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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:

All institutions applying for an NHPRC grant should apply via Grants.gov, the government-wide grants portal. 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.

Registering on Grant.gov

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

In order to apply through Grants.gov, the applicant organization must first have or obtain a valid Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) 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 before your registration will be activated. Read the SAM update and FAQs to learn more about this process change. Organizations must maintain active SAM registration with current information at all times during which they have an active federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a federal agency. You must therefore review and update the information in your organization’s Entity record at least annually after the initial registration, and more frequently if required by changes in your organization’s information. You can update your organization’s Entity record on the SAM site .

 Applicant organizations with a valid DUNS number and an active SAM registration must then register (or verify their registration) with Grants.gov. If you have problems registering with Grants.gov, contact the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726 or email support@grants.gov. NHPRC strongly recommends that applicants register or update their registrations in SAM at least six weeks before the application deadline, and in Grants.gov at least two weeks before the application deadline.

 

Download the Application Package and NHPRC Budget Form

You may download the application package from Grants.gov at any time after you install the Adobe Reader. (You do not have to wait for the registration process to be complete.) A link from the NHPRC Grant Opportunity announcement will take you directly to the page from which you may download the appropriate application. You must use the application package associated with the grant announcement under which you are applying.

Save the application package to your computer's hard drive or network. You do not have to be online to work on it. You can save, open and edit, and share with others as you draft your application.

You must also download and complete the NHPRC Budget Form (located at http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/apply/budget.pdf). After saving a copy of this form to your local computer or network, you will be able save and edit your entries.

If you require an accessible version of the Budget form, please contact the Grants Workflow and Information Coordinator at 202-357-5022.

You can save your application package at any time by clicking the "Save" button at the top of your screen.

Tip:   If you choose to save your application before you have completed it, you may receive an error message indicating that your application is not valid if all forms have not been completed. Click "OK" to save your work and complete the package at a later time.

Caution:   If you fail to save before closing the Adobe Reader software, or if you click your browser's Back button, you will lose your changes.

The application package contains mandatory forms that you must complete in order to submit your application:

In addition, one Optional Document (SF-LLL) is required if your organization engages in Lobbying Activities.

 

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.

  1. 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.

  2. Applicant Information:   In Section 8, please supply the name of the applicant organization, address, employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), and DUNS number of the applicant.

    All institutions applying to federal grant programs are required to provide a DUNS number, issued by Dun & Bradstreet, as part of their application. Project directors should contact their institution's grant administrator or chief financial officer to obtain their institution's DUNS number. Federal grant applicants can obtain a DUNS number free of charge by calling 1-866-705-5711.

    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.

  3. 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.
     
  4. 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.
     
  5. 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.
     
  6. 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.

 

How to Prepare Your Project Budget

 

Download the official NHPRC Budget Form. Save a copy of the form to your local hard drive or network.

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.

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.

  1. 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.
     
  2. Fringe Benefits: Fringe benefits may include contributions for Social Security, employee insurance, pension plans, etc. Fringe benefits may be claimed only on the portion of Salaries and Wages identified for this project.
     
  3. Consultant Fees: Explain the method of cost computation for Consultant Fees in your Budget Narrative.
     
  4. 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.
     
  5. 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.
     
  6. Services: Include the cost of duplication and printing, long-distance telephone, equipment leasing, postage, contracts with third parties, and other services.
     
  7. 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.
     
  8. Total Project Costs: These amounts will total automatically.
     
  9. 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.
     
  10. 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 and Submit Attachments

Following the instructions in the Grant Opportunity announcement to prepare your attachments.

Your attachments must be in Portable Document Format (.pdf). We cannot accept attachments in their original 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:

  1. Project Summary
  2. NHPRC Budget Form
  3. Budget Overflow Document (if necessary)
  4. Budget Narrative (optional)
  5. Project Narrative
  6. 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

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.

 

Uploading Your Application to Grants.gov

When you have completed all forms, use the right-facing arrow to move each of them to the "Submission" columns. Once they have been moved over, the "Save and Submit" button will activate. You are now ready to upload your application package to Grants.gov.

During the registration process, 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, using the special username and password that was assigned to him or her during the registration process.

To submit your application, your computer must have an active connection to the Internet. To begin the submission process, click the "submit" button. A page will appear asking the AOR to sign and submit your application. At this point, your AOR will enter his or her username and password. When the AOR clicks the "sign and submit application" button, your application package will be uploaded to 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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