NEH 2011 America's Historical and Cultural Organizations Planning Grants CFDA 45.164

America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations grants support projects in the humanities that explore stories, ideas, and beliefs that deepen our understanding of our lives and our world. The Division of Public Programs supports the development of humanities content and interactivity that excite, inform, and stir thoughtful reflection upon culture, identity, and history in creative and new ways. Grants for America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations should encourage dialogue, discussion, and civic engagement, and they should foster learning among people of all ages. Applications are due by January 12, 2011.


To that end, the Division of Public Programs urges applicants to consider more than one format for presenting humanities ideas to the public. NEH offers two categories of grants for America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations: Planning and Implementation Grants.

Planning grants are available for projects that may need further development before applying for implementation. This planning can include the identification and refinement of the project’s main humanities ideas and questions, consultation with scholars in order to strengthen the humanities content, preliminary audience evaluation, preliminary design of the proposed interpretive formats, beta testing of digital formats, development of complementary programming, research at archives or sites whose resources might be used, or the drafting of interpretive materials.

Implementation grants support the final preparation of a project for presentation to the public. Applicants must submit a full walkthrough for an exhibition, or a prototype or storyboard for a digital project, that demonstrates a solid command of the humanities ideas and scholarship that relate to the subject. Applicants for implementation grants should have already done most of the planning for their projects, including the identification of the key humanities themes, relevant scholarship, and program formats. For exhibitions, implementation grants can support the final stages of design development, but these grants are primarily intended for installation.

Applicants are not required to obtain a planning grant before applying for an implementation grant. Applicants may not, however, submit multiple applications for the same project at the same deadline. If an application for a project is already under review, another application for the same project cannot be accepted.

Planning grants may be used for:

• meetings with scholars and other content advisers, program partners, and representatives of target audiences or other key personnel involved in the project;
• preliminary audience evaluation and beta testing of digital materials;
• travel to archives, collections, sites, or other resources;
• drafting of text for program or discussion guides, exhibition labels, brochures, publications, or other interpretive materials;
• preliminary design for any of the interpretive formats to be used;
• general preparation of the associated programs and materials for dissemination; and
• planning for training for docents, discussion coordinators, or other relevant interpretive leaders for the project.
  

Planning grants may not be used for:

• single-site temporary exhibitions;
• purchase of art, artifacts, or collections;
• professional development;
• expenses for program venues in foreign countries;
• dramatic adaptations of literary works;
• projects that will satisfy requirements for educational degrees or formal professional training;
• programs primarily for students in formal learning environments;
• general operations, renovation, restoration, rehabilitation, or construction;
• projects primarily devoted to basic background research on a subject, as opposed to actual refinement of interpretive ideas and formats;
• projects—such as encyclopedias—that are documentary rather than interpretive;
• projects for preservation, cataloging, or archiving;
• projects that seek to persuade participants of a particular political, philosophical, religious, or ideological point of view;
• projects that advocate a particular program of social action; or
• print publications that are not an integral part of a larger set of interpretive activities for which funding is being requested.

Document Type: Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number: 20110112-GE
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Posted Date: Oct 25, 2010
Creation Date: Oct 25, 2010
Original Closing Date for Applications: Jan 12, 2011
Current Closing Date for Applications: Jan 12, 2011
Archive Date: Feb 12, 2011
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Category of Funding Activity: Humanities (see "Cultural Affairs" in CFDA)
Category Explanation:
Expected Number of Awards: 30
Estimated Total Program Funding:
Award Ceiling: $75,000
Award Floor: $0
CFDA Number(s): 45.164 -- Promotion of the Humanities_Public Programs
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: No

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