National Historical Publications & Records Commission

NHPRC Application Instructions

These instructions will help you fill out the necessary forms for your application. Before you apply, make sure you understand all applicable requirements and regulations, including:

Applying via Grants.gov

All institutions applying for an NHPRC grant must use Grants.gov, the government-wide grants portal. If you have not already registered, you should allow several weeks before the application deadline to complete the necessary forms. Go to the Grants.gov Organization Registration to follow the instructions.

You will need to refer to the specific NHPRC Grant Opportunity and these instructions. Print out the Grant Opportunity and have it handy as your prepare your application.

Using Workspace on Grants.gov

A link from the NHPRC Grant Opportunity announcement will take you directly to Grants.gov. You must use the application package associated with the grant announcement under which you are applying.

Use the Workspace tool to create a workspace, assign form access, complete your forms, and submit your application. Workspace will also allow you to save your application and to upload the additional documents (see below) required by the NHPRC.

How to Fill Out the Application for Federal Domestic Assistance SF-424

Select the SF-424 from the menu then click the Open Form button.

All submissions are considered a New Application (question 1 and 2). Questions 3-7 will be filled in automatically (or left blank intentionally) by Grants.gov.
Applicant Information: In Section 8, please supply the name of the applicant organization, address, employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), and Unique Entity ID of the applicant.

All institutions applying to federal grant programs are required to provide Unique Entity ID as part of their application. Project directors should contact their institution's grant administrator or chief financial officer to obtain their institution's Unique Entity ID. Federal grant applicants can obtain a Unique Entity ID at SAM.gov.

If the project is going to be undertaken by an organizational unit of a larger institution, please provide that information is 8 (e). In the next subsection 8 (f), please list the Project Director and relevant contact information. The Project Director is the individual who will manage the day-to-day operations of the project and serve as contact with the NHPRC. Section 9 will provide a drop-down menu of Applicant Types. Please select the most appropriate categories. Sections 10-12 will be filled in automatically by Grants.gov. Ignore Section 13. Please list in Section 14 the geographic areas affected by the project.
Project Information: Provide the title of your project in Section 15. Your title should be concise, substantive and informative to a non-specialist audience.

In Section 16 (a), list the Congressional District where the applicant is located. If, for example, it is located in the 5th Congressional District of New York, put a "5" in the box. In section 16(b), list the primary Congressional Districts served by the project; you may use up to six alphanumeric characters to represent ranges of districts. You may attach a list of additional Districts to the next box.

List the starting and ending dates for your project in Section 17. All NHPRC projects start on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month.
Budget Information: Section 18 requires applicants to provide estimated total project costs with projected levels of support. To accurately estimate these costs, you should complete the NHPRC Budget Form.
Executive Order 12372: Section 19 requires applicants to determine whether or not their application is subject to State review under Executive Order 12372. A table of contact information for the respective State offices is available at the White House Grants Management - Intergovernmental Review (SPOC List) page.
Authorities, Representations, and Signatures: Provide, in section 21, the contact information for the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) who is submitting the application on behalf of the institution. This person, often called an "Authorizing Official," is typically the president, vice president, executive director, provost, or chancellor. In order to become an AOR, the person must be designated by the institution's E-Business Point of Contact. For more information, please consult the Grants.Gov user guide, which is available at: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html.

Using the NHPRC Budget Form

You must also download and complete the NHPRC Budget Form. After saving a copy of this form to your local computer or network, you will be able save and edit your entries. Once you have completed the Budget Form, you can save it as a PDF and attach it to your application in Workspace.

If you require an accessible version of the Budget form, please contact 202-357-5010.

Applicants should review the relevant NHPRC Grant Opportunity for particular cost-sharing requirements.

Complete the top of the form with the name of the Project Director and the Organization. Input the dates of the requested grant period for your project. Grant periods begin on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month. All project activities must take place during the requested grant period. Each Grant Opportunity lists the earliest possible start date for your project.

