Call for Proposals: NEH Chair’s Grants, 160th Anniversary of Juneteenth

Published October 25, 2024

Funding Opportunity Number: Will be available on or before November 15, 2024

Link to Application Package: Will be available on or before November 15, 2024

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.164

Application Deadline: January 15, 2025, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

Anticipated Award Announcement: April 2025

Anticipated FY 2025 Funding: Approximately $1,650,000

Estimated Number and Type of Awards: Approximately 55 grants

Award Amounts: Up to $30,000

Cost Sharing/Match Required: No

Period of Performance: June 1, 2025, to August 31, 2025

Eligible Applicants:

nonprofit organizations recognized as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
accredited institutions of higher education (public or nonprofit)
state and local governments and their agencies
federally recognized Native American Tribal governments

See C. Eligibility Information in the Notice of Funding Opportunity for additional information.

Program purpose

In celebration of the 160th anniversary of Juneteenth, the NEH Chair invites Chair’s Grant requests of up to $30,000 to support free Juneteenth Open House events exploring African American history and culture.

In response to this call, your request should propose public programs for a general audience exploring the theme of freedom and/or examining aspects of the progress for and challenges to African American freedom throughout American history. Events must be free to the public and take place between Friday, June 13 and Sunday, July 6, 2025 (you may choose to offer events on more than one day during this period). NEH funding may be used only for these activities related to Juneteenth or African American history (you may offer a single activity or a combination):

Docent-led tours – Docents will provide structured tours of museum exhibitions, historic sites, cities, or neighborhoods. At least five free opportunities to attend a tour must be available.
Lecture series – Schedule a minimum of three lectures or panel discussion programs that include the participation of at least one scholar from a humanities discipline in an accessible setting appropriate for the general public.
Literary discussions – Design a minimum of three events, such as book club style discussions, panel presentations, or author readings that use fiction or non-fiction books, a selection of poems, or a group of essays to anchor conversations . Experienced dialogue facilitators or scholars from humanities disciplines must be included in each program.
Documentary film screenings & discussions– Host three or more events that include the screening of a full documentary film(s) or curated selections of a film(s) as the jumping off point for thematic discussions. Experienced dialogue facilitators or scholars from humanities disciplines must be included in each program.
Community archiving – Host an event or series of events inviting the public to share personal materials significant to their family and/or community history around a chosen theme. The event will provide opportunities to digitize their materials and collect information from each participant. Events must provide contributors with a free digital copy of their materials and, when appropriate, gain their permission to retain a digital copy for archival use. You may also include talks on genealogical research or local history, provide oral history collection stations where community members can interview each other and capture their stories using provided prompts, and create events where humanities experts such as scholars and curators share and interpret the digitized materials.
Living history – Produce first-person interpretation of historical figures or living history performances and interactive living history activities that are available to the public for at least eight hours and that include accompanying structured analytical interpretation. Storytelling, craft, music, and theatrical events without interpretation are not eligible.
Transcribe-a-thon – Host an event lasting one or more days in which community members learn how to transcribe archival materials and work on transcribing a focused selection of documents from your collection to make them more accessible.
Expanding accessibility – Provide transportation and free admission to your site and activities related to Juneteenth for underserved groups, such as residents of a group home, seniors from a local retirement community, or summer camps for low-income youth. You may also apply this support to existing programs that are responsive to the theme of this call provided those programs are not typically offered for free and the award is used to open access to those programs to the public for free on at least four days between Friday, June 13 and Sunday, July 6, 2025.

Program Outputs and Outcomes

Outputs are the tangible products that result from an award. Outcomes describe the effect that a project will have. Outcomes may occur after the project concludes.

Possible outputs of a successful Juneteenth award may include one or more of the humanities activities listed above.

Possible outcomes for the American public:

Expansion of humanities-based programming focused on the meaning and history of Juneteenth and African American history and culture.
Greater awareness of the Juneteenth Federal holiday and increased Juneteenth programming.
Amplification of the history of African enslavement in the United States and the struggle for freedom.
Increased knowledge of the progress for and challenges to African American freedom throughout American history.

How to Apply

NEH will accept applications from Friday, November 15, 2024, through Wednesday, January 15, 2025, 11:59pm (eastern) via Grants.gov. The link to access the application package will become available on or before November 15.

