NEH 2012 Challenge Grants CFDA 45.130

NEH challenge grants are capacity-building grants, intended to help institutions and organizations secure long-term improvements in and support for their humanities programs and resources. Grants may be used to establish or enhance endowments or spend-down funds (that is, funds that are invested, with both the income and the principal being expended over a defined period of years) that generate expendable earnings to support ongoing program activities. Funds may also provide capital directly supporting the procurment of long lasting objects such as acquisitions for archives and collections, the purchase of equipment, and the construction and renovation of faciltities needed for humanities activities.  Funds spent directly must must be shown to bring long-term benefits to the institution and to the humanities more broadly.
NEH Challenge Grant Guidelines
Applications are due by May 2, 2012

Because of the matching requirement, these NEH grants also strengthen the humanities by encouraging nonfederal sources of support. Applications are welcome from colleges and universities, museums, public libraries, research institutions, historical societies and historic sites, scholarly associations, state humanities councils, and other nonprofit entities. Programs that involve collaboration among multiple institutions are eligible as well, but one institution must serve as the lead agent and formal applicant of record. Activities supported Challenge grant funds (both federal and nonfederal together) must provide long-term benefits to the humanities. Challenge grant funds should not merely replace funds already being expended on the humanities, but instead should reflect careful strategic planning to strengthen the institution’s activities in and commitment to the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the humanities.

Activities supported

Challenge grant funds (both federal and nonfederal together) must provide long-term benefits to the humanities. Challenge grant funds should not merely replace funds already being expended on the humanities, but instead should reflect careful strategic planning to strengthen the institution’s activities in and commitment to the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the humanities.

Institutions may use challenge grant funds to meet both ongoing and one-time humanities-related costs, provided that the long-term benefit of the expenditure can be demonstrated. Federal challenge grant funds, as well as funds raised for matching, might be used for purposes such as the following.

Through endowments or spend-down funds, challenge grant funds might be used to support faculty and staff salaries and benefits; 

• acquisitions for collections;
• faculty, teacher, and staff development;
• research fellowships;
• lecture or exhibition series;
• visiting scholars or consultants;
• publishing subventions; and
• preservation and conservation programs.

Through direct expenditure, challenge grant funds might be used to support

• capital expenditures, such as purchase, construction, or renovation of facilities;
• acquisitions for collections;
• purchase of equipment and software;
• fundraising costs (totaling no more than 10 percent of challenge grant funds);
• and “bridge” funds to begin an endowed activity while the endowment is being established.

Expenditures not eligible for support
Challenge grant funds, federal or nonfederal, may not be used for:

• one-time or operating expenditures with minimal long-term impact;
• recovery of indirect costs;
• support for projects eligible for grants from other NEH programs; or
• scholarships or stipends for students below the graduate level.

Mode of expenditure
The financial arrangement by which challenge grant funds are expended should be appropriate to the nature of the humanities-related costs and the long-term impact of the expenditure.
Funds may be

• invested in permanent endowments, the income from which supports ongoing and recurring costs such as salaries, honoraria for visiting scholars, fellowships, and maintenance;
• spent directly on one-time capital costs for items that have inherent longevity, such as facilities (new construction or renovation), equipment, and acquisitions;
• or combined in “spend-down” funds that are invested, with both the income and the principal expended over a defined period of years. Spend-down funds are particularly appropriate for programs that are long-term but not permanent.

Funds may also be spent directly on fundraising costs (totaling up to 10 percent of challenge grant funds).
Grant funds may be used directly for bridging support, where the challenge grant provides for endowment or spend-down income to meet expenses for a given purpose in the future; bridging funds up to the equivalent amount of projected endowment or spend-down income may be used to cover expenses for that purpose during the grant period, while the endowment or spend-down fund is being established.

Document Type: Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number: 20120502-CH
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Posted Date: Feb. 29, 2012
Creation Date: Feb. 27, 2012
Original Closing Date for Applications: May 02, 2012
Current Closing Date for Applications: May 02, 2012
Archive Date: Jun 01, 2012
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Category of Funding Activity: Humanities (see "Cultural Affairs" in CFDA)
Category Explanation:
Expected Number of Awards:
Estimated Total Program Funding:
Award Ceiling: $1,000,000
Award Floor: $0
CFDA Number(s): 45.130 -- Promotion of the Humanities_Challenge Grants
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: No

http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do;jsessionid=H3ZhPWKLGBT9p24p0gQP9rPH9lbhpML9GBhLRFNQj0TGjbhyG81y!755456391?oppId=146633&mode=VIEW

NEH Challenge Grants in United States History and Culture CFDA 45.130

NEH invites applications for Challenge Grants in United States History and Culture. This grant opportunity is designed to help institutions and organizations strengthen their ability to explore significant themes and events in American history, so as to advance our understanding of how—since the nation’s founding—these events have shaped and been shaped by American identity and culture. Applications are due by February 3, 2010.


