America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations: Implementation Grants

NEH Grant Programs

Receipt Deadline: January 11, 2012 (for projects beginning October 2012)

•	Endowment-Wide Programs and Initiatives
•	Division of Public Programs

I. Program Description

II. Award Information

III. Eligibility

IV. Application and Submission

Information

V. Application Review

VI. Award Administration

Information

VII. Points of Contact

VIII. Other Information

• Budget instructions
(4-Page PDF)

• Budget template (3-page PDF)

• Budget spreadsheet (.xls)
(MS Excel format)

• Definitions of types of funding

• Frequently asked questions

• DUNS number requirement

• Sample narratives

º American Library
Association

º Children’s Museum of
Manhattan

º National Constitution Center

º Oakland Museum of California

• Registration Checklist

• Download the current version of

Adobe Reader

• How to Convert Documents into

PDFs

• Tips for Creating PDF Files in

Grants.gov Applications

• Grants.gov FAQs

• Grants.gov Customer Support

• Troubleshooting tips

To obtain a printed version of these
guidelines, call 202-606-8446, send an
e-mail to info@neh.gov, or write to
NEH, Office of Communications
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20506.

The deadline for this program has passed. Updated guidelines will be posted in advance of the next deadline. In the meantime, please use these guidelines to get a sense of what is involved in assembling an application.

Date posted: October 27, 2011

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 45.164

Questions?

Contact the staff of NEH’s Division of Public Programs at 202-606-8269 or publicpgms@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.

The Division of Public Programs offers support for a wide range of public humanities programs that engage citizens in thoughtful reflection upon culture, identity, and history. Projects must be well grounded in scholarship and illuminate ideas and insights central to the humanities.

In the America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations grant program, eligible project formats include but are not limited to museum and library exhibitions, interpretive websites and other digital projects, interpretations of historic places, reading and discussion groups, and related programs. Applicants are encouraged to consider more than one format for presenting humanities ideas to the public. Projects should encourage dialogue, discussion, and civic engagement, and they should foster learning among people of all ages. Humanities projects tailored to particular groups, such as families, youth, seniors, at-risk communities, and veterans are welcomed.

NEH offers two categories of grants for America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations: planning and implementation grants.

Planning grants are available for projects that may need further development before applying for implementation. See application guidelines for Planning Grants. This planning can include the identification and refinement of the project’s main humanities ideas and questions, consultation with scholars, preliminary audience evaluation, preliminary design of the proposed interpretive formats, beta testing of digital formats, development of complementary programming, research, or the drafting of interpretive materials.

Implementation grants support the final preparation of a project for presentation to the public. Applicants must submit a full walkthrough for an exhibition, or a prototype or storyboard for a digital project, which demonstrates a solid command of the humanities ideas and scholarship that relate to the subject. Applicants for implementation grants should have already finished most of the planning for their projects, including the identification of the key humanities themes, relevant scholarship, and program formats. For exhibitions, implementation grants can support the final stages of design development, but these grants are primarily intended for installation. Sample narratives from successful implementation grant applications are available under the Program Resources section of the sidebar on the first page of the guidelines. You may request additional samples by sending an e-mail message to publicpgms@neh.gov.

America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations grants support

traveling exhibitions that are presented at multiple venues;
long-term exhibitions at one institution;
interpretive websites or other digital formats;
interpretation of historic places or areas;
reading and discussion programs;
panel exhibitions that travel widely, reach a broad audience, and take advantage of complementary programming formats (e.g., reading and discussion series, radio, or other media) to enhance the visitor experience; and
other project formats that creatively engage audiences in humanities ideas.

Sample projects

A state historical society and city art museum collaborated on a traveling exhibition to explore the history and meaning of landscape painting in the American West. They created a traveling exhibition, published an interpretive catalog, and coordinated a film and lecture series. The exhibition traveled to four venues across the West.

A Midwestern historic site created a new interpretive program including docent-led tours, downloadable neighborhood walking tours, and a new virtual house tour on its website to explore the late-nineteenth-century immigrant experience. By focusing on an 1889 house and its surrounding neighborhood, the museum made social history scholarship accessible to the public and provided a lens for examining the immigrant experience, urban history, and the changing meanings of becoming American.

