Update 12/6 The earliest Announcement of Grant Award or Rejection will take place in early January 2022. Thank you for your patience. Update 9/17 We are continuing to monitor news about the recovery efforts related to severe weather events such as Hurricane Ida and the wildfires in California and Nevada. We are thinking of everyone who has been impacted and hope you are safe. For organizations that have experienced weather-related difficulties completing Part 2 of the American Rescue Plan Grants to Organizations (Group M-Z) program, we previously extended the Part 2 application deadline until September 19, 2021 at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time. The Applicant Portal will close for all applicants on this date and time. If you are still unable to submit your application by the September 19th deadline because of weather-related difficulties you must contact us to request a further extension. Contact: weatheremergency@arts.gov or 202-682-5046. Please be sure to include your name, the legal name of your organization, and your contact information. If you are granted an extension, NEA staff will notify you and reopen your application in the Applicant Portal. The new, final Part 2 application deadline will be November 4, 2021 at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Applications will not be accepted after this date and time. NOTE: These applicants will not receive notification of grant funding or rejection until early April 2022 and the earliest start date for the period of performance will be May 1, 2022 instead of January 1, 2022. Again, we are thinking of everyone who has been impacted and we hope you are finding a path to recovery.

Because we anticipate a large number of applications for this funding opportunity, applications will be submitted in two separate groups: one for organizations with legal names beginning with A-L versus one for organizations with legal names beginning with M-Z. The different submission windows will not affect the timing of grant review, or your organization’s ability to receive a grant.

To determine which group applies to you, use your organization’s legal name as it appears in the current IRS 501(c)(3) status letter or in the official document that identifies your organization as a unit of state or local government, or as a federally recognized tribal community. (Do not use your organization’s popular name, if different.)

If you are a parent organization that is applying on behalf of an eligible independent component, do not use the name of the independent component here.

Both the A-L group and the M-Z group will have the same Part 1 Grants.gov deadline.

Part 2 deadlines for the A-L group and the M-Z group will be different (see below).

GROUP A-L:

GROUP A-L:                   Part 1 - Submit to Grants.gov	August 12, 2021 at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time
Prepare application material so that it’s ready to upload when the Applicant Portal opens
GROUP A-L Part 2 - Submit to the Applicant Portal	August 19-25, 2021 at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time
Earliest Announcement of Grant Award or Rejection	December 2021
Earliest Start Date for Proposed Period of Performance	January 1, 2022

GROUP M-Z:

GROUP M-Z                   Part 1 - Submit to Grants.gov	August 12, 2021 at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time
Prepare application material so that it’s ready to upload when the Applicant Portal opens
GROUP M-Z Part 2 - Submit to the Applicant Portal	August 27-September 2, 2021 at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time
Earliest Announcement of Grant Award or Rejection	December 2021
Earliest Start Date for Proposed Period of Performance	January 1, 2022

Tips:

• If your organization’s legal name begins with “The…” use the first letter of the main word to determine your group. For example: “The ABC Theater” would be in Group A-L, and “The XYZ Theater” would be in Group M-Z.

Select Group A-L if:

• Your organization’s legal name begins with “Friends of…”
• You are applying on behalf of a city, as the application will be categorized under “City of…”
• Your organization’s legal name begins with a digit, such as “987 Arts…”

Select Group M-Z if:

• Your organization is a college or university applying under “Trustees of…” or “Regents of…”

Contact us if you are unsure which group to select.

Before submitting to Grants.gov, your organization must register or renew/verify its registration with both Grants.gov and the System for Award Management (SAM). These registrations can take several weeks.

NOTE: To help reduce burden, there will be a 180-day extension for existing SAM registrations that have expiration dates ranging between April 1, 2021, and September 30, 2021. This effort is intended as relief for those otherwise required to re-register during that timeframe. This does not impact entities registering with SAM for the first time. All organizations approved for funding must have an active SAM registration in order to receive an award.

If your organization does not have a SAM registration and you are thinking of applying for Rescue Plan funds, start the SAM registration process as soon as possible.   

See “How to Apply” for more information on SAM and Grants.gov requirements.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated at an average of 8 hours per response. This includes the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. We welcome any suggestions that you might have on improving the guidelines and making them as easy to use as possible. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to: webmgr@arts.gov, attention: Reporting Burden. Note: Applicants are not required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently valid U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

June 2021

OMB No. 3135-0143 Expires 12/31/2021

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