State and National Partnership Projects
FY 2013 Grant Announcement (Initial):
State and National Archival Partnership (SNAP) Grants
The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), a part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), supports projects that promote the preservation and use of America's documentary heritage essential to understanding our democracy, history, and culture.
The following grant application information is for State and National Archival Partnership (SNAP) Grants.
Funding Opportunity Number: PARTNERSHIP-201309
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 89.003
NHPRC support begins no earlier than January 1, 2014.
Grant Program Description
The Commission awards grants to State Historical Records Advisory Boards to:
- Provide statewide archival services, including professional education, public information about records and archival programs, and other activities to implement state plans.
- Operate grant programs for eligible archives, manuscript repositories, and other organizations within a state.
- Collaborate on projects with other organizations to address common problems or shared opportunities within a state or among a consortium of state archives.
- Assess the health of archival and records programs, the conditions of records, and the challenges and opportunities facing historical records keepers and users; and to implement strategies and programs to address pressing archival issues.
- Hold meetings and public forums on statewide or national archival issues.
- Participate in national archival organizations.
Award Information
The NHPRC expects to award up to 56 grants in this program. The total amount allocated for this program is up to $750,000.
Applicants may apply for outright basic grants of up to $15,000 for 12-month projects or up to $30,000 for 24-month projects. Basic funding may be used for costs related to meetings of the state board, workshops and training, outreach and advocacy efforts, small regrant programs, and similar activities.
Applicants may also apply for supplemental grants of up to $35,000 for 12-month projects or up to $70,000 for 24-month projects. Supplemental funding may be used for costs related to regrants, traveling or student archivist programs, collaborative projects, and similar activities. Supplemental funds will be awarded competitively, provided funding is available.
Projects to reactivate a State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) and develop or revise the SHRAB's strategic plan should request a maximum of $5,000.
Eligibility
These SNAP grants are awarded only to SHRABs in each state, or to the state agency responsible for the SHRAB, ordinarily the state archives. Another state agency, or a non-profit organization, such as a foundation or university, acting on behalf of the designated state agency may apply. States also include the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and United States territories.
Applicant organizations must be registered in System for Award Management (SAM) prior to submitting an application, maintain SAM registration throughout the application and award process, and include a valid DUNS number in their application. Details on SAM registration and requesting a DUNS 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.
Ineligible applications will not be reviewed.
Cost Sharing
The Commission provides no more than 50 percent of project costs for SNAP Projects. Applicants must pledge a financial contribution to the total cost of a project. This required cost sharing can include both direct and indirect expenses, in-kind contributions, non-Federal third-party contributions, and any income earned directly by the project.
Application and Submission Information
Applicants should follow the instructions on how to fill out the online forms and apply electronically using the Application Instructions section on the NHPRC website.
The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) 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 (202-357-5022) no later than 3:00 Eastern Time on the day of the deadline with their valid Grants.gov Contact Center trouble-ticket number.
A complete application includes the Application for Federal Assistance (Standard Form 424), Assurances - Non-Construction Programs (Standard Form 424B), a Project Narrative, Summary, Supplementary Materials, and Budget. Applications lacking these items are ineligible and will not be reviewed. In order to ensure eligibility, applicants should first review the rules and regulations governing NHPRC grants under the Administering an NHPRC Grant section.
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 with standard margins. Please organize your narrative in these sections:
- Describe the scope of the project. Is it a statewide planning effort, a regrant project, another type of statewide assistance or collaboration (such as
education or technical assistance), or some combination of these? Describe each of these components in sufficient detail to give a clear picture of the project's
purposes. Provide justification for each component of your project. If continuing an activity (i.e. distributing an Archives Month poster, offering workshops, awarding
regrants), explain how this activity has benefited your state in the past and why it should be continued. If proposing a new activity, explain how it was determined to
be a priority for the board and how it will benefit records programs in your state.
When adequate funding is not available to fund SNAP grant requests in their entirety, the Commission will focus its funding on those activities and programs that are each board's top priorities. Provide a ranked list of the board's priorities (see Supplementary Materials below), a clear explanation of the costs associated with each activity, and an explanation of how your top priorities were determined.
