Archives Leadership Institute 

FY 2023 Grant Announcement (Initial): 

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) of the National Archives supports projects that promote access to America’s historical records to encourage understanding of our democracy, history, and culture.

The following grant application information is for a project to continue the Archives Leadership Institute.

Funding Opportunity Number: LEADERSHIP-202312

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 89.003

• Draft (optional) Deadline: October 1, 2022
• Final Deadline: December 8, 2022

NHPRC support begins no earlier than July 1, 2023.

Grant Program Description 

The Commission seeks proposals from organizations to continue the Archives Leadership Institute, which it first funded in 2008. The Archives Leadership Institute seeks to build the capacity of mid-career archivists as leaders both in their own institutions and in the archives field. 

The NHPRC envisions a program that will tailor contemporary best practices in leadership skills to issues specific to archives professionals. The Commission is especially interested in proposals that make creative use of meeting times and both face-to-face and virtual instruction. The grantee will be responsible for all project phases, from curriculum design and development through administering the program for the attendees it selects. Topics for the Institute may include issues in managing and leading change, cultural competency, strategic planning, fund raising, and advocacy. In addition, there should be opportunities for participants to develop solutions to the specific needs of their institutions. Institute faculty should be diverse in composition and include experts and educators in leadership development and organizational management, as well as experienced archival leaders. 

Project plans (including staffing model and planned activities) must demonstrate a commitment to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and welcoming environment, and upholding core values of collaboration, experimentation, innovation, creativity, and diversity in all forms. Promotional plans and outreach activities must demonstrate an ongoing commitment to engaging, listening to, and supporting a diverse and inclusive community of archivists. The NHPRC strongly encourages project teams that include racially and ethnically diverse faculty, staff, and attendees. 

There are models of such institutes in other fields that will be useful for applicants as they develop their proposals. Applicants may benefit from looking at these examples: 

Getty Leadership Institute for museum professionals

Seminar for Historical Administration  for administrators of historical sites and museums

Leading Change Institute (successor to Frye Leadership Institute) for librarians and library administrators

Award Information 

The Commission expects to make one award for two to three years with the expectation that at least one cohort will meet each year. The total award will be up to $450,000 for three years.

The Commission requires that grant recipients acknowledge NHPRC grant assistance in all products and publicity that result from its support. 

Eligible applicants:

• Nonprofit organizations or institutions
• Colleges, universities, and other academic institutions
• State or local government agencies
• Federally-recognized or -acknowledged or state-recognized Native American tribes or groups

Applications must include all required elements (SF424, Narrative, NHPRC Budget form, and Supplemental Materials). Applications lacking any of these elements will not be considered. 

In order to ensure eligibility, applicants should first review the rules and regulations governing NHPRC grants under the Administering an NHPRC Grant section. 

Cost Sharing

The total costs of a project are shared between the NHPRC and the applicant organization.

The Commission may support up to the entire direct costs of the project that do not exceed the total amount of the award. Cost sharing may include the program revenue, grantee's indirect costs, as well as any additional direct costs borne by the applicant. NHPRC grant recipients are not permitted to use grant funds for indirect costs (as indicated in 2 CFR 2600.101).

Other Requirements

Applicant organizations must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to submitting an application, maintain SAM registration throughout the application and award process, and include a valid Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number in their application. Details on SAM registration and requesting a UEI number can be found at the System for Award Management website at https://sam.gov. Please refer to the User Guides section and the Grants Registrations PDF.

Agency Contact

At any time, applicants are encouraged to contact the Director for Access Programs, Nancy Melley (nancy.melley@nara.gov, 202-357-5452) at the NHPRC who may: 

• Advise the applicant about the review process 

• Answer questions about what activities are eligible for support

Applicants are encouraged to submit drafts by October 1, 2022 by email and should include a draft narrative and budget. 

Application and Submission Information

All information necessary to apply is included in this announcement. If you need the information supplied in an alternative format, please call the NHPRC at 202-357-5010.

Applicants should follow the instructions on how to fill out the online forms and apply electronically using the Application Instructions. 

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission requires that grant applications be submitted via Grants.gov. In the event that Grants.gov is experiencing technical difficulties that prevent submission, applicants must first attempt to resolve the issue with the Grants.gov Contact Center (800-518-4726). If Grants.gov cannot solve the problem, applicants may request an alternative. To make use of the NHPRC backup system, applicants must contact Jeff De La Concepcion (jeff.delaconcepcion@nara.gov or 202-357-5022) no later than 3:00 PM Eastern Time on the day of the deadline with their valid Grants.gov Contact Center trouble-ticket number. 

Applicants are encouraged to submit drafts by October 1, 2022, but drafts are not required.  The drafts should be sent by email to the person listed under Agency Contact and should include a draft narrative and budget. 

Project Narrative 

The Project Narrative is a description of the proposal. It should be no more than 20 double-spaced pages in 12-pt type on 8.5 x 11 inch paper with standard margins.

Please organize your narrative in sections:

1. Explain your view on the value for this type of Institute. Refer to existing research on the needs of archival institutions and archivists, including archivists of color. This discussion should then lead to the following: What topics do you plan to include in the Institute? How many days will the Institute last and how many hours will participants meet each day? What teaching and training methods will you use to make this Institute effective, applicable, and accessible to diverse participants? What faculty do you plan to recruit to teach these topics? Indicate the number and qualifications of the faculty you seek and name those individuals from whom you have received tentative commitments. In your supplementary materials, include brief resumes from faculty and a draft schedule for the Institute detailing the order of the topics and the amount of time devoted to each issue. 

