Funding Opportunity Number: 20150505-CH
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Category of Funding Activity: Humanities (see "Cultural Affairs" in CFDA)
Eligible Applicants: State governments | County governments | City or township governments | Special district governments | Public and State controlled institutions of higher education | Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized) | Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education | Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education | Private institutions of higher education
Agency Name: NEH
Closing Date: 2015-05-05
Award Ceiling: $500,000

Description: The mission of the NEH Office of Challenge Grants is to advance knowledge and understanding in the humanities by strengthening the institutional base of humanities teaching, scholarly research, public programming, and other humanities activities.  Challenge grants are capacity-building grants, intended to support significant humanities activities of high intellectual quality and to help institutions secure long-term support for their humanities programs.
Through these grants many organizations and institutions have been able to increase their humanities capacity and secure the permanent support of an endowment.  Grants may be used to establish or enhance endowments or spend-down funds that generate expendable earnings to support and enhance ongoing program activities.  Challenge grants may also provide capital directly supporting the procurement of long-lasting objects, such as acquisitions for archives and collections, the purchase of equipment, and the construction or renovation of facilities needed for humanities activities.  Funds spent directly must be shown to bring long-term benefits to the institution and to the humanities more broadly.  Grantee institutions may also expend up to 10 percent of total grant funds (federal funds plus matching funds) to defray costs of fundraising to meet the NEH challenge.  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 humanities entities.
Link: www.grants.gov/view-opportunity.html?opp…

Funding Opportunity Number: 20150505-PE
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Category of Funding Activity: Humanities (see "Cultural Affairs" in CFDA)
Eligible Applicants: State governments | County governments | City or township governments | Special district governments | Public and State controlled institutions of higher education | Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized) | Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education | Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education | Private institutions of higher education
Agency Name: NEH
Closing Date: 2015-05-05
Award Ceiling: $350,000

Description: The Preservation and Access Education and Training program is central to NEH's efforts to preserve and establish access to cultural heritage collections.  Thousands of libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations across the country maintain important collections of books and manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings and moving images, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, art and material culture collections, electronic records, and digital objects.  The challenge of preserving and making accessible such large and diverse holdings is enormous, and the need for knowledgeable staff is significant and ongoing.
Preservation and Access Education and Training grants are awarded to organizations that offer national or regional (multistate) education and training programs.  Grants aim to help the staff of cultural institutions, large and small, obtain the knowledge and skills needed to serve as effective stewards of humanities collections.  Grants also support educational programs that prepare the next generation of conservators and preservation professionals, as well as projects that introduce the staff of cultural institutions to new information and advances in preservation and access practices.
Link: www.grants.gov/view-opportunity.html?opp…