A coalition of museums and heritage tourism organizations along the Mississippi River created an interactive website exploring the meanings of the river in American history and culture, past and present. In addition to offering a rich array of historical material (maps, photographs, and video and audio recordings), the website allowed users to download lectures and audio tours, and to add their own stories or photographs. An innovative map interface was designed to link physical places along the river with interpretive pathways offering text, music, audio commentary, and images. The digital media elements enabled audiences to explore the subject in greater depth and encouraged dialogue between users and humanities scholars.

Chairman’s Special Award projects are complex projects of exceptional reach and visibility that would be of compelling interest to the general public, promise to address important humanities ideas in new ways, and are likely to reach large, national audiences. These projects typically feature collaboration between multiple partners and a broad combination of diverse formats.

Types of awards

Bridging Cultures projects explore the interaction of cultures internationally, or within the United States. International projects might seek to enlarge Americans’ understanding of other places and times, as well as other perspectives and intellectual traditions. American projects might explore the great variety of cultural influences on, and myriad subcultures within, American society. These projects might also investigate how Americans have approached and attempted to surmount seemingly unbridgeable cultural divides, or examine the ideals of civility and civic discourse that have informed this quest. Click here for additional information.

Dissemination Projects present humanities-rich programming at twenty or more venues. These projects are meant to provide humanities content to selected venues in a wide range of formats such as exhibitions, film or book discussion groups, and interpreted theater or musical performances. Each host venue creates public programming (lectures, discussion groups, living history, etc.) that enhances and expands the humanities content of the larger project. Click here for additional information.

Finally, applications for projects that make innovative use of emerging technologies are encouraged. Such projects should offer new ways of contextualizing and interpreting information that engage public audiences interactively. Digital components should rest on sound humanities scholarship and enhance the project’s humanities content for the general public in ways that take unique advantage of the proposed formats. Applications may, for example, include plans to create mobile apps, websites, podcasts, vodcasts, virtual environments, wiki formats, GIS mapping, online scholar-led discussions, games, or other digital formats.

All projects should

build on sound humanities scholarship;
deepen public understanding of significant humanities questions;
involve humanities scholars in all phases of development and implementation;
appeal to broad audiences;
approach a subject analytically and interpretively through an appropriate variety of perspectives; and
employ appealing and accessible program formats that will actively engage the general public in learning.

To ensure that the humanities ideas are well conceived, projects must bring together a team of scholars who represent major fields relevant to the subject matter and offer diverse perspectives and approaches. As needed, projects may also include other participants with experience and knowledge appropriate to the project’s formats or technical requirements.

Implementation grants may be used for

final consultation with scholars or other advisers;
final exhibition design and fabrication, as well as crating and shipping;
final website design and production;
completion of interactive program components;
publication costs for complementary materials, including catalogs and curriculum guides;
publicity expenses;
staff training specifically for the project’s interpretive programs;
development of teachers’ guides and curriculum materials;
presentation and distribution of public programs and related materials; and
audience evaluation.

Implementation grants may not be used for

single-site temporary exhibitions;
purchase of art, artifacts, or collections;
dramatic adaptations of literary works;
professional development;
expenses for program venues in foreign countries;
projects that will satisfy requirements for educational degrees or formal professional training;
programs primarily for students in formal learning environments, though project components that can easily be repurposed for classroom use are encouraged;
general operations, renovation, restoration, rehabilitation, or construction;
projects primarily devoted to basic background research on the subject, as opposed to actual interpretation for the public;
projects such as encyclopedias and digital archives;
projects for preservation, cataloging, or archiving;
projects that seek to persuade participants of a particular political, religious, or ideological point of view;
projects that advocate a particular program of social action; or
print publications that are not an integral part of a larger set of interpretive activities for which funding is being requested.

Providing access to grant products

As a taxpayer-supported federal agency, NEH endeavors to make the products of its awards 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 award products. Such products may include traveling exhibitions, reading and discussion programs, long-term museum installations, historic site interpretation, community programs in the humanities, digital tools, websites, and the like. For projects that lead to the development of websites, all other considerations being equal, NEH gives preference to those that provide free access to the public.

Indemnity: The Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Act

The Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Act authorizes the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities to enter into indemnity agreements with U.S. nonprofit tax-exempt organizations and government units. Institutions that are organizing an exhibition with internationally loaned objects are encouraged to apply for indemnity. Indemnity can significantly lower the overall cost of insuring an exhibition with internationally loaned objects. The Indemnity Program is administered by the National Endowment for the Arts. Further information on this program can be found here.

