Find Nonprofit and Small Business Grants

U.S. nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, state and local governmental agencies, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments are eligible to apply. Eligible organizations include institutions of higher education. Individuals and foreign and for-profit entities are not eligible to apply.

Eligible organizations are encouraged to partner with independent producers. Under this arrangement, the lead applicant submits the application on behalf of the partnership. Lead applicants must not function solely as fiscal agents, but should make substantive contributions to the success of the project. If the application is funded, the eligible organization is considered the recipient of record and assumes all programmatic, financial, and legal responsibilities associated with the award.

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.

Media Projects: Production Grants may not be used for:

- Fictional films, including dramatic adaptations of literary works
- Projects that will satisfy requirements for educational degrees or formal professional training
- Projects intended primarily for students in formal learning environments (though projects may include components that can be used in classrooms)
- General operations, renovation, restoration, rehabilitation, or construction of station or production facilities
- Preservation or cataloging of materials and collections
- Promotion of a particular political, religious, or ideological point of view
- Advocacy for a particular program of social or political action
- Support of specific public policies or legislation
- Lobbying
- Projects that fall outside of the humanities; the creation or performance of art; creative writing, memoirs, and creative nonfiction; and empirically based social science research or policy studies

NEH funds may not be used to support obscene, libelous, indecent, or defamatory content (including hate speech, personal attacks, or material constituting harassment).

The Division of Public Programs accepts applications for the two Media Projects programs (Development and Production) at two deadlines a year: in January and August.

Applications must be received and validated by Grants.gov by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on August 14, 2019, for projects beginning on May 1, 2020.

The Division of Public Programs encourages applicants to work with program officers from the outset of the application process. You may submit drafts or contact NIH with questions. Drafts, which are optional, must be submitted by July 3, 2019. A response cannot be guaranteed if drafts arrive after this date.

All organizations must submit their applications for NEH funding via Grants.gov Workspace. Before using Grants.gov for the first time, each organization must have an Employer Identification Number (EIN) and register with Grants.gov.

The Grants.gov registration process requires completing information in three separate systems:

1. Dun and Bradstreet: https://fedgov.dnb.com/webform
2. System for Award Management (SAM): https://www.sam.gov/SAM
3. Grants.gov: https://www.grants.gov/

In order to apply through Grants.gov, the applicant organization must first have or obtain a valid Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (D-U-N-S®) number, and register (or have an active registration) in the System for Award Management (SAM). Note: If you are registering in SAM.gov for the first time, you must provide an original, signed notarized letter stating that you are the authorized Entity Administrator for the entity associated with the D-UN-S® number. Read the SAM update and FAQs to learn more about this process change. The initial SAM registration can take up to six weeks.

The initial Grants.gov registration process can take up to two weeks.

Eligible applicant institutions may submit multiple applications for separate and distinct projects under this announcement. Project directors may also submit applications for two different projects at the same time. If so, project directors should explain in the applications how they would allocate their time if they received more than one award.

Timeline:

- Before the August 14, 2019 deadline: Contact Division of Public Programs program officers
(at 202-606-8269 or publicpgms@neh.gov ) with questions and for advice (optional)
- July 3, 2019: Applicants that have not registered in login.gov; the System for Award Management (SAM), and Grants.gov should begin the process no later than this date
- July 3, 2019: Submit draft application by this date (optional)
- July 31, 2019: Applicants that have registered in SAM and Grants.gov should verify their
registrations by this date
- August 14, 2019: Applications must be submitted through and validated by Grants.gov by this
date
- August 14, 2019: If applicable, DVD samples must arrive at NEH on or before this date
- October-November 2020: Peer review panels take place
- March 2020: Meeting of the National Council on the Humanities, followed by funding
decisions
- April 2020: Applicants are notified of the funding decisions
- May 2020: Institutional grants administrators and project directors of successful applications receive award documents by e-mail from the NEH Office of Grant Management
- May 1, 2020: Successful applicants may begin work on their projects

Successful applicants will be awarded outright funds, matching funds, or a combination of the two, depending on the applicant’s preference and the availability of funds.

View this opportunity on Grants.gov:
https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=316923

For a list of application documents, see the Package tab (press Preview) on the Grants.gov page above.