NEH Grant Programs
Preservation and Access Education and Training Grants Receipt Deadline July 1, 2009 (for projects beginning January 2010)
Advice for Applicants to Upcoming NEH Grant Competitions
Some applicants for NEH grants report that they have recently had difficulty submitting their applications through Grants.gov; they found that the system has periodically been slow and unresponsive. This problem exists because Grants.gov—the system used by applicants to the grant programs of most federal government agencies—has recently had to deal with an unusually high volume of applications. The system has therefore been overloaded. Unfortunately, the problem is expected to continue at least through mid-summer, when system upgrades are scheduled to be installed.
In response to this problem, NEH offers the following advice to prospective applicants. We strongly urge you not to submit your application on the day of the deadline, but instead to submit your application early. If applications are submitted over a period of time, the load of applications should be more manageable for Grants.gov. Applying early will also give you a margin for error, should you need help from Grants.gov to resolve a technical problem when you attempt to submit your application. If possible, you should also plan to submit your application outside of normal business hours on the East Coast. Grants.gov tends to work more smoothly in the early morning, in the evening, and especially on weekends.
Successfully receiving your application is very important to us, so we hope that this advice will be helpful to you. And if you continue to have problems with Grants.gov, please contact NEH division or office staff, using the contact information provided in the program guidelines. We apologize for any inconvenience that you may encounter in submitting your application.
To check on the current status of Grants.gov, please consult the Grants.gov blog.
Date posted: March 17, 2009
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 45.149
Questions?
Program questions should be directed to NEH's Division of Preservation and Access at 202-606-8570 or preservation@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.
Grant Program Description
The Preservation and Access Education and Training program is central to NEH’s efforts to preserve and establish access to cultural heritage resources. Thousands of libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations across the country maintain important collections of books and manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings and moving images, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, art and material culture collections, electronic records, and digital objects. The challenge of preserving and making accessible such large and diverse holdings is enormous and the need for knowledgeable staff is significant and ongoing.
Preservation and Access Education and Training grants support activities such as these:
  • regional preservation field services that provide a wide range of education and training (for example, through surveys, workshops, consultations, reference services, and informational materials about the care of humanities collections), especially for staff at smaller libraries, museums, archives, and other cultural organizations;
  • graduate programs in preservation and conservation; and
  • workshops that address preservation and access topics of broad significance and impact, such as
  • collections care training for staff members who are responsible for the day-to-day care and management of humanities collections;
  • preventive conservation and sustainable preservation strategies;
  • disaster preparedness, response, and recovery;
  • the preservation of and provision of access to recorded sound and moving image collections;
  • digital preservation; and
  • best practices for enhancing and integrating access to collections in libraries, archives, and museums.
    • Preservation and Access Education and Training grants may not be used for
    • programs on the care and management of collections that are the responsibility of an agency of the federal government or are not regularly accessible for research, education, or public programming;
    • programs about the preservation of the built or natural environment; and
    • the support of either full-time or permanent faculty positions in graduate programs.
    Previously Funded Projects
    An institution whose project has received NEH support may apply for a grant for a new or subsequent stage of that project. These proposals receive no special consideration and will be judged by the same criteria as others in the grant competition. In addition, these proposals must be substantially updated and must include a description of the new activities and a justification of the new budget. The applicant must also describe how the previously funded project met its goals.
    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.
    III. Award Information
    Awards normally are for two years. Grants to regional preservation field service organizations typically range from $50,000 to a maximum of $250,000 per year. For all other applicants, the maximum award is $125,000 per year. Successful applicants will be awarded a grant in outright funds, federal matching funds, or a combination of the two, depending on the applicant's preference and the availability of NEH funds. Matching funds are released when a grantee secures gift funds from eligible third parties.
    Cost Sharing
    Although cost sharing is not required, NEH, is rarely able to support the full costs of projects approved for funding. In most cases, NEH grants cover no more than 80 percent of project costs.
    Cost sharing consists of the cash contributions made to the 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 program registration fees and gift money that will be raised to release federal matching funds.
    (Learn more about different types of grant funding.)
    Eligibility
    Any U.S. nonprofit organization is eligible, as are state and local governmental agencies and tribal governments. Grants are not awarded to individuals.
    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.
    Ineligible applications will not be reviewed.
    Application and Submission Information
    HOW TO PREPARE YOUR APPLICATION
    Application advice and proposal drafts
    Prior to submitting a proposal, you are encouraged to contact program officers who can offer advice about preparing the proposal and read draft proposals. These staff comments are not part of the formal review process and have no bearing on the final outcome of the proposal, but previous applicants have found them helpful in strengthening their applications. Draft proposals should be submitted six weeks before the deadline. Time constraints may prevent staff from reviewing draft proposals submitted after that date. Draft proposals should be submitted by e-mail attachment to preservation@neh.gov.
