IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Electronic application through Grants.gov is MANDATORY

If you have already registered with Grants.gov, renew your registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR, www.ccr.gov) at Update or Renew Registration. Also verify your registration with Grants.gov and make sure it is current before you apply.

Any applicant that has not yet registered with Grants.gov must do so immediately. Registration is a one-time process that can take up to two weeks to complete. See the step-by-step instructions at Get Registered.

If you have problems with registration, call the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726, e-mail support@grants.gov, or consult the information posted on the Grants.gov Web site at Applicant Help. The Grants.gov Customer Service hours are 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday to Friday.

You do not need to complete or update your Grants.gov registration to download the application package and begin to prepare your material (see below). However, you will need your Grants.gov Username and Password that you obtain in the final step of the registration process to submit your application.

a. Legal Name: The name provided here must be the applicant's legal name as it appears in the current IRS 501(c)(3) status letter or in the official document that identifies the organization as a unit of state or local government, or as a federally recognized tribal community or tribe. (Do not use your organization's popular name, if different.)

If you are a parent organization that is applying on behalf of an eligible component, do not list the name of the component here. You will be asked for that information later.

b. Address:

Use Street 1 for your street address or post office box number, whichever is used for your U.S. Postal Service mailing address. Street 2 is not a required field and should be used only when a Suite or Room Number or other similar information is a necessary part of your address. Do not use Street 2 to give a second address for your organization.

In the Zip/Postal Code box, organizations in the United States should enter the full 9-digit zip code that was assigned by the U.S. Postal Service. If you do not know your full zip code, you may look it up at www.usps.com/zip4/.

d. Type of Applicant: Select the item that best characterizes your organization from the menu in the first drop down box. Additional choices are optional.

e. Employer/Taxpayer Identification Number (EIN/TIN): Enter the 9-digit number that was assigned by the Internal Revenue Service; do not use a Social Security Number.

f. Organizational DUNS: All organizational applicants for federal funds must have a DUNS number (www.duns.com), which is recognized as the universal standard for identifying organizations worldwide. The number that you enter here must agree with the number (either 9 or 13 digits) that you used with the CCR (Central Contractor Registry) as part of the Grants.gov registration. Otherwise, your application will not be validated by Grants.gov and will be rejected.

g. Congressional District: Enter the number of the Congressional District where the applicant organization is located. Use the following format: 2 character State Abbreviation-3 character District Number. For example, if your organization is located in the 5th Congressional District of California, enter "CA-005." If your state has a single At-Large Representative or your territory has a single Delegate, enter your 2 character state/territory abbreviation and "-000." If you need help determining your district, go to www.house.gov and use the "Find Your Representative" tool.

a. Project Title: Enter "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act".

b. Project Description: Note "Salary Support," or if you are an eligible designated local arts agency applying for a subgranting program, note "Subgranting Program."

c. Proposed Project Start Date/End Date: Enter the beginning and ending dates for your requested period of support. The Arts Endowment's support of a project may start on or after July 1, 2009. Generally, a grant period of up to one year is allowed.

Provide the requested information for the Project Director. Select a Prefix (e.g., Ms., Mr.) even though this is not a required field.

Provide contact information, including an e-mail address, that will be valid through August 2009.

Provide the requested information for the individual who should be contacted on all matters involving this application and the administration of any grant that may be awarded. For colleges and universities, this person is often a Sponsored Research, Sponsored Programs, or Contracts and Grants Officer. Select a Prefix even though this is not a required field.

In some organizations, particularly smaller ones, this individual may be the same as the Project Director. If this is the case, you may check the "Same as Project Director" box and not repeat information that you have already provided in Item 7. (If the Primary Contact/Grant Administrator is the same as the Authorizing Official, please complete all items under both 8 and 9 even though there will be some repetition.)

Enter the requested information for the AOR (Authorized Organization Representative) who will be submitting this application to Grants.gov. The AOR must have the legal authority to obligate your organization. By clicking the "I Agree" box at the top of Item 9, this individual will be certifying compliance with relevant federal requirements on your organization's behalf. (These requirements can be found in the "Assurance of Compliance" section.) The "Signature of Authorized Representative" and "Date Signed" boxes will be populated by Grants.gov upon submission of the application.

Legal Name: This item has been pre-populated with information that you provided on the Application for Federal Domestic Assistance/Short Organizational Form (SF-424).

Popular Name: If you use a popular name that is different from your legal name, note that in the space below the IRS name.

For this application, the applicant is serving as: Most applicants will choose "Not Applicable." If you are a parent organization that is applying on behalf of an eligible component, choose the "Parent of a Component" box and enter the name of the component in the space provided.

Total organizational operating expenses for the most recently completed fiscal year: Unaudited figures are acceptable. If you are a parent organization, provide this information for the component on whose behalf you are applying.

Project Field/Discipline: Choose the one discipline that is most relevant to your project. This selection will aid the Arts Endowment's application review.