NEH seeks to support a range of approaches to the American experience: for example, approaches might explore significant events in America’s history, its democratic institutions, the political principles on which the nation is founded, or the complicated mix of peoples and cultures that have formed America. Also welcome are proposals that seek support for the study of the history and culture of the United States in international contexts rather than in isolation—proposals that explore relationships with other nations and cultures that have profoundly affected the course of United States history. NEH also welcomes proposals for programming at America’s historic places (e.g., historic sites, neighborhoods, communities, or larger geographical regions).

NEH challenge grants are capacity-building grants, intended to help institutions and organizations secure long-term improvements in and support for their humanities programs and resources. Grants may be used to establish or enhance endowments or spend-down funds (that is, funds that are invested, with both the income and the principal being expended over a defined period of years) that generate expendable earnings to support ongoing program activities. Funds may also be used for one-time capital expenditures (such as construction and renovation, purchase of equipment, and acquisitions) that bring long-term benefits to the institution and to the humanities more broadly.

Because of the matching requirement, these NEH grants also strengthen the humanities by encouraging nonfederal sources of support. Applications are welcome from colleges and universities, museums, public libraries, research institutions, historical societies and historic sites, scholarly associations, state humanities councils, and other nonprofit entities. Programs that involve collaboration among multiple institutions are eligible as well, but one institution must serve as the lead agent and formal applicant of record.

Document Type: Modification to Previous Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number: 20100203-CZ
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Posted Date: Nov 04, 2009
Creation Date: Nov 04, 2009
Original Closing Date for Applications: Feb 03, 2010
Current Closing Date for Applications: Feb 03, 2010
Archive Date: Mar 05, 2010
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Category of Funding Activity: Humanities (see "Cultural Affairs" in CFDA)
Category Explanation:
Expected Number of Awards: 25
Estimated Total Program Funding:
Award Ceiling: $1,000,000
Award Floor: $0
CFDA Number(s): 45.130 -- Promotion of the Humanities_Challenge Grants
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yes

http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/CG_UShistory.html

USDA Rural Housing Preservation Grants CFDA 10.433

The Rural Housing Service (RHS) announces that it is soliciting applications under its Housing Preservation Grant (HPG) program. The HPG program is a grant program which provides qualified public agencies, private nonprofit organizations, which may include but not be limited to Faith-Based and Community Organizations, and other eligible entities grant funds to assist very low- and low-income homeowners in repairing and rehabilitating their homes in rural areas. Applications are due by July 10, 2009.

In addition, the HPG program assists rental property owners and cooperative housing complexes in repairing and rehabilitating their units if they agree to make such units available to low- and very low-income persons. This action is taken to comply with Agency regulations found in 7 CFR part 1944, subpart N, which require the Agency to announce the opening and closing dates for receipt of preapplications for HPG funds from eligible applicants. The intended effect of this Notice is to provide eligible organizations notice of these dates.

Document Type: Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number: USDA-RD-HCFP-HPG-2009
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Posted Date: May 15, 2009
Creation Date: May 15, 2009
Original Closing Date for Applications: Jul 10, 2009
Current Closing Date for Applications: Jul 10, 2009
Archive Date: Aug 09, 2009
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Category of Funding Activity: Housing
Category Explanation:
Expected Number of Awards: 160
Estimated Total Program Funding: $10,088,166
Award Ceiling: $100,000
Award Floor: $0
CFDA Number(s): 10.433 -- Rural Housing Preservation Grants
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: No

NOFA for Housing Preservation Grant Program

NEH Challenge Grants CFDA 45.130

NEH challenge grants are capacity-building grants, intended to help institutions and organizations secure long-term improvements in and support for their humanities programs and resources. Grants may be used to establish or enhance endowments or spend-down funds (that is, funds that are invested, with both the income and the principal being expended over a defined period of years) that generate expendable earnings to support ongoing program activities. Funds may also be used for one-time capital expenditures (such as construction and renovation, purchase of equipment, and acquisitions) that bring long-term benefits to the institution and to the humanities more broadly. Applications are due by May 5, 2009.