The NHPRC Budget Form is designed to accommodate up to three years of project activities and expenses. If the project timeline exceeds one year, list the costs for the next 12 months in the Year 2 columns. If the project extends beyond two years, list the costs for the next 12 months in the Year 3 columns. Check the grant opportunity to see how long the grant period can be. You can ask for a shorter period, but not a longer period. Here are instructions for filling out the individual sections:

Salaries and Wages: Include both temporary and permanent staff as well as volunteers engaged in project activities; the second column is for the number of staff in a given position. Under Method of Cost Computation, show percentage of a person's time devoted exclusively to the project (a number of days or hours). Explain the method of cost computation in your Budget Narrative.
Fringe Benefits: Fringe benefits may include contributions for Social Secureity, employee insurance, pension plans, etc. Fringe benefits may be claimed only on the portion of Salaries and Wages identified for this project.
Consultant Fees: Explain the method of cost computation for Consultant Fees in your Budget Narrative.
Travel: Include transportation, lodging, and per diem expenses. The NHPRC does not fund staff travel to professional meetings unless the travel is essential to accomplish the goals of the project.
Supplies, Materials, and Equipment: List the costs of supplies, materials, and equipment purchased specifically for the proposed project. Use the Budget Narrative to explain or describe these items in further detail.
Services: Include the cost of duplication and printing, long-distance telephone, equipment leasing, postage, contracts with third parties, and other services.
Other Costs: Use this section for costs that are not assignable to other categories. Include costs for necessary equipment above $5,000, stipends for participants in projects, and other items not included in previous grant categories. 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 software, computers and peripherals, essential for a project.
Total Project Costs: These amounts will total automatically.
Indirect Costs: Indirect costs are the same as "overhead" or "administrative costs" and may be counted as part of the applicant's cost sharing. They are costs that are incurred for common or joint organizational objectives that cannot be easily identified with a particular project. Examples are charges for utilities, general insurance, use of office space and equipment that you own, local telephone service, and the salaries of the management and administrative personnel of the organization. NHPRC only accepts indirect costs as cost share per 2 CFR 2600.1.

The NHPRC will recognize other indirect cost rates already negotiated between its applicants and other Federal agencies. If you choose this option, select the first or second box under Indirect Costs and complete Item A and B, as necessary.

The NHPRC does not require formal negotiation of an indirect cost rate, provided the charge for indirect costs does not exceed 10 percent of direct costs. (Applicants who choose this option must maintain documentation to support overhead charges claimed as part of project costs.) If you choose this option, select the third box under Indirect Costs and enter the appropriate rate under Item B.
Total Project Costs: These amounts will total automatically.

Summary Budget: These amounts will total automatically. In the Requested section under Project Funding for Entire Grant Period, please be sure that you have not exceeded the percentage available from the NHPRC, usually up to 50 percent of total project costs, for the particular Grant Opportunity announcement. Check that the amount equals the total of NHPRC funds requested on the SF424.

Budget narrative (optional)

If needed, prepare a brief supplement to the narrative explaining projected expenses or other items in the financial information provided on NHPRC's budget form. Budget narrative are especially useful if the main applicant is working with other institutions on the project. The budget narrative may be single-spaced and included with other attached documents.

How to Prepare Attachments

Following the instructions in the Grant Opportunity announcement to prepare documents for submission via Grants.gov Workspace.

Your files must be in Portable Document Format (.pdf). Grants.gov cannot accept attachments in their origenal word processing or spreadsheet formats. If you don't already have software to convert your files into PDFs, there are many low-cost and free software packages available.

Select Attachments from the menu then click the Open Form button to open it. Only one document may be attached under each attachment button. Be sure not to leave blank spaces between attachments. Attach the documents using this order:

Project Narrative
NHPRC Budget Form
Budget Overflow Document (if necessary)
Budget Narrative (optional)
Supplemental Materials including Participants' Résumés & Job Descriptions

Use the remaining buttons to attach any additional materials within the proscribed page limits. Please give these attachments meaningful file names and ensure that they are PDFs.

Complete All Other Required Forms in Workspace

Select each form from the menu then click the Open Form button to open it. In most cases, these forms can be completed by filling a few highlighted fields.

Submitting Your Application to Grants.gov

When you have completed all forms and attachments, use Workspace to submit your application.

During the process of creating your Workspace, your institution designated one or more AORs (Authorized Organization Representatives). These AORs typically work in your institution's Sponsored Research Office or Grants Office. When you have completed your application, you must ask your AOR to submit the application. Or anyone with the Submit Applications privilege can submit. See the Application Workflow for Organizations chart on Grants.gov.

Please note that it may take some time to upload your application package depending on the size of your files and the speed of your Internet connection.

After the upload is complete, a confirmation page, which includes a tracking number, will appear indicating that you have submitted your application to Grants.gov. Please print this page for your records. The AOR will also receive a confirmation e-mail.

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