Briefly summarize the state's strategic plan. Is it current? Has the State Board recently reaffirmed the current plan? Explain how the project will further the goals and objectives in the State Board's strategic plan. Summarize the activities that have taken place during your current and/or recently completed SNAP grants and state whether these activities were successfully completed. Discuss the overall scope of work and your goals. Explain your organization's relationship to the SHRAB. If your organization is not a state agency, describe your relationship and why it is necessary for a third party to represent the state. Include letters of support from the leaders of the agency you represent.
If applying for supplemental funds for regrants or collaborative projects, make sure these additional activities represent a discrete component of your project. Make it clear that you can accomplish these activities independent of the basic project you have outlined or as an extension of the basic project. Explain how the supplemental request promotes the long-term success of the State Partnerships program and leverages resources. Also explain, in a budget narrative, the costs associated with the supplemental portion of the application and note each supplemental item on the budget form. The Commission looks most favorably upon proposals that provide some level of cash match for regrant funds.
Provide evidence of preliminary planning. Outline each stage of the plan of work and clarify complex work plans with a time chart identifying anticipated activities. Please include in your supplementary materials a summary of the State Board's plan and the progress made on its objectives. What are the particular objectives that will be addressed? What board members and others will do the work? How will they proceed?
The Commission supports projects that adhere to generally accepted professional standards and procedures and build on previous board projects. Has your state board or another state board undertaken similar work before? Will you be adapting or implementing work already successfully undertaken by another state board or group? How will you share the results both within your state and with other state boards and the archival profession?
If your project includes regrants, address how you will meet grants management requirements including the mechanics of awarding funding, monitoring progress of subgrantees through oversight and reports, providing assistance during regrants, receiving and evaluating final reports, and assuring necessary audits.
Describe the products you plan to produce such as brochures, websites, training materials, etc., or in the case of regrants, the number and kind of awards you expect to make.
Provide a narrative explanation of the skills and qualifications of the staff named in the project budget. Emphasize those factors that will ensure the success of the project. In your supplementary materials, provide résumés of not more than two pages per person for all staff named in the project budget and job descriptions for people to be hired.
- List four to six quantifiable objectives in the proposal by which the project can be evaluated. Include specific performance measures required of any regrant recipients.
Project Summary
The Project Summary should be no more than 3 double-spaced pages in 12-pt type with standard margins, and it must include these sections:
- Summary of Plan of Work for the Grant Period
- Methods
- Products and Publications to be completed during the Grant Period
- Names, Titles, Institutions, Phone Numbers, and E-Mail Addresses of the Project Director and Key Personnel
Please ensure that the project director listed on this summary is also the contact person listed in Section 8 (f), of the SF 424. If your institution requires a different contact person, please explain in one sentence.
- Performance Objectives
Supplementary Materials
Please attach up to 20 pages of Supplementary Materials to your Narrative, such as:
- A priority ranking of the activities outlined in the proposal with associated costs
- A summary of the board's plan
- The board roster
- Résumés of named staff members (no more than 2 pages each)
- For projects requesting Supplemental Funds, a project timeline and statements of commitment by any potential partners
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. Provide specific budget figures, rounding to the nearest dollar.
Applicants will be asked to compute the project costs to be charged to grant funds as well as those that will be supported by the applicant through cost sharing, which includes both direct and indirect expenses, in-kind contributions, non-Federal third-party contributions, and any income earned directly by the project.
If the project expects program income, it should be allocated among specific budget categories on the cost-sharing column of the project budget. The total amount of expected program income should be reported on page 13 of the NHPRC budget form under "Project Funding for Entire Grant Period." The same amount should appear on the Application for Federal Assistance, SF424, item 18f. Please use the narrative budget supplement to explain the calculation of the expected income and its allocation.
