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 Partnership Projects
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 Partnership Projects.
- See also State Board Administrative Support grants.
NHPRC support begins no earlier than December 1, 2007.
Grant Program Description
SHRABs, or state agencies or nonprofit organizations acting on behalf of the Boards, may apply for three types of activities:
- Statewide services and subgrants to eligible organizations and institutions.
- Collaborative projects of two or more states, states within a common geographic region, or national projects to address common problems or shared opportunities. A single SHRAB or other nonprofit organization may apply as a lead organization in a partnership.
- Planning grants to enable the SHRABs to examine the conditions of records, the health of archival and records programs, and the challenges and opportunities facing historical records keepers and users.
Eligible Activities Include:
- Providing statewide services, including professional education, public information about records, archival and records consultation and mentoring, and other activities to implement state plans.
- Making subgrants to eligible organizations for NHPRC-eligible activities.
- Collaborative projects to provide regional or national services.
- Planning, including surveys, public forums, and other information gathering methods, to gain information about records holdings and needs, to identify challenges and opportunities, and to set an historical records agenda for the SHRAB and its partners.
Previously Funded Projects
A state board that has received NHPRC support can apply for a grant for a project that builds on earlier projects. These proposals receive no special consideration and will be judged by the same criteria as others in the grant competition. States seeking grant support from the Commission, whether in support of their SHRABs or other state programs, must demonstrate a commitment to sustaining an active state board. The applicant must also describe how previously-funded projects met their goals and how the state has maintained its efforts since the end of the grant or will sustain those efforts when the grant is concluded.
Award Information
Awards normally are for one, two, or three years and have ranged widely in amount depending on the nature of the project.
- Planning. . . . . . . . . . .$20,000 - $45,000
- Statewide Services. .. .. . $15,000 - $50,000
- Subgrants. . . . . . . . . .$50,000 - $300,000
- Collaborations. . . . . $50,000 - $300,000
Type of Awards
Successful applicants will be awarded a grant in outright funds, matching funds, or a combination of the two, depending on the request of the applicant and the availability of NHPRC funds.
Cost Sharing
Cost sharing is the financial contribution the applicant pledges to the cost of a project and can include both direct and indirect expenses. For State Partnership Projects, the Commission will supply up to 50 percent of the total project costs. The applicant's share can consist of in-kind contributions, non-Federal third-party contributions, and any income earned directly by the project.
The Commission will consider subgrant applications with no cash contributions as long as the requests are for $100,000 or less. For requests of more than $100,000, preference will be given to projects providing higher cash contributions and to projects in which a higher percentage of subgrant funds goes directly to final recipients. First time applicants and applicants that have not had a recent subgrant project will be given preference over repeat applicants. For states seeking a third consecutive subgrant project of more than $100,000, cash contributions are required. Like all other records proposals, all subgrant applications must provide at least 50 percent of their total project costs as cost sharing. The Commission will consider cash contributions provided by subgrantees as allowable in meeting the cash contributions for the subgrant project as a whole.
Eligibility
Only State Historical Records Advisory Boards, or state agencies or non profit organizations acting on behalf of the Boards, are eligible to apply for State Partnership projects. States also include the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and United States territories.
If applying for collaborative projects or subgrants, SHRABs should have or cite a strategic plan that addresses improvements in the preservation and use of primary source materials within the state. See the State Board Manual for basic performance indicators for active state boards. Newly appointed boards (or boards that have been inactive) are encouraged to consult with NHPRC staff.
How to Prepare an Application
You should read and understand this Grant Announcement and the Grants.gov application package and instructions in order to prepare your application.
- Follow the Completing the Application instructions below to prepare a Project Narrative, Summary, and Budget.
- See the separate Application Instructions for information on how to fill out the application forms.
Applicants are encouraged to contact the Deputy Executive Director at the NHPRC who may:
- Advise the applicant about the review process;
- Answer questions about what activities are eligible for support;
- Supply samples of successful applications; and
- Read and comment on a preliminary draft, submitted approximately 2 months before the deadline.