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.

(Learn more about different types of grant funding.)

Awards are usually made for a period of twelve to thirty-six months. Awards typically do not exceed $400,000. However, awards of up to $1,000,000 are available for Chairman’s Special Award projects that have unusual significance and promise to reach exceptionally wide audiences.

The amounts offered may reflect the size of the audiences to be reached. Please note that projects of smaller scope are fully eligible for support. Such projects should, however, be large enough to warrant support ranging from $50,000 to $100,000.

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 nonfederal gift money raised to release federal matching funds. 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 50-60 percent of project costs.

Other award information

An NEH grant for one stage of a project does not commit NEH to continued support for the project. Applications for each stage of a project are evaluated independently.

Any U.S. nonprofit organization with IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status is eligible, as are state and local governmental agencies and federally recognized Indian tribal governments. Eligible institutions include but are not limited to public, school, academic, and research libraries; museums; disciplinary and professional associations; cultural institutions; state humanities councils; and institutions of higher learning. Individuals are not eligible to apply.

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. New applications for projects that would use the same topics and formats from a current implementation project to reach new venues and audiences will not be accepted until the current project has been completed and an evaluation submitted. (The evaluation can be included with the new application.) Only one such application will be accepted for any given project.

Applicants are not required to obtain a planning grant before applying for an implementation grant. Applicants may not, however, submit multiple applications for the same project at the same deadline. If an application for a project is already under review, another application for the same project cannot be accepted by this or any other NEH grant opportunity.

Late, incomplete or ineligible applications will not be reviewed.

Application advice and proposal drafts

Applicants are encouraged to contact program officers, who can answer questions about the review process, supply samples of funded applications, and review preliminary drafts. NEH recommends that drafts be submitted at least six weeks before the deadline, so that staff will have adequate time to respond. A response cannot be guaranteed if drafts arrive after this date. 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. Drafts should not be submitted via Grants.gov, but should instead be sent as attachments to publicpgms@neh.gov.

HOW TO PREPARE YOUR APPLICATION

The following required elements must be submitted through Grants.gov.

Table of contents
List all parts of the application with corresponding page numbers.
Narrative
Narratives should not exceed twelve single-spaced pages with one-inch margins. At least eleven-point type should be used.

Narratives for Chairman’s Special Award projects should not exceed fifteen single-spaces pages with one-inch margins. At least eleven-point type should be used.
- The nature of the request
  Provide a one- to two-paragraph overview of the project and its interpretive goals. If the project is a Bridging Cultures project or a Dissemination Project you should indicate that in the overview. Describe the format(s) of all programs proposed, the subject and main themes, the amount of money requested from NEH, and the total project budget. Explain the appropriateness of the project for your organization(s).
  
  For exhibitions, outline the expected size (i.e., square footage and approximate number of objects), anticipated opening date, and venue. Exhibitions with multiple venues should provide the number of venues.
  
  Applications that build on previously funded NEH projects by adding new program formats must describe the previous project’s components, explain what the new formats would be, show how they would effectively enhance the previous project, and explain how audiences would be reached and how new interpretive possibilities would be added.
- Project description and format
  Describe the project’s humanities content, including the principal figures, events, issues, and themes to be explored and the relationship of the themes to relevant humanities scholarship. Explain what you expect the audience to learn.
  
  Describe the program’s formats and what will take place at the originating institution as well as all subsequent program venues. Explain how the organization, presentation of material, and chosen interpretive approach will enhance users’ understanding of the content and engage the public.
  
  Describe the project’s components and material resources (e.g., objects, images, documents, audio and/or video materials, Web-based information) and how they will effectively convey the project’s themes. If necessary, discuss how permissions or rights will be obtained for key materials and the likely costs of obtaining those rights.
  
  Give a brief history of the project to date (e.g., any previous funding from other sources, development activities, research already completed, consultation with scholars or other advisers, contacts with partner organizations, and other related activities). If appropriate, describe the relationship of the project to others on the topic and explain what its unique contribution would be.
  
  If the project represents a change from existing programs offered by the organization, discuss how the new approaches and formats would differ from what is currently available.
  