Because of the matching requirement, these NEH grants also strengthen the humanities by encouraging nonfederal sources of support. Applications are welcome from colleges and universities, museums, public libraries, research institutions, historical societies and historic sites, scholarly associations, state humanities councils, and other nonprofit entities. Programs that involve collaboration among multiple institutions are eligible as well, but one institution must serve as the lead agent and formal applicant of record. NEH particularly welcomes proposals for programming at America’s historic places (historic sites, neighborhoods, communities, or larger geographical regions).

Activities supported
Challenge grant funds (both federal and nonfederal together) must provide long-term benefits to the humanities. Challenge grant funds should not replace funds already being expended on the humanities, but instead should reflect careful strategic planning to strengthen the institution’s activities in and commitment to the advancement of knowledge and understanding of the humanities.
Institutions may use challenge grant funds to meet both ongoing and one-time humanities-related costs, provided that the long-term benefit of the expenditure can be demonstrated. Federal challenge grant funds, as well as funds raised for matching, might be used for purposes such as the following:
- faculty and staff salaries and benefits;
- acquisitions for collections;
- faculty, teacher, and staff development;
- research fellowships;
- lecture or exhibition series;
- visiting scholars or consultants;
- publishing subventions;
- preservation and conservation programs;
- construction, renovation, and maintenance of facilities;
- purchase of equipment and software; and
- fund-raising costs (totaling no more than 10 percent of challenge grant funds).

Expenditures not eligible for support
- Challenge grant funds, federal or nonfederal, may not be used for one-time or
- operating expenditures with minimal long-term impact;
- recovery of indirect costs;
- support for projects eligible for grants from other NEH programs; or
- scholarships or stipends for students below the graduate level.

Document Type: Modification to Previous Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number: 20090505-CH
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Posted Date: Feb 19, 2009
Creation Date: Feb 19, 2009
Original Closing Date for Applications: May 05, 2009
Current Closing Date for Applications: May 05, 2009
Archive Date: Jun 04, 2009
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Category of Funding Activity: Humanities (see "Cultural Affairs" in CFDA)
Category Explanation:
Expected Number of Awards: 10
Estimated Total Program Funding:
Award Ceiling: $1,000,000
Award Floor: $0
CFDA Number(s): 45.130 -- Promotion of the Humanities_Challenge Grants
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yes

NEH Challenge Grants Modification Full Announcement

NEA Challenge America: Reaching Every Community Fast-Track Review Grants FY2010 CFDA 45.024

An organization may submit only one application through one of the following FY 2010 Grants for Arts Projects categories: Access to Artistic Excellence, Challenge America: Reaching Every Community Fast-Track Review Grants, Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth. Grants are available for professional arts programming and for projects that emphasize the potential of the arts in community development. Partnerships can be valuable to the success of these projects. While not required, applicants are encouraged to consider partnerships among organizations, both in and outside of the arts, as appropriate to their project. Applications are due by May 28, 2009.


The Challenge America: Reaching Every Community Fast-Track Review Grants category offers support primarily to small and mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations -- those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability.

Age alone (e.g., youth, seniors) does not qualify a group as underserved; at least one of the underserved characteristics noted here also must be present. This category, as an essential component of the Arts Endowment's goal of providing wide access to artistic excellence, supports local projects that can have significant effects within communities. These Fast-Track Review Grants: Extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations. Are limited to the specific types of projects outlined below. Are for $10,000 each. Receive an expedited application review. Organizations are notified whether they have been recommended for a grant approximately six months after they apply; projects may start shortly thereafter.