Completing the Application
A complete application includes a Project Narrative, Summary, Supplementary Materials, and Budget.
- We strongly suggest that before beginning the process, applicants consult the Federal grant administration rules and regulations governing grants from the NHPRC listed in the Administering an NHPRC Grant section.
The Project Narrative is a description of the proposal. Be sure to address the requirements under each project area as well as the following questions in your narrative:
- Answers should be no more than 20 double-spaced pages in 12-pt type with standard margins.
- Supplement the narrative with resumes, examples, and illustrations, which should also be no more than 20 pages.
Question 1: What is the purpose of the project and what are its goals?
Begin by stating whether the project is primarily a statewide planning effort, a subgrant project, another type of statewide assistance or collaboration (such as education or technical assistance), or some combination of these. Explain how the project will further the goals and objectives in the State Board's plan. Even though your project may not address archival collections directly, it is important to make the case for the significance of the documentary source materials that may be affected by your efforts. Characterize the audience of the project and the collections they hold or use. Use survey data, directory descriptions, and the SHRAB plan and illustrate with specific examples of organizations and collections. Show how the activities proposed will increase public understanding of history, culture, and the national experience. Discuss the overall scope of work and your goals.
Question 2: What is the significance of the project in relation to the NHPRC's programs and goals?
Please explain how the project relates to the Commission's overall mission, vision, and goals, particularly the Commission's goals to promote a national network for state and local documentary preservation and utilization efforts. Be as specific as possible about the historical importance of individuals, events, developments, organizations, and places whose history is documented by collections like those addressed in the project.
Question 3: What is the plan of work for the grant period?
Please provide ample evidence of preliminary planning. Outline each stage of the planned work within the grant period, and clarify complex work plans with a time chart identifying anticipated activities.
Please 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?
The Commission supports projects that adhere to generally accepted professional standards and procedures and build on previous board projects. Has your state board or another state board undertaken similar work before? Will you be adapting or implementing work already successfully undertaken by another state board or group? How will you share the results both within your state and with other state boards and the archival profession? Will all collections arranged and described with grant funds be reported to a national bibliographic utility or to the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections? How will you encourage the use of Encoded Archival Description?
Address carefully grants management issues including the mechanics of awarding funding, monitoring progress of subgrantees through oversight and reports, providing assistance during subgrants, receiving and evaluating final reports, and assuring necessary audits.
Question 4: What products, if any, will be produced during the grant period?
Describe the products you plan to produce for the completed project.
Question 5: What are the qualifications of the personnel?
Please provide vitae of not more than two pages per person for all staff named in the project budget. For those staff to be hired for the project, provide job descriptions, specify the qualifications that will be sought in candidates for vacant positions, and describe the roles to be played by all project staff, consultants, and contractors. Explain any special training planned for personnel..
Question 6: What are your performance objectives?
List four to seven quantifiable objectives in the proposal by which the project can be evaluated.
Be sure that you require specific performance measures of subgrantees, and include subgrantees performance as well as the impact of the overall project on the SHRAB and the State's documentary programs.
The Project Summary should be no more than 3 double-spaced pages in 12-pt type with standard margins, and it must include these sections:
- Significance and Relationship to NHPRC Goals and Objectives
- Summary of Plan of Work for the Grant Period
- Products and Publications to be completed during the Grant Period
- Names, Titles, Institutions, Phone Numbers, and E-Mail Addresses of the Project Director and Key Personnel
- Performance Objectives
Supplementary Materials
Please attach up to 20 pages of Supplementary Materials to your Narrative, such as:
- Resumes of named staff members (required)
- Position descriptions for staff to be hired with grant funds (required, if applicable)
- Detailed work plan charts that supplement the Narrative
- Statements of commitment to the project by partners
- Your mission, goals, and objective statements
If these materials are available on a web site, please provide the URLs.
Applicants will be asked to compute the project costs to be charged to grant funds as well as those that will be supported by applicant through cost sharing, which include both direct and in-direct expenses, in-kind contributions, non-Federal third-party contributions, and any income earned directly by the project. All of the items listed, whether supported by grant funds or cost-sharing contributions, must be reasonable and necessary to accomplish project objectives, allowable in terms of the applicable federal cost principles, auditable, and incurred during the grant period. Applicants should review the appropriate Office of Management and Budget circulars on cost principles.
