MHC
We the People Grant Awards - Sept. 30, 2004
MHC
We the People Grant Awards - Nov. 11, 2005
MHC
We the People Grant Awards - June 14, 2006
MHC
We the People Grant Awards - Nov. 15, 2006
"We
Made Michigan ... We the People"
The Michigan Humanities Council 's We the People program for 2007 has
yet to be announced.
NEH
We the People Programs
Draft proposals:
Program staff recommend that draft proposals be submitted six weeks before
the deadline. Time restraints may prevent staff from reviewing draft proposals
submitted after that date.
NEH We the
People Challenge Grant Website:
http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/wtpchallenge.html
Questions?: Contact NEH's Office of Challenge Grants at 202-606-8309 or
e-mail challenge@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired
applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.
Type of award:
Successful applicants will be offered a matching grant. Recipients must
raise three times the amount of federal funds offered.
As part of its We the People initiative, NEH invites proposals for challenge
grants designed to help institutions and organizations secure long-term
improvements in and support for humanities activities that explore significant
themes and events in American history, thereby advancing knowledge of
the founding principles of the United States in their full historical
and institutional context.
Grants may
be used to support long-term costs such as construction and renovation,
purchase of equipment, acquisitions, and conservation of collections.
Grants may also be used to establish or enhance endowments that generate
expendable earnings for program activities.
Because of the matching requirements, 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, public
television and radio stations, scholarly associations, state humanities
councils, and other nonprofit entities. Programs that involve the collaboration
of multiple institutions are eligible, as well, but one institution must
serve as the lead agent and formal applicant of record.
Activities
supported
Both federal and nonfederal funds must provide long-term benefits to the
humanities. We the People challenge grant funds should not merely replace
funds already being expended on the humanities, but instead should reflect
careful strategic planning to improve and strengthen the institution's
activities in and commitment to the teaching, studying, and understanding
of the principles underlying our nation's history, institutions, and culture.
Challenge grants most commonly augment or establish endowments that support
humanities activities in education, public programming, scholarly research,
and preservation. Institutions may use the income from invested funds
to meet ongoing humanities-related costs. Examples include:
• faculty and staff positions,
• fellowships,
• lecture or exhibition series,
• visiting scholars or consultants,
• publishing subventions,
• maintenance of facilities,
• faculty and staff development,
• acquisitions, and
• preservation/conservation programs.
Where clearly
related to improvements in the humanities, direct expenditures from challenge
grant awards are allowable. Such expenditures, however, must be for items
that have inherent longevity such as:
• materials that enhance library or museum collections,
• construction or renovation of facilities,
• equipment, and
• fund-raising costs (totaling no more than ten percent of grant
funds).
Direct grant
funds may also be used for bridging support, where the challenge grant
provides for endowment income to meet the same expenses in the future.
Bridging funds up to the equivalent amount of projected endowment income
may be used to cover expenses during the grant period, while the endowment
is being established.
Activities
not supported
We the People challenge grant funds, federal or nonfederal, may not be
used for:
• direct expenditures for operations or programs;
• recovery of indirect costs; or
• support for short-term projects eligible for grants from other
NEH programs.
Regular NEH
challenge grants help institutions and organizations secure long-term
improvements in and support for their humanities programs and resources.
These grants can support activities in all disciplines of the humanities,
including American history and related fields. Applicants who are uncertain
whether their programs fit best with NEH's We the People challenge grants
or regular challenge grants should consult with program staff to determine
the appropriate deadline for their applications. For more information
about the regular NEH challenge grants program, which has deadlines of
May 1 and November 1, see the guidelines.
Rediscovering
Afghanistan
NEH invites applications for projects that focus on Afghanistan's history
and culture. The special initiative is designed to promote research, education,
and public programs about Afghanistan and to encourage United States institutions
to assist Afghanistan in efforts to preserve and document its cultural
resources. Learn more about the initiative.
The requested
grant amount should be appropriate to the humanities needs and the fund-raising
capacity of the institution. The federal portions of NEH We the People
challenge grants will likely range between $300,000 and $1,000,000.
Fund-raising
We the People challenge grants assist institutions in developing sources
of support for humanities programs, and fund-raising is an integral part
of the long-term planning required by the program. Persons raising the
funds and those who will be directly responsible for the humanities programs
should be fully involved in the planning from the outset. Grant recipients
must raise, from nonfederal donors, three times the amount of federal
funds offered.
Release of
federal funds
The federal portion of a challenge grant is offered over three years of
funding, but the grantee may take up to 56 months to raise matching funds.
Federal funds are released as fund-raising proceeds, according to a formula
that allows donations from as early as five months prior to the application
deadline and as late as one year beyond the last-released federal funds.
The first year's allocation will be released as matched one-to-one. Allocations
for the second and third years will be released as matched one-to-one
but only after the remaining prior-year's match is completed. The following
chart illustrates a typical match and release schedule:
Eligibility of gifts
To be eligible for matching, gifts may not derive from the grantee institution
itself, and it is inappropriate for an institution to shift internal budgets
or reallocate internal funds for matching purposes. All matching pledges
and gifts must be new, that is, given (and pledges fulfilled) during the
We the People challenge grant period. Unrestricted gifts donated by third-parties
without limitations on their use may be eligible for matching, but the
total of such unrestricted gifts may not exceed the federal portion of
the challenge grant. Restricted gifts must be in response to or in anticipation
of the challenge grant. Donors must be aware that their gifts will be
used to match an NEH challenge grant and that their gifts will be used
to support the purposes outlined in the approved challenge grant application.
Some types of gifts, such as real estate, earned income, or in-kind gifts
are subject to special limitations. Deferred gifts, bequests, and discounts
on contracted goods and services are not eligible for matching.
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