• Artist Communities select Presenting and insert "(AC)" before your project title on the Application for Federal Domestic Assistance/Short Organizational Form (SF-424)
• Dance (including dance presentation)
• Design (including planning, urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, product design, and graphic design)
• Folk & Traditional Arts (including folk & traditional arts projects in any art form)
• Literature
• Local Arts Agencies (including projects in any discipline that are submitted by a local arts agency. Local arts agencies generally are referred to as arts councils, departments of cultural affairs, or arts commissions. While the majority are private entities, others are public municipal, county, or regional agencies that operate in cooperation with mayors and city managers. Local arts agencies generally make grant awards directly to both artists and arts organizations, present programming to the public, manage cultural facilities, provide services to artists and arts organizations, and facilitate community cultural planning. Statewide assemblies and cultural service organizations that work specifically with local arts agencies also are eligible. Projects may be for any type of constituent service.)
• Media Arts: Film/Radio/Television
• Museums (including projects in any discipline that are submitted by a museum)
• Music (including music presentation)
• Musical Theater
• Opera
• Presenting (projects that involve multiple arts disciplines including multidisciplinary performing arts presenting and other types of multidisciplinary activities)
• Theater (including theater presentation)
• Visual Arts

Choose your field/discipline carefully. In limited cases, Arts Endowment staff may transfer an application to a field/discipline other than the one that was selected by the applicant to ensure appropriate panel review.

Category: Select "Other" from the drop-down box.

Intended Outcome: The Arts Endowment has identified the following outcome that it plans to achieve through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Organizations enhance their ability to realize their artistic and public service goals. Select this outcome. Do NOT select any other.

Amount Requested: Organizations should request a grant of either $25,000 or $50,000. However, eligible designated local arts agencies applying for subgranting programs may request a grant of $100,000 or $250,000.

Total Match for this Project: These grants are nonmatching; enter "0."

Total Project Costs: This figure will autocalculate. Please double check to make certain that it agrees with Item 6 under Expenses of your Project Budget form.

To this button, attach your Application Narrative. The file name should indicate the name of your organization or a recognizable acronym followed by "AppNarrative.pdf" (e.g., "ABCArtsOrgAppNarrative.pdf").

Provide a one-page narrative that provides a succinct description of your request in accordance with the instructions below. Your narrative will be reviewed in connection with the "Review Criteria."

• Organizational Background: Provide a two or three sentence statement about your organization. Summarize its mission/purpose and characterize the community/region/audience it serves.

• Key statistics, as relevant: Provide the following information in the format shown here:

Your organization's total operating budget from most recently completed fiscal year which ended _______	Total number of current paid employees	Number of jobs in this request	Salary (or range thereof) of job(s) affected by this request	Fees to artists/ contractual personnel (or range thereof) included in this request

 

• Your proposed project, as relevant:

  1. Note the job position(s) for which you are seeking support. Provide job title, description, salary, and the number of weeks of employment. Discuss the significance of this position to the mission and core work of your organization. Describe the effect on your organization if this position were curtailed or eliminated. Is this position currently filled?

  2. Describe the artists and/or contractual personnel to whom you propose to pay fees. Describe the project for which these individuals would be paid, the position(s) and fees for these individuals, and the number of weeks of employment. Discuss the significance of this project to the mission and core work of your organization. Describe the effect on your organization if this project were curtailed or eliminated.

If any of these jobs is included in a current NEA application or award, include the applicable application or award number. See the example under "Applicant Eligibility."

If you are an eligible designated local arts agency applying for a subgranting program, to this button, attach your Subgranting Information. The file name should indicate the name of your organization or a recognizable acronym followed by "Subgrant.pdf."

Provide up to a two-page narrative that addresses the following.

1. Organizational Background: Provide a two or three sentence statement about your organization. Summarize its mission/purpose and characterize the community/region/audience it serves. Provide your organization's total operating budget for the most recently completed fiscal year, and indicate your organization's fiscal year end date. (NOTE: If you are also submitting Attachment 1, do not repeat this information as part of Attachment 2.)

2. Describe your proposed subgranting program, how it is consistent with the NEA's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act program, and how it will directly impact salary support and/or fees for artists and contractual personnel among a broad constituency that you serve. Discuss:

   • Your proposed applicant pool. Detail the geographic range, the number of applicants that you anticipate, and the artistic disciplines represented. Provide a representative list of organizational names and the range of budget sizes.

   • Your plans for making this applicant pool aware of the funding opportunity that you will provide.

   • Where appropriate, efforts to reach organizations that serve underserved populations.

   • Your plans for receiving and reviewing requests for support. Describe the review criteria that you will use as well as the process itself.

3. The appropriateness of this project to the mission and core work of your own organization.

4. The impact of administering this subgranting program on your own organization and the staff or contractual resources that it will require.

To this button, attach the Project Budget form, Pages 1 and 2. The file name should indicate the name of your organization or a recognizable acronym followed by "ProjectBudget.pdf." (Your own project budget may not be submitted in lieu of this required form.)

Your Total Project Costs must equal your Amount Requested. For example, if you request $50,000, under "EXPENSES" you should list a total of $50,000 in the "DIRECT COSTS: Salaries and wages" and/or the "DIRECT COSTS: Other expenses" sections.

   Example:

   DIRECT COSTS: Salaries and wages:

   DIRECT COSTS: Other expenses:

REMINDER: Salaries, wages, fringe benefits, and fees that are incurred in connection with fund raising (e.g., development staff) are not allowable project expenses; do not include them in your budget.

Your budget items must be limited to:

• Salaries, wages, and fringe benefits for personnel, administrative and artistic, who are paid on a salary basis. List each staff position separately. Do not combine positions or use salary ranges.

• Fees for artists and contractual personnel. List each position separately. Do not combine positions or use salary ranges.

• For eligible designated local arts agencies requesting support for subgranting, fees for subgrants and the subgranting program. Priority will be given to cost-effective programs that maximize the amount of funds distributed. Reminder: Up to $50,000 of the NEA grant funds may be used for a designated local arts agency's own jobs and/or the administration of subgranting programs.

Indirect costs are not eligible for this program; do not include them.