Charges to the project for items such as salaries, fringe benefits, travel, and contractual services must conform to the written policies and established practices of the applicant organization.
- You must submit a budget on the NARA/NEH Budget form found in the Grants.gov application package. Note that the form itself contains additional instructions. You may include with your application a narrative budget supplement for budget categories not otherwise explained in the project narrative.
- For some projects, you may request funding for up to 3 years, but if the project will take 18 months or longer, you must provide a budget for each project year or fraction thereof.
- Provide specific budget figures, rounding to the nearest dollar.
Budget Categories
In preparing the budget, please follow the instructions on the NARA/NEH Budget form on Grants.gov. You may also use a supplemental budget narrative to give further details, for example, on the specifications of employee's duties or equipment, the requirements and costs of consultants, or the need for travel funds:
Salaries: List each staff position and the full salary to be charged to the project and show the percentage of time each staff member will devote to the project.
- Indicate which positions are to be filled for the proposed project and which personnel are already on the staff of the applicant institution.
- Grant funds may be used to pay the salaries of only those individuals actually working on the project. .
- You may count the time provided to the project by advisory board members.
Fringe Benefits: If you use a daily rate or honoraria, no separate benefits should be included.
Consultant Fees: Include payments for consultant services and honoraria.
- Include payments for consultant services and honoraria, but list consultant travel expenses in the "Travel" category.
Travel: 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: Justify the cost of specialized materials and supplies in a supplemental budget narrative.
Services: Include the cost of duplication and printing, long-distance telephone, equipment leasing, postage, and other services that you are not including under other budget categories or as indirect-cost expenses.
Other costs: The NHPRC does not provide grant funds for the acquisition of routine equipment such as office furnishings, shelving, and file cabinets, but we may provide grant support for the purchase of technical equipment, such as computers and peripherals, essential for a project.
Application Review
The NHPRC staff will acknowledge receipt of the application soon after we receive it. We then begin the evaluation process:
- Peer Reviewers
We may ask 5 to 10 external peer reviewers to evaluate the proposal. - Commission Staff
Approximately 2 months after the submission deadline, the Project Director receives blind copies of reviewers' comments and questions from the Commission staff. Applicants have an opportunity to expand on the material provided, clear up any misconceptions, and generally strengthen the proposal before the Commission meeting. Staff make overall recommendations to the Commission based on reviewers' comments, the appropriateness of the project in meeting the Commission's goals, the proposal's completeness, conformity to application requirements and overall eligibility, and answers to the questions letter. - The Commission
After reviewing proposals, the comments of peer reviewers, the applicants' responses to the reviews, and evaluations by the Commission staff, Commission members deliberate on proposals and make funding recommendations to the Archivist of the United States who, as Commission Chairman, has final statutory authority. Throughout this process, all members of the Commission and its staff follow conflict-of-interest rules to assure fair and equal treatment of every application.
Possible Commission Actions on the Proposal
Grants are contingent upon available appropriated funds. The Commission may recommend to the Archivist:
- Approval of the proposal as submitted and extend an offer of a grant.
- Approval of the proposal with an offer of fewer funds than requested.
- Approval of the proposal, subject to the applicant satisfying particular conditions.
- Rejection of the proposal.
Application Cycle
This is a general guide to the Application Cycle and deadlines:
- April 1 – Submit draft to the NHPRC (optional).
- June 1 – DDeadline - Final proposal postmarked by this date to the NHPRC.
- August 1 – Questions letter sent to applicant by the NHPRC staff.
- Mid-October – Applicant responds to questions letter.
- November – Commission meets.
- December 1, 2007 – Earliest possible starting date for project.
Notification
Grant applicants will be notified within 2 weeks after the Archivist's decision.
Grant Administration
For more information on how to comply with Federal regulations, see our Administering a Grant section.
* Please see our Privacy Statement
