's practice is to give priority to previously funded projects in order to move them toward completion, and that currently, awards for new projects are rare.
Award Information
Applicants may apply for funding up to three years. Applicants should be aware that the Commission normally commits funds to projects only on an annual basis. Successful applicants for multi-year projects need not reapply if their projects receive grant funding for the first year. Award amounts ordinarily range from $80,000 and $130,000 annually. The Commission expects to make up to 25 grants in this category, for a total of up to $2 million. The Commission ordinarily provides no more than 50 percent of total project costs for Publishing Historical Records projects.
Cost Sharing
Cost sharing is the financial contribution the applicant pledges to the cost of a project. Cost sharing can include both direct and indirect expenses, in-kind contributions, non-Federal third-party contributions, and any income earned directly by the project.
Eligibility
- Individuals
- Nonprofit organizations and institutions
- Colleges, universities, and other academic institutions
- State or local government agencies
- Federally-acknowledged or state-recognized Native American tribes or groups
How to Prepare an Application
Applicants must use the Grants.gov application process. See How to Apply.
Applicants are encouraged to contact the Director for Publications at the NHPRC who may:
- explain the review process;
- answer questions about what activities are eligible for support;
- supply samples of successful applications; and
- read and comment on a preliminary draft. Applicants should submit a draft at least 2 months before the deadline.
Completing the Application
A complete application includes a Project Narrative, Summary, Supplementary Materials, and Budget.
Before beginning the process, applicants should review the rules and regulations governing NHPRC grants under the Administering an NHPRC Grant section.
Project Narrative
The Project Narrative is a description of the proposal. It should be no more than 20 double-spaced pages in 12-pt type with standard margins. Address the requirements listed above, as well as the following questions in your narrative:
Question 1: What is the purpose of the project and what are its goals?
Begin by making the case for the significance of the documentary source materials you wish to edit and publish. Address your project's overall purpose and long-term goals and summarize how these reflect the broader mission of your parent institution. Show how the publication of these documentary source materials will increase public understanding of history, culture, and the national experience.
Question 2: What is the significance of the project in relation to the NHPRC's programs and goals?
Please explain how the project relates to the Commission's overall mission, vision, and goals. Describe the historical importance of individuals, events, developments, organizations, and places whose history would be documented by the project. For background, applicants may want to review the Commission's Strategic Plan.
Question 3: What is the plan of work for the grant period?
Please provide ample evidence of preliminary planning. Applicants should have a realistic idea of the scope of work over the grant period. Describe which part(s) of the project you will undertake during the time of this grant, e.g., document collection, selection and arrangement, transcription, annotation, indexing, and publication. If applying for a multi-year grant, applicants should present work plans in annual increments.
Outline each stage of the planned work within the grant period, and clarify complex work plans with a time chart identifying anticipated activities. For projects that will extend past the grant period, indicate the expected completion date and the work plan for that period. Describe any fundraising plans.
The Commission supports projects that adhere to generally accepted professional standards and procedures. For example, if the project involves electronic publication, please identify the technical standards you will use. Specify the methods you will use for document collection, selection and arrangement, transcription, annotation, and indexing.
The Commission expects documentary publishing projects, including electronic versions, to be maintained in their entirety in a non-software-dependent format for long-term access. Explain how the project will comply with archival preservation requirements.
Please indicate what has been done to secure necessary permission for publication of materials from holders of literary rights or copyrights.
Question 4: What publications will be produced during the grant period?
Describe the total number of volumes or other products you plan to produce for both the grant period and the completed project; indicate the project's anticipated year of completion; and explain any changes in previous projections in these areas.
In accordance with Federal regulations, the Commission reserves, for Federal Government purposes, a royalty-free, non-exclusive, and irrevocable license to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the work and authorize others to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the work.
The Commission requires that you acknowledge NHPRC grant assistance in all publications and other products that result from grant support.
Question 5: What are the qualifications of the personnel?
Please provide vitae of not more than two pages per person for all staff named in the project budget. For those staff to be hired for the project, provide job descriptions, specify the qualifications that will be sought in candidates for vacant positions, and describe the roles to be played by all project staff, consultants, and contractors. Explain any special training planned for personnel.
The Commission encourages using advisory boards as a source of special expertise. If you have an advisory board, identify the members and their area(s) of specialization.
Question 6: What are your performance objectives?
List four to six objectives by which we can measure your performance. For example, estimate the number of documents you plan to transcribe and/or annotate during the grant period. Focus in this section on quantifying what you intend to accomplish and complete.
At the end of your narrative, describe how you are going to assess public use of the products created through your project.
Project Summary
The Project Summary should be no more than 3 double-spaced pages in 12-pt type with standard margins and should include these sections:
- Purposes and Goals of the Project
- Significance and Relationship to NHPRC Goals and Objectives
- Plan of Work for the Grant Period
- Products and/or Publications to be completed during the Grant Period
- Names, Phone Numbers, and E-Mail Address of the Project Director and Key Personnel
- Performance Objectives
Supplementary Materials
You may attach up to 35 pages of Supplementary Materials to your Narrative, such as:
- Résumés of named staff members
- Examples of position descriptions for staff to be hired with grant funds
- Statements of commitment to the project by partners
- Your institution's mission, goals, and objectives statement
- Sample documents (facsimiles accompanied by transcription and annotation)
If these materials are available on a web site, please provide a URL.