Before applying, your organization must have active registrations with the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) and Grants.gov. It can take several weeks for each of these registrations to be processed, so start early. If your organization has previously registered with SAM.gov and Grants.gov, confirm that your registrations are still active, and allow time to reactivate them, if necessary.

Eligible applicants may submit only one proposal for a 160th Anniversary of Juneteenth Chair’s Grant.

NEH encourages collaborative applications involving multiple cultural organizations from the same community. This approach may expand the programs’ impact by offering a range of the above activities at a variety of sites. Partnerships may also help you leverage resources and expand your reach by introducing audiences from partner organizations to your site.

Application Components

Your application must include the following:

Narrative: (three to five single-spaced pages at 11 point or larger font with 1-inch margins) All proposals must:
- provide a project title and briefly propose events in 2-3 sentences;
- briefly explain the main theme, humanities ideas, and the significance of these ideas that would be introduced to audiences;
- describe the proposed public activities. Explain how these activities would connect to the themes and ideas. For example, if proposing book discussions, list the books you will include and explain how the analytical ideas they present connect to your chosen thematic focus. Describe your proposed presenters and their qualifications to address the topic. For tours, describe the content of the tour and the resources, such as sites and artifacts, that would be encountered;
- identify the project’s outputs and outcomes;
- provide a one-paragraph description of your organization’s mission and how this project would help advance your goals. (If you are working collaboratively with other organizations, provide a brief statement of their missions and the role of each organization in the partnership.)
Work Plan: (one to two single-spaced pages) Explain the timeline of activities to be completed over the period of performance June 1, 2025, to August 31, 2025.
Biographies of key personnel: (one to two single-spaced pages) Provide a one paragraph biography for the project director, other key members of the project team, and guest participants such as humanities scholars, media producers, curators, or community experts. Explain each individual’s qualifications to fulfill their responsibilities on the project. Do not submit CVs or resumes.
Grants.gov forms: The application package also includes Grants.gov forms that you will complete within Grants.gov Workspace: SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational; Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs; Project/Performance Site(s) Location Form; Research and Related Budget (accompanied by a budget justification). Refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity in the Grants.gov application package for complete information on completing these forms and submitting your application.

Allowable Budget Items

Allowable budget items include, but are not limited to:

salary for project team members; compensation of collaborators, consultants, and participant support costs;
materials and supplies; and
travel, lodging, and per diem costs for consultants.

Projects may include costs for equipment, but these costs cannot be greater than 1/3 of the total cost of the project. Projects also may include subawards, but these costs cannot be greater than 1/3 of the total cost of the project.

For unallowable activities, see section D6 in the Notice of Funding Opportunity included in the application package on Grants.gov. All costs must be reasonable, necessary to accomplish project objectives, allowable in terms of 2 CFR 200 Subpart E - Cost Principles, auditable, and incurred during the period of performance.

Cost sharing is not required.

Reporting Requirements

You must submit a Final Federal Financial Report (SF-425) and a Performance Report within 120 days after the period of performance ends.

Application Review

We have designed a simplified review process for this limited competition for NEH Chair’s Grants. NEH will review these applications based on eligibility, completeness, and responsiveness. The activities and budget will undergo a technical review.

The following criteria will be used to review applications under this notice:

Relationship to the humanities: How would the project explore humanities ideas related to Juneteenth and African American freedom?
Audience and institutional impact: In what ways would the project strengthen the applicant’s ability to provide quality humanities-grounded programming about Juneteenth and/or the history of African American freedom activities?
Project feasibility: How do the proposed formats and activities align with the project’s goals?
Personnel: What are the qualifications of personnel on the project team and collaborating organizations?
Institutional suitability: Does the organization have a history of humanities programming? Is the organization capable of managing a federal grant?

Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified in April 2025. By law, the Chair has the sole authority to make final funding decisions, and funding decisions are not appealable.

If selected, NEH will award the applicant a Chair’s Grant. See the Notice of Funding Opportunity included in the Grants.gov application package for complete application instructions, funding restrictions, and compliance requirements.

Agency Contacts

NEH staff will be happy to answer any questions and will be available for a phone or video consultation to further discuss this opportunity.

Division of Public Programs
National Endowment for the Humanities
400 Seventh Street, SW Washington, DC 20506