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:
State Board Administrative Support
The deadline for this announcement has passed. The guidelines below can be used for reference, but should NOT be used to prepare an application.
The following grant application information is for State Board Administrative Support Projects.
- See also State Partnership Projects grants.
NHPRC support begins no earlier than December 1, 2007.
See the Application Cycle for additional information.
Grant Program Description
The Commission works closely with SHRABs in each state. Each SHRAB develops plans to improve historical records preservation and access within a state and helps historical records repositories and other information agencies to coordinate activities within a state. SHRABs also bears responsibility for reviewing grant applications for NHPRC records grants. The Commission encourages SHRABs to apply for grants to help meet administrative costs that are associated with planning and executing these statewide activities and services.
Eligible activities include:
- Support for archival education, joint activities with allied professional groups, achievement awards, and public awareness.
- Board meetings, including joint meetings with other Boards, and associated costs, including travel and expenses of Board members, and others attending Board meetings;
- Staff support for Board activities;
- Supplies and professional publications used in conjunction with Board projects, and fees for services undertaken as part of the Board's annual work plan.
Previously Funded Projects
A state board that has received an NHPRC award for Administrative Support may apply for another Administrative Support grant; however, grant periods should not overlap.
Award Information
Awards normally are for one or two years only and are limited to $10,000 per year.
Cost Sharing
Cost sharing is the financial contribution the applicant pledges to the cost of a project. The Commission provides no more than 50 percent of project costs for State Board Administrative Support. 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
State Historical Records Advisory Boards, or state agencies or non profit organizations acting on behalf of the Boards, are eligible to apply in this category. States also include the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and United States territories.
How to Prepare an Application
Applicants must use the Grants.gov application process. See How to Apply.
Before beginning the process, applicants should review the rules and regulations governing NHPRC grants under the Administering an NHPRC Grant section.
Completing the Application
A complete application includes a Project Summary, Supplementary Materials, and Budget.
Project Summary
Prepare a three-page Project Summary that includes: purposes and goals of the project; significance and relationship to the NHPRC's mission and objectives; plan of work for the grant period (including references to techniques); names, addresses, phone numbers of the project director and other key personnel; and four to six quantifiable performance objectives for the project.
For SHRAB Administrative Support Grants, no lengthy Project Narrative is required, but you may provide additional details not included in the Project Summary as part of your Supplementary Materials attachment. You should provide a timeline of meetings, a copy of your current plan, and a current board list. Basically, document that the board meets suggested performance measures in the State Board Manual. If the board has been inactive or has no plan, address how the administrative support will help the board to meet basic performance suggestions. Address the following questions in your narrative. You can find tips on how to answer these questions in the State Board Manual.
Question 1: What is the purpose of the project and what are its goals?
Explain how the project will further the goals and objectives in the State Board's plan.
Question 2: What is the significance of the project in relation to the NHPRC's programs and goals?
Explain how the project relates to the Commission's overall mission, vision, and goals, particularly the Commission's goals to promote a national network for state and local documentary preservation and utilization efforts.
Question 3: What is the plan of work for the grant period?
Include the State Board's plan and the progress made on its objectives. What are the particular objectives that will be addressed? What board members and others will do the work? How will they proceed?
Question 4: What products, if any, will be produced during the grant period?
Describe the products you plan to produce for the completed project and how you plan to distribute or publicize the results.
Question 5: What are the qualifications of the personnel?
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.
Question 6: What are your performance objectives?
A list of Performance Objectives — measurable outcomes of your Federally-funded work — should also be included in the proposal. List four to six quantifiable objectives in the proposal by which the project can be evaluated following the submission of the final report and the closing of the grant. Typically, these include the number of meetings to be held, estimates of the number of participants, and the tangible results or actions.