    To see a representative list of funded projects, follow the link to Sample projects under Program Resources. In addition, Program Resources includes a link to a sample narrative from a funded 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. Description of the project and its significance
      Provide a one-page abstract written for a nonspecialist audience, clearly explaining the project’s importance to the humanities, its principal activities, and its expected results. Describe the kinds of humanities collections that would benefit and describe the project's intended outcome in quantitative terms (e.g., the number of participants).
    2. Table of contents
      List all parts of the application and, beginning with the narrative, number all pages consecutively.
    3. List of participants
      On a separate page, list in alphabetical order, surnames first, all project participants and collaborators and their institutional affiliations. This list should include advisory board members and authors of letters of support, if any. The list is used to ensure that prospective panelists have no conflict of interest with the projects that they will be evaluating.
    4. Narrative
      Limit the narrative to twenty single-spaced pages. All pages should have one-inch margins and the font size should be no smaller than eleven point. Use appendices to provide supplementary material.
      Individuals with a variety of professional backgrounds will read these applications and advise NEH on their merits. Project narratives should therefore be written with a minimum of technical jargon.
      Keep the application review criteria (see below) in mind when writing the narrative, which consists of the following sections:
      • Significance and impact
        Discuss how the proposed program will support efforts to preserve or improve access to humanities collections. This discussion should speak to the extent to which the program meets national or regional needs, the breadth of its impact on preservation and access practices, and the kinds of institutions and humanities collections that will benefit. Describe how this program relates to others of a similar nature that currently exist or have existed in the past. Clarify the degree to which this program will build on past work or break new ground.
      • Institutional profile
        Provide general information about the applicant institution or organization and explain why it is an appropriate provider of the education and training services. Include a description of the institution’s mission, organizational structure, annual budget and sources of income, and staff.
      • Curriculum and work plan
        Thoroughly discuss the project’s work plan and describe the content of the curriculum, including requirements and any costs for attendance; the time and location of the program; the duration, structure, and assignments for the course(s); the materials to be used and the rationale for using them; and the program’s expected results. Include course syllabi in the appendices. Explain how the curriculum and duration of the program reflect the subjects taught and the educational needs or level of the attendees.
        Proposals for regional preservation field services must incorporate a detailed account of each type of service or activity that will be implemented during the period of the grant, including staff involved, procedures to be followed, fees to be charged, and number of institutions or participants who would benefit.
      • Evaluation
        Describe how the program and its results will be evaluated by participants and by the applicant organization. Discuss how the impact of these activities on institutions and the professional competence of their staff will be measured. For ongoing projects, describe their accomplishments in the current or past grant period and the extent to which the project has met its established goals. For projects that have received past support and for those that expect to continue beyond the grant period, discuss efforts and strategies that have been implemented or are being planned to broaden and strengthen the base of financial support.
      • Staff, faculty, and consultants
        Using short paragraphs, provide the names and relevant professional experience of the persons responsible for creating and conducting the programs, courses, symposia, workshops, or events.
    5. Budget
      Using the instructions, complete the budget form. While all items should be justified by the narrative, further explanation may be included in brief budget notes.
      For any outsourced work, third-party contractor costs should be included in the budget category “Services.” Attach a complete itemization of these costs to the budget form. If there is more than one contractor, each one must be listed on the budget form and the costs itemized separately.
      To the maximum extent practical, all procurement contracts must be made through an open and free competition. They are to be awarded to the bidder or offeror whose bid or offer is most advantageous, considering price, quality and other factors. Applicants must justify procurement contracts in excess of $100,000 that are not awarded by competitive bids or offers.
      Permanent equipment may be purchased for a project if an analysis demonstrates that it is more economical and practical than leasing. Permanent equipment is defined as nonexpendable personal property costing $5,000 or more and having a useful life of more than one year.
      Consistent with the Buy American Act (41 U.S.C. 10a-c and Public Law 105-277), grantees and subrecipients who purchase equipment and products with grant funds should purchase only American-made equipment and products.
    6. Appendices
      Use appendices to provide
      • course outlines;
      • brief résumés (no longer than two pages) for staff with major responsibilities for the project’s implementation;
      • job descriptions for any additional staff who will be hired specifically to work on the project;
      • letters of commitment from outside participants and cooperating institutions; and
      • letters of support (no more than three). Such letters should address the criteria for funding established by this category (see below). Authors of letters of support will not participate in the NEH review process.