  If the application requests funding at the Chairman’s Special Award level, explain why the institutional collaborations, number of program formats, and broad reach to audiences make the project a good candidate for that funding level. Explain why the project will be unusually significant and appealing, and why it will have exceptionally broad reach nationally.
- Audience
  Describe the expected participants or audiences, including any targeted groups. Describe any outreach efforts for underserved groups. Discuss any difficulties that may be encountered in reaching certain audiences and the strategies for overcoming them. Outline plans for audience evaluation, including how you would assess whether your project effectively engaged broad audiences. Applicants proposing digital projects should include any plans for beta testing.
- Organizational profile
  Provide a short profile of your organization and other major partner organizations. These descriptions should include the
  - institutional mission, origin, and size;
  - annual operating budget;
  - annual number of visitors (for museums and historic sites);
  - special characteristics and current activities; and
  - humanities resources (such as collections or staff).
  Limit this profile to one page for your organization and a half page for each of the other collaborating organizations.
- Project team
  Provide a comprehensive overview of the project team, including key staff members, humanities scholars and advisers, and other program experts. Using short paragraphs, describe the qualifications and contributions of the project team members and indicate how their expertise is suited to the project. Organize the paragraphs into two sections: one for staff from your institution and one for outside consultants.
  
  Include specific details on the responsibilities of each of the other collaborating organizations. If the institutions involved have any prior experience in cooperating with one another, describe that experience and the nature of those partnerships.
  
  Include in an appendix résumés (of two pages or less) for each person listed and letters of commitment from all consultants (including humanities advisers or scholars).
- Work plan
  Provide a detailed month-by-month schedule of the specific tasks and the individuals responsible for them. It is often helpful to present this section in a grid format. Clearly indicate when the planning team will meet; explain the expected results of each meeting.
- Fundraising plans
  If your organization intends to share some of the costs, explain how your share will be met and outline the fundraising plan. Note that NEH is rarely able to support the full cost of projects approved for funding.
- Information on public accessibility and admission (required of all projects)
  As a taxpayer-supported federal agency, NEH endeavors to make the products of its grants available to the broadest possible audience. Institutions must provide at least twenty hours of free admission each month to NEH-supported exhibitions. Provide a statement of general admission policies for your institution, as well as the proposed admission policy for all anticipated sites. If admission fees will be used to defray costs of the project, include the anticipated amount of revenue under “Project Income” in Section 11.b., Cost Sharing, of the budget.
- Publications
  Describe the content (including brief abstracts of essays), author(s), format, estimated print run, distribution plans, and sale price of any publications for which funding is requested. Explain how these publications will complement the project’s other formats.
  
  Proceeds from the sale of any publications will be subject to the NEH policy on program income, which is outlined in Article 16 of the General Terms and Conditions for Awards.
Project walkthrough
Include a thorough description of your primary project format. Projects with more than one format should include sufficient information on each one. Projects with a primary format and smaller ancillary formats should provide a brief description of each ancillary format for which NEH funding is requested.

The project walkthrough should not exceed fifteen single-spaced pages. For Chairman’s Special Award projects, the walkthrough should not exceed twenty single-spaced pages. At least eleven-point type should be used. In this section of the application you should describe the content, visitor experience, and design of the different formats that apply to your project.

The walkthrough for projects with oral histories should discuss how the project will adhere to generally accepted professional guidelines for conducting oral histories and should include an outline of proposed topics for the interviews, a list of the people to be interviewed or a description of the criteria for their selection, the plans for their recruitment, a description of the qualifications of the interviewers, a discussion of how the interviews will complement existing resources, and a copy of the permission or release form.
- Walkthrough for exhibitions (long-term or traveling) or historic site interpretation
  Exhibition project walkthroughs should show clearly how the humanities content of the project will actually be communicated to the public.
  
  Begin by explaining the interpretive strategies and the design philosophy for the exhibition. Then provide a detailed “descriptive tour,” explaining how a typical visitor would experience the exhibition section by section. Thumbnail images of a few of the exhibition objects may be incorporated into the text, if they help clarify the description. Be sure to provide specific examples of takeaway messages and the means of conveying them.
  
  Provide a description of each multimedia and/or digital component of the exhibition or historic site interpretation. If digital formats will represent a large portion of the funds requested from NEH, applicants should also provide the information requested for the walkthrough of digital projects.
  
  If the proposed project includes a traveling version of an exhibition that will differ substantially in size, content, artifacts, or experience from the original exhibition, please describe the anticipated changes.
  