All of the items listed, whether supported by grant funds or cost-sharing contributions, must be reasonable and necessary to accomplish project objectives, allowable in terms of the applicable federal cost principles, auditable, and incurred during the grant period. Applicants should review the appropriate Office of Management and Budget circulars on cost principles.
Charges to the project for items such as salaries, fringe benefits, travel, and contractual services must conform to the written policies and established practices of the applicant organization. In addition, successful applicants will be required to certify that they have adequate accounting and timekeeping procedures to meet the Federal requirements.
Budget Categories
In preparing the budget, please follow the suggestions below in each of the categories:
Salaries: List each staff position and the full salary to be charged to the project and show the percentage of time each staff member will devote to the project. Indicate which positions are to be filled for the proposed project and which personnel are already on the staff of the applicant institution. Grant funds may be used to pay the salaries of only those individuals actually working on the project. You may count the time provided to the project by advisory board members.
Fringe Benefits: If you use a daily rate or honoraria, no separate benefits should be included.
Consultant Fees: Include payments for consultant services and honoraria. Include consultant travel expenses in the "Travel" category.
Travel: Please note that the NHPRC does not fund staff travel to professional meetings unless the travel is essential to accomplish the goals of the project.
Supplies and Materials: Justify the cost of specialized materials and supplies in a supplemental budget narrative.
Services: Include the cost of duplication and printing, long-distance telephone, equipment leasing, postage, contracts with third parties, and other services that you are not including under other budget categories or as indirect-cost expenses.
Other Costs: 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 and file cabinets, but we may allow for the purchase of archival equipment, such as shelving units, and technical equipment, such as computers and peripherals, essential for a project. Include technical specifications for equipment over $5,000 in a supplemental budget narrative.
Submission Dates and Times
- Draft (optional) Deadline: July 1, 2013
- Final Deadline: September 5, 2013
Applications must be submitted electronically by midnight Eastern Time on September 5, 2013.
The Commission considers the application in November 2010. NHPRC support begins no earlier than January 1, 2014.
Deadline Policy: Given that technical or administrative difficulties with Grants.gov may periodically delay the timely submission or receipt of applications, the Commission staff will make provisions for the receipt of such applications past the established deadline. Under these circumstances, applicants with technical or administrative issues related to Grants.gov must contact NHPRC staff as soon as possible, but no later than by 3:00 PM Eastern Time on the published application deadline. Applications that fail to meet deadlines for reasons other than those noted will not be considered for funding.
Application Review Information
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:
- The ability of the project to assist in meeting the need for archival preservation, training, education, and access in a state or among states. (40 percent)
- The likelihood that the project's activities will increase public access to, and use of, the nation's historical documents held in a state or among states. (30 percent)
- The ability to complete the project's objectives based on the qualifications of the staff, the inclusion of appropriate work plans including professional development, and the reasonableness of the budget (including cost share). (15 percent)
- Effectiveness of the dissemination plans for the project's results. (15 percent)
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.
Your proposal will be reviewed by:
- NHPRC Staff
NHPRC staff evaluates the proposal and contacts the project director if there are any questions. Staff makes overall recommendations to the Commission and the Archivist based on the appropriateness of the project in meeting the Commission's goals and the SHRAB's strategic goals; a record of successful performance, on time reporting, and fiduciary responsibility. - The Commission
After reviewing proposals, Commission members deliberate and make funding recommendations to the Archivist of the United States who, as Commission Chairman, has final statutory authority and selects award recipients. Throughout this process, all members of the Commission and its staff follow conflict-of-interest rules to assure fair and equal treatment of every application.
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, priorities, 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.
Agency Contact
Before beginning the process, applicants are encouraged to contact Daniel Stokes, Director for State Programs, (202) 357-5487 or daniel.stokes@nara.gov, at the NHPRC who may:
- Advise the applicant about the review process;
- Answer questions about what activities are eligible for support;
- Supply samples of successful applications;
- Read and comment on a preliminary draft. Applicants should submit a draft at least 2 months before the deadline.
Grant Administration
For more information on how to comply with Federal regulations, see our Administering a Grant section.
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