Applicants will be asked to compute the project costs to be charged to grant funds as well as those that will be supported by the applicant through cost sharing, which includes both direct and in-direct expenses, in-kind contributions, non-Federal third-party contributions, and any income earned directly by the project. All of the items listed, whether supported by grant funds or cost-sharing contributions, must be reasonable and necessary to accomplish project objectives, allowable in terms of the applicable federal cost principles, auditable, and incurred during the grant period. Applicants should review the appropriate Office of Management and Budget circulars on cost principles.
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.
- You must submit a budget on the NARA/NEH Budget form found in the Grants.gov application package. Note that the form itself contains additional instructions. You may include with your application a narrative budget supplement for budget categories not otherwise explained in the project narrative.
- Provide specific budget figures, rounding to the nearest dollar.
Budget Categories
In preparing the budget, please follow the suggestions below in each of the categories:
Salaries: List each staff position and the full salary to be charged to the project and show the percentage of time each staff member will devote to the project.
- Indicate which positions are to be filled for the proposed project and which personnel are already on the staff of the applicant institution.
- Grant funds may be used only to pay the salaries of individuals actually working on the project.
- You may include the time provided to the project by advisory board members and volunteers.
Fringe Benefits: Include employee benefits using your organization's standard rates. No separate benefits should be included for positions that are computed at a daily rate or using honoraria.
Consultant Fees: Include payments for consultant services and honoraria.
- Provide justification for large or unusual consultant fees.
- Include consultant travel expenses in the "Travel" category.
Travel: Include transportation, lodging, and per diem expenses. The NHPRC does not fund staff travel to professional meetings unless the travel is essential to accomplish the goals of the project.
Supplies and Materials: Include routine office supplies and supplies ordinarily used in professional practices. Justify the cost of specialized materials and supplies in a supplemental budget narrative.
Services: Include the cost of duplication and printing, long-distance telephone, equipment leasing, postage, contracts with third parties, and other services that you are not including under other budget categories or as indirect-cost expenses. The costs of project activities to be undertaken by each third-party contractor should be included in this category as a single line item charge. Include a complete itemization of the costs in a supplemental budget narrative.
Other costs: Include costs for necessary equipment above $5,000, stipends for participants in projects, and other items not included in previous grant categories.
- The NHPRC does not provide grant funds for the acquisition of routine equipment such as office furnishings and file cabinets, but we may allow for the purchase of archival equipment, such as shelving units, and technical equipment, such as computers and peripherals, essential for a project.
- Include specifications for equipment over $5,000 in a supplemental budget narrative.
Indirect costs: Include reasonable or negotiated "overhead" costs. See the Budget Form instructions to determine how to calculate indirect costs.
- You should not include indirect costs that exceed your cost sharing obligation.
- You may waive indirect costs and instead include specific overhead costs in the appropriate budget categories.
Application Review
The NHPRC staff will acknowledge receipt of the application soon after we receive it. We then begin the evaluation process:
- Peer Reviewers
We may ask 5 to 10 external peer reviewers to evaluate the proposal. - Commission Staff
Approximately 2 months after the submission deadline, the Project Director receives blind copies of reviewers' comments and questions from the Commission staff. Applicants have an opportunity to expand on the material provided, clear up any misconceptions, and generally strengthen the proposal before the Commission meeting. Staff make overall recommendations to the Commission based on reviewers' comments, the appropriateness of the project in meeting the Commission's goals, the proposal's completeness, conformity to application requirements and overall eligibility, and answers to the questions letter. - The Commission
After reviewing proposals, the comments of peer reviewers, the applicants' responses to the reviews, and evaluations by the Commission staff, Commission members deliberate on proposals and make funding recommendations to the Archivist of the United States who, as Commission Chairman, has final statutory authority. Throughout this process, all members of the Commission and its staff follow conflict-of-interest rules to assure fair and equal treatment of every application.
Application Cycle
- August 1, 2008 - Submit draft to the NHPRC.
- October 6, 2008 - Deadline - Final proposal due.
- May 2009 - Commission meets.
- June 1, 2009 - Earliest possible starting date for project.
Project Endorsement
Some applicants may receive formal endorsement of their projects without funding. The Commission may award an endorsement in lieu of a grant, or applicants may apply directly for a formal endorsement without funding. Commission endorsement may assist projects in gaining alternative financial or other forms of support and acknowledgement. In addition, publishers of Commission-endorsed projects are eligible to apply for support through its Publication Subvention grants. Applicants seeking project endorsements should contact the Commission's Director for Publications for assistance in preparing applications.
Notification
Grants are contingent upon available appropriated funds. In some cases, the Commission will adjust grant amounts depending upon the number of recommended proposals and total budget. The Commission may recommend to the Archivist to approve the proposal and extend an offer of a grant with applicable terms and conditions, or it may recommend rejection of the proposal.
Grant applicants will be notified within 2 weeks after the Archivist's decision.
Grant Administration
For more information on how to comply with Federal regulations, see our Administering a Grant section.
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