January 1, 2010 is the Earliest Beginning Date for Arts Endowment Period of Support

Document Type: Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number: 2009NEA01CAFT
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Posted Date: Jan 30, 2009
Creation Date: Jan 30, 2009
Original Closing Date for Applications: May 28, 2009
Current Closing Date for Applications: May 28, 2009 May 28, 2009, Application Deadline January 1, 2010, Earliest Beginning Date for Arts Endowment Period of Support If your organization applies to the Challenge America Fast-Track Review Grants category, it may not submit another application to either the Access to Artistic Excellence or Learning in the Arts categories.
Archive Date: Jun 27, 2009
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Category of Funding Activity: Arts (see "Cultural Affairs" in CFDA)
Category Explanation:
Expected Number of Awards: 400
Estimated Total Program Funding:
Award Ceiling: $10,000
Award Floor: $10,000
CFDA Number(s): 45.024 -- Promotion of the Arts_Grants to Organizations and Individuals
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yes

NEA Web Site Announcement

NEH We the People Challenge Grants in United States History, Institutions, and Culture CFDA 45.130

NEH invites applications for We the People Challenge Grants in United States History, Institutions, and Culture. This grant opportunity, part of NEH’s We the People program, is designed to help institutions and organizations secure long-term improvements in and support for humanities activities that examine American history through the lens of the nation’s founding principles. Proposals must demonstrate how the challenge grant would strengthen the institution’s ability to explore significant themes and events in American history, so as to advance knowledge of how the founding principles of the United States have shaped, and been shaped by, American history and culture for more than two hundred years. NEH welcomes proposals for programs that not only articulate the theories of governance and assertions of human rights that have embodied the founding principles, but also lead to deeper exploration of how these principles have been tested and interpreted since the Founding Era. Applications are due by February 3, 2009.


NEH challenge grants are intended to help institutions and organizations secure long-term improvements in and support for their humanities programs and resources. Grants may be used to establish or enhance endowments or spend-down funds (that is, funds that are invested, with both the income and the principal being expended over a defined period of years) that generate expendable earnings to support ongoing program activities. Funds may also be used to support one-time capital expenditures (such as construction and renovation, purchase of equipment, and acquisitions) that bring long-term benefits to the institution and to the humanities more broadly. Because of the matching requirement, these NEH grants also strengthen the humanities by encouraging nonfederal sources of support. Applications are welcome from colleges and universities, museums, public libraries, research institutions, historical societies and historic sites, scholarly associations, state humanities councils, and other nonprofit entities. Programs that involve collaboration among multiple institutions are eligible as well, but one institution must serve as the lead agent and formal applicant of record. NEH particularly welcomes proposals for programming at America’s historic places (historic sites, neighborhoods, communities, or larger geographical regions).

Document Type: Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number: 20090203-CZ
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Posted Date: Oct 07, 2008
Creation Date: Oct 07, 2008
Original Closing Date for Applications: Feb 03, 2009
Current Closing Date for Applications: Feb 03, 2009
Archive Date: Mar 05, 2009
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Category of Funding Activity: Humanities (see "Cultural Affairs" in CFDA)
Category Explanation:
Expected Number of Awards:
Estimated Total Program Funding:
Award Ceiling: $1,000,000
Award Floor: $0
CFDA Number(s): 45.130 -- Promotion of the Humanities_Challenge Grants
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yes

http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/wtpchallenge.html

NEH Challenge Grants

NEH challenge grants help institutions and organizations secure long-term improvements in and support for their humanities programs and resources. Awards are made to museums, public libraries, colleges, research institutions, historical societies and historic sites, public television and radio stations, universities, scholarly associations, state humanities councils, and other nonprofit entities. Because of the matching requirements, these NEH awards also strengthen the humanities by encouraging nonfederal sources of support. Both federal and nonfederal funds must provide long-term benefits to the humanities. Challenge grant funds should not merely replace funds already being expended on the humanities, but instead should reflect careful strategic planning to strengthen and enhance the institution's activities in and commitment to the humanities. Activities supported Challenge grants most commonly augment or establish endowments that support humanities activities in education, public programming, scholarly research, and preservation. Institutions may use the income from invested funds to meet ongoing humanities-related costs. Examples include: faculty and staff positions, fellowships, lecture or exhibition series, visiting scholars or consultants, publishing subventions, maintenance of facilities, faculty and staff development, acquisitions, and preservation or conservation programs.

Document Type: Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number: 20080501-CH
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Posted Date: Feb 15, 2008
Creation Date: Feb 15, 2008
Original Closing Date for Applications: May 01, 2008
Current Closing Date for Applications: May 01, 2008
Archive Date: May 31, 2008
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Category of Funding Activity: Humanities (see "Cultural Affairs" in CFDA)
Category Explanation: Expected Number of Awards:
Estimated Total Program Funding:
Award Ceiling: $1,000,000
Award Floor: $0
CFDA Number: 45.130 -- Promotion of the Humanities_Challenge Grants
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yes

http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/challenge.html