  For traveling exhibitions, provide the travel itinerary. The first travel venue beyond the originating institution must be confirmed, and a letter of commitment must be included in an appendix. For all subsequent venues, letters of commitment or of serious interest in hosting the exhibition should be appended. This provision does not, however, apply to applications for Dissemination Projects.
  
  If the applicant is proposing a Dissemination Project, include a detailed explanation of the criteria and process that will be used to select the host venues; an explanation of the project’s anticipated geographic breadth and audience reach; a description of the training workshop, including an explanation of the interpretive themes and content that will be conveyed to participants, an agenda, and the biographies and résumés of the participating scholars and the project team; and examples of the humanities public programming that might occur at the various venues. Explain how public programming at the host venues will enhance the project’s humanities content.
  
  If the proposed project includes funding requested for conservation treatment, and the treatment exceeds 15 percent of the total amount requested from NEH, include a discussion of the rationale for conserving the objects being used. Provide a list of individual objects, sample condition reports, a timetable for the treatment of objects, a description of the conservation methods, and the qualifications of the conservator.
- Walkthrough for digital projects (websites, smartphone apps, games, and other online projects)
  Digital project walkthroughs should show clearly how the humanities content of the project will actually be communicated to the public.
  
  Provide a description of each multimedia component of the project. This description should include images and a script or story line.
  
  Describe the user experience. Explain how the images, audio, text, and interactivity would enhance the user’s understanding of the subject.
  
  If the project relies substantially on user-generated content, include a description of how the project will use humanities scholars and draw upon humanities scholarship. In addition, outline the criteria and process to be used for selecting the content that will ultimately be made available to the public. When it is relevant, applications must explain how user-generated content (UGC) posted to public cyberspace will be vetted by qualified scholars or project staff for accuracy. If the project includes UGC, the applicant should also describe how the project will monitor these postings and immediately block or remove any obscene, libelous, indecent, or defamatory content (including hate speech, personal attacks, or material constituting harassment).
  
  Include evidence that appropriate permissions have been or can be secured for the materials that will be included.
  
  Describe the distribution or marketing plan, explaining how the product will be publicized and made available to audiences.
  
  Provide plans for regular site management, including updating of the humanities content, monitoring of traffic, and collection of user feedback.
  
  Applicants requesting complete or partial funding for the development, acquisition, preservation, or enhancement of geospatial data, products, or services must conduct a due diligence search on the Geospatial One-Stop (GOS) Portal (www.geodata.gov) to discover whether their needed geospatial-related data, products, or services already exist. If not, the proposed geospatial data, products, or services must be produced in compliance with applicable proposed guidance posted at www.fgdc.gov.
- Walkthrough for public programs (reading and discussion groups, film and discussion groups, etc.)
  Describe the types of public programs that will be offered and how they will enhance the overall project. Describe the topics of lectures or other presentations, identify participating speakers, and describe the expected audience. If several different series of programs are proposed, the themes must be described for all of the proposed series.
  
  Include the following information in detail for at least one of the proposed sets of programs: 1) specific titles of texts, films, etc., to be used, with brief annotations explaining how the works in question relate to the project’s main theme; 2) questions that would be explored in the session(s); 3) names of the scholars who would guide the discussions; and 4) a description of how the session(s) would be organized (i.e., their duration, format, etc.).
  
  If the applicant is proposing a Dissemination Project, also include a detailed explanation of the criteria and process that will be used to select the host venues; an explanation of the project’s anticipated geographic breadth and audience reach; a description of the training workshop, including an explanation of the interpretive themes and content that will be conveyed to participants, an agenda.
Design documents or prototypes
This section of the application should provide design documents or prototypes for the project’s various formats. Design documents or prototypes should clearly illustrate how the different components of the project will appear to the project’s audience and convey the project’s humanities content.

For long-term exhibitions, include a rendering of the exhibition’s floor plan and elevations of at least two exhibit areas.

For panel exhibitions, attach design renderings of all the sections, a physical description of the panels and their materials, and images of any objects that might be exhibited.

For heritage trails or walking tours, include designs for each tour stop.