    7. History of grants
      If the project has received previous support from any federal or nonfederal sources, including NEH, list on one page the sources, dates, and amounts of these funds. If the project has a long history of support, the sources and contributions may be grouped and summarized.
    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 our handy 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).
    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 to 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 three 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. NEH Attachment Form—this form allows you to attach your narrative, budget, and the other parts of 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. 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, descriptive, and substantive. It should also be informative to a nonspecialist audience. Provide a brief 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 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 (e.g., 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 grant 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/applicant_help.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 applications 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 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 http://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 description of the project and its significance. Please name the file “projectdescription.pdf”.
    ATTACHMENT 2: To this button, please attach your table of contents. Please name the file “contents.pdf”.
    ATTACHMENT 3: To this button, please attach your list of project participants. Please name the file “participants.pdf”.
    ATTACHMENT 4: To this button, please attach your narrative. Please name the file “narrative.pdf”.
    ATTACHMENT 5: To this button, please attach your budget. Please name the file “budget.pdf”.
    ATTACHMENT 6: To this button, please attach your appendices. Please name the file “appendices.pdf”. If you are submitting a large number of appendices, please bundle them together and send them as a single attachment. If you are concerned about the file size, you can group your appendices into multiple attachments. In this case, please name your attachments appendix.pdf, appendix2.pdf, appendix3.pdf, etc. Please note that you are limited to a total of fifteen attachments.
    ATTACHMENT 7: To this button, please attach your history of grants. Please name the file “granthistory.pdf”.
    Do not embed any additional files within any of the attachments.
    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 three 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. That way, should you encounter a technical problem of some kind, you will still have time to contact the Grants.gov help desk for support. The Grants.gov help desk is open Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time at 1-800-518-4726. You can also send an e-mail to support@grants.gov.
    To assist applicants, Grants.gov provides a helpful troubleshooting page.
    HOW TO SUBMIT SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
    If you are sending supplementary materials (those that cannot be scanned and converted to an electronic form and submitted via Grants.gov), please send eight copies of each item and include a list of these supplementary materials in the application’s table of contents with an indication that these have been mailed separately. Send the materials to:
    Preservation and Access Education and Training
    Division of Preservation and Access
    Room 411
    National Endowment for the Humanities
    1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
    Washington, DC 20506
    202-606-8570
    NEH continues to experience lengthy delays in the delivery of mail by the U.S. Postal Service, and in some cases materials are damaged by the irradiation process. We recommend that supplementary materials be sent by a commercial delivery service to ensure that they arrive intact by the receipt deadline.
    Deadlines
    Applications must be received by Grants.gov by July 1, 2009. Grants.gov will date- and time-stamp your application after it is fully uploaded. Applications submitted after that date will not be accepted. Supplementary materials must also arrive at NEH by July 1, 2009, to be considered as part of the application.
    Application Review
    Evaluators are asked to apply the following criteria in assessing applications:
    • the significance and potential impact of the project for improving preservation and access practices;
    • the soundness of the methodology and the program’s structure, curriculum, and evaluation plans in relation to its educational goals;
    • the professional training and experience of the staff in relation to the activity for which support is requested; and
    • the reasonableness of the project’s budget in relation to anticipated results.
    Late applications will not be reviewed.
    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 Administration Information
    Award notices
    Applicants will be notified by mail in January, 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 to NEH, Division of Preservation and Access, Room 411, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506 or preservation@neh.gov.
    Administrative requirements
    Before submitting an application, applicants should review their responsibilities as an award recipient.
    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.
    Final performance reports will be required. Further details can be found in Performance Reporting Requirements (formerly Enclosure 2).
    A Federal Cash Transactions Report (two-page PDF) will be due within thirty days after the end of each calendar quarter. A final Financial Status Report (two-page PDF) will be due within ninety days after the completion date of the award period. Further details can be found in Financial Reporting Requirements (formerly Enclosure 1).
    Points of Contact
    If you have questions about the program, contact:
    Preservation and Access Education and Training
    Division of Preservation and Access
    Room 411
    National Endowment for the Humanities
    1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
    Washington, DC 20506
    202-606-8570 or preservation@neh.gov
    If you need help using Grants.gov, contact:
    Grants.gov: http://www.grants.gov
    Grants.gov help desk: support@grants.gov
    Grants.gov customer support tutorials and manuals : http://www.grants.gov/CustomerSupport
    Grant.gov support line: 1-800-518-GRANTS (4726)
    Grants.gov trouble shooting 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, 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.