2. How will you advertise the Institute to potential participants; how will they apply; and how will they be selected? What is your target number for participants? How will you ensure the diversity of each cohort? Include a draft application form and an evaluation matrix in your supplementary materials. 

3. Describe the program of activities, whether online or in-person, you plan to offer, how you arrived at this needs assessment, and how the proposed curricula will support and advance the goals of practitioners in diverse communities  For any in-person meetings or activities, explain how many hours participants will meet over how many days, and discuss how you arrived at this time period. What, if any, projects will you expect participants to complete and how will they be evaluated? What technologies will you use to support all of these activities? How will you support cohort members and ALI alumni after each Institute?

4. How are the project director and other project staff qualified to develop and manage the Institute? Be specific about experiences in executive education and leadership development, as well as archival education. In your supplementary materials, include resumes for all named staff on the application and position announcements for any new positions to be paid for by grant funds. 

5. What is your schedule for developing and then implementing the proposed program of activities ? Provide a detailed plan of work and timeline that outlines the steps necessary to develop and run the Institute. 

6. Where do you expect to hold the in-person portions of the program? Where will participants stay and eat? What fees do you expect to charge? How many and what form of scholarships will you offer? Explain how the selected location(s) will increase the effectiveness of the experience for participants. Refer to results from relevant studies and comparable institutes in describing the cost-model for the Institute. If available, include descriptions of the facilities and their costs in your supplementary materials. 

7. What evaluation methods will you use to assess the effectiveness of the Institute, including the participants' experiences, faculty, facilities, and curriculum and teaching methodologies? The Commission expects the successful applicants to revise the structure of the Institute as necessary in response to feedback after each Institute. 

8. List four to six quantifiable performance objectives that will allow you and the Commission to evaluate the project following the submission of the final report.

Supplementary Materials 

Please attach the following Supplementary Materials to your Narrative: 

• Resumes or curriculum vitae for all named staff on the application 
• Position announcement for any new positions to be paid for by grant funds 
• Brief bibliography of the relevant scholarship 
• Draft schedule for the Institute 
• Institute faculty's brief resumes (2 pgs.) 
• Draft application form and an evaluation matrix for application evaluation 
• Descriptions of the proposed facilities and their costs 

If these materials are available on an existing web site, please provide a URL. 

Project Budget

You must submit a budget on the NHPRC Budget Form available on the Application Instructions page. Note that the form itself contains additional instructions. You may include with your application a Narrative Budget Supplement for budget categories that require further detail. 

Submission Dates and Times

• Draft (optional): October 1, 2022
• Final Deadline: Applications must be submitted electronically by midnight Eastern Time on December 8, 2022.

NHPRC support begins no earlier than July 1, 2023.

Application Review

The NHPRC staff will acknowledge receipt of the application soon after we receive it. The following evaluation criteria and weights will be used by NHPRC staff and other reviewers to form recommendations.

1. Ability of the project to develop executive leadership skills of diverse professionals in the archival field. (35 percent) 

2. Ability of the project to improve best practices in the training of archival professionals, and the transferability of these methods for wider use in the archival community, including those who work in the federal government. (30 percent) 

3. Ability to complete the project's proposed objectives, judged by the qualifications of the staff and the reasonableness of the work plan and budget (including cost share). (25 percent) 

4. Effectiveness of the dissemination plans for the project's results. (10 percent) 

Application Review Process

After submitting a proposal, do not discuss the pending application to the NHPRC with any Member of the Commission. Commission members must ensure fair and equitable treatment of all applications and do not discuss proposals with individual applicants.

Peer Reviewers
We will ask a panel of 5 to 7 external peer reviewers to evaluate the proposal. 

Commission Staff
Approximately 2 months before the Commission meeting, we will send to the Project Director anonymous copies of reviewers' comments and specific questions from the Commission staff. Applicants have an opportunity to answer these questions and comments.

The Commission
After reviewing proposals, reviewers' comments, and the applicants’ responses, the Commission members deliberate and make funding recommendations to the Archivist of the United States, who has final statutory authority and selects award recipients. Throughout this process, all members of the Commission and its staff follow conflict-of-interest rules. 

Award Administration Information

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 that the Archivist 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. 

Successful applicants will receive an informal offer of award outlining the steps that must be accomplished to qualify for the award. Those steps include verification of their acceptance of general terms and conditions, completion of a survey on their Financial Capability and Accounting Systems, and finalization of performance objectives for their project. Once all requested documentation is received, reviewed and accepted, the NHPRC will issue an official award notice.

For awards that meet or exceed the Federal government's simplified acquisition threshold (currently $150,000), NHPRC staff will first review and consider any information about the applicant that appears in the designated integrity and performance system. This information is accessible through SAM (currently FAPIIS) (see 41 U.S.C. 2313). After this review, NHPRC staff will follow the procedures in 2 CFR 200, subpart F, Appendix I, part e.3.

Administrative Requirements

In order to ensure that you can manage a grant, applicants should review the Federal grant administration rules and regulations governing grants from the NHPRC listed in the Administering an NHPRC Grant section of its webpages.

Reporting

In most cases, award recipients will report on their performance in narrative reports every six months and submit financial reports once a year.