Supplementary Materials
Please attach up to 20 pages of Supplementary Materials to your Project Summary, such as:
- The Board roster with term dates
- The Board plan
- A timeline of meetings and other activities
- Curricula or other materials to be used
- Brief resumes of no more than two pages
Submit a budget on the NARA/NEH form on Grants.gov. Note that the form itself contains additional instructions. You may include with your application a narrative budget supplement, if necessary.
You may request funding for up to 2 years, but if the project will take 18 months or longer, you must fill out a separate budget form for each project year or fraction thereof.
Provide specific budget figures, rounding to the nearest dollar.
Definitions
In preparing the budget section of the application, please be aware of the following definitions:
Direct costs – expenses attributable directly to the cost of a project, such as salaries, project supplies, travel expenses, and equipment rented or purchased.
Indirect costs – costs incurred for common or joint objectives and therefore not attributable to a specific project or activity. Typically, indirect costs include items such as overhead for facilities maintenance and accounting services. NHPRC prefers not to provide grant funds for indirect costs.
Cost sharing – the financial contribution the applicant pledges to the cost of a project. Cost sharing can include both direct and indirect expenses, in-kind contributions, third-party contributions, and any income earned directly by the project (e.g., registration fees).
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 for that position.
- 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 count the time provided by advisory board members as cost sharing.
- You may use a daily rate comparable to the allowable maximum for Commission-funded consultants ($400) when board member contributions will be 15 days or less per year.
- Board member contributions to the grant must be allocable to the specific project for which they are requested.
- Grant funds may not substitute for or supplement salaries of regular, full-time staff members. Grant funds may be used to pay existing full-time personnel working on a project only if the institution uses its own funds to hire substitute staff for their regular duties during the grant period.
Fringe Benefits: If you use a daily rate or honoraria no separate benefits should be included.
- For other staff indicate the percentage basis for each amount. The Commission encourages the provision of benefits comparable to those accorded for a similar non-grant-funded position within the given institution.
Consultant Fees: Include payments for consultant services and honoraria. Include consultant travel expenses in the "Travel" category.
Travel: List the destination for each trip and the basis for individual trip costs and transportation rates (airfare, mileage, and taxis).
- In the case of projected meetings use the cost based on the actual mileage of those involved or on an established average cost for the board. Per diem (food and lodging) rates should be the applicant institution's standard rate. If the institution has no standard rate of its own, please use standard Federal rates, which you may obtain by calling the Commission office. Please note that 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: Itemize the estimated cost of specialized materials and supplies. Justify them in the proposal narrative or a narrative budget supplement.
- Note that the "Supplies and Materials" category of the budget also includes expenditures for equipment costing less than $5,000 per unit. You may request grant funds for purchasing permanent equipment when you can demonstrate that purchasing will be less expensive than renting.
- The Commission does not provide grant funds for the acquisition of routine equipment such as office furnishings, shelving, and file cabinets, but we will provide grant support for the purchase of technical equipment, such as computers and peripherals essential for a project, if those costs are divided evenly between grant funds and cost sharing. This applies both to expendable equipment included in the "Supplies and Materials" category and to permanent equipment included in the "Other Costs" category of the budget.
Services: Include the cost of duplication and printing, long-distance telephone, equipment leasing, postage, and other services that you are not including under other budget categories or as indirect-cost expenses.
- Note that, except for conferences and SHRAB meetings, the NHPRC does not provide grant funds for rental space.
Other costs: Cash awards or subgrants should be listed here.
Application Review
The NHPRC staff will acknowledge receipt of the application soon after we receive it. We then begin the evaluation process:
- NHPRC staff
Staff evaluate the proposal and contact the project director if there are any questions. Staff make overall recommendations to the Commission based on 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 and staff evaluations, Commission members deliberate on proposals and make funding recommendations to the Archivist of the United States who 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
This is a general guide to the Application Cycle:
- September 4, 2007 – Submit application to the NHPRC.
- October 10, 2007 – Applicants respond to any staff questions.
- November – Commission meets.
- December 1, 2007 – Earliest possible starting date for project.
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.
* Please see our Privacy Statement