For digital projects, include screen captures, sketches, or a working prototype via a functioning URL or on a disk. Also provide an example of previously completed work from the principal members of the digital team. We would prefer to have this work available through a hyperlink included in the application. Clearly indicate that this link is your digital work sample. (If you need to submit the above on a DVD or CD, please see the instructions for sending work samples in the “How to Submit Supplementary Materials” section below.)
Bibliography
Include a bibliography of the humanities scholarship that significantly informs the project.
Object list
If applicable to your project, this section of the application should include a complete list of exhibition objects.
Sample text and illustrations
For exhibitions, heritage trails, walking tours, interpretations of historic sites, and other applicable projects, include four to six examples of interpretive text to be used in the project. Be sure to include different levels of text, ranging from introductory panels to object labels. Additionally, include five to ten illustrations of objects or images that will be used in the project.
Résumés and letters of commitment
This section of the application should include résumés (of two pages or less) for and letters of commitment from the key persons on the project team and all consultants (including humanities advisers or scholars). Applications for traveling exhibitions must also include a letter of commitment from the first travel venue beyond the originating institution (and preferably also letters of commitment or expressions of serious interest from subsequent travel venues).
Budget
Using the instructions (4-page PDF) and the budget template (3-page PDF), complete the budget spreadsheet (MS Excel format) or a format of your own that includes all the required information. Applicants should submit their budgets in a font of at least eleven points. If you wish, you may attach separate pages with notes to explain any of the budget items in more detail. Applicants are advised to retain a copy of their budget form.

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 website to create an institutional profile. Once registered, your organization can then apply for any government grant on the Grants.gov website.

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.

As part of the Grants.gov registration process, applicants are required to register with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). Grantees are also required to maintain the currency of their information in the CCR by reviewing and updating their information at least annually after the initial registration, and more frequently if required by changes in information.

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 website (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 website. 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:

Application for Federal Domestic Assistance—Short Organizational—this form asks for basic information about the project, the project director, and the institution.
Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs—this form asks for additional information about the project director, the institution, and the budget.
Project/Performance Site Location(s) Form—this form asks for information about the primary site(s) at which grant activities will take place.
Attachments 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 Application for Federal Domestic Assistance—Short Organizational

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, diacritics, and other symbols are often converted into question marks during transmittal.

Please provide the following information:

Name of Federal Agency: This will be filled in automatically with “National Endowment for the Humanities.”
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.
Date Received: Please leave blank.
Funding Opportunity Number: This will be filled in automatically.
Applicant Information: In this section, please supply the name, address, employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), DUNS number, website 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.)
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.
Project Director: Provide the name, title, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers for the project director.
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.
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 grants.gov/applicants/app_help_reso.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:

Project Director: Use the pull-down menu to select the major field of study for the project director.
Institution Information: Use the pull-down menu to select your type of institution.
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.
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. Applicants requesting a supplement should 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 the form can be found here: grants.gov/assets/SF424Site_Location_Instructions.pdf. Alternatively, instructions for each requested data element may be viewed by positioning your cursor over the blank field.

How to Use the Attachments 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 Attachments 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 exhibition walkthrough. Name the file “walkthrough.pdf”.

ATTACHMENT 4: To this button, please attach your design document. Name the file “designs.pdf”.

ATTACHMENT 5: To this button, please attach your bibliography. Name the file “bibliography.pdf”.

ATTACHMENT 6: To this button, please attach your object list (if applicable). Name the file “objects.pdf”.

ATTACHMENT 7: To this button, please attach your sample text and illustrations of objects (if appropriate). Name the file “text.pdf”.

ATTACHMENT 8: To this button, please attach your résumés and letters of commitment. Name the file “resumes.pdf”.

ATTACHMENT 9: To this button, please attach your budget. Name the file “budget.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.

You may include links via URL in these files, but do not embed any additional PDF files within any of the PDF attachments.

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.

HOW TO SUBMIT SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

In addition to any required digital work sample, applicants may choose to include one additional supplementary item, such as a CD with digital images of art works, photographs, or artifacts; an exhibition catalog, etc., for presentation to reviewers. If you are sending supplementary material that cannot be converted to a PDF and submitted via Grants.gov, please provide eight copies of the item and list it in the application’s table of contents. Each copy of the work sample (both the case and the disk) must be labeled with the name of the project director, the name of the applicant institution, the title of the project, and the title of the work sample.

Send the materials to

Implementation Grants: America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations
Division of Public Programs
National Endowment for the Humanities
Room 426
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20506
202-606-8269

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.

Samples will not be retained by NEH, and they will not be returned to the applicant.

DEADLINES

Applications must be received by Grants.gov on or before January 11, 2012, for projects beginning in October 2012. 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 on or before January 11, 2012, to be considered as part of the application.