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 M-Z:

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.

IMPORTANT: 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. 

Complete Steps 1-5

Grants.gov and SAM.gov registrations

• All applicants must have a DUNS number (www.dnb.com) and be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM, www.sam.gov) at the time of application. The SAM registration must be current at the time a grant is made and throughout the life of the award. See Changes Coming for Federal Organizational Applicants and Awardees for important information.
• Registration/renewal with SAM.gov and Grants.gov are completely free.
• 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. 
• If your organization is currently registered with SAM, but that registration is not currently active, you may still apply. Grants.gov will not validate your registration to confirm that it is current at the time of application. In the meantime, renew your registration as soon as possible because we still check your SAM and DUNS registrations before making a grant award.
• When registering/renewing your SAM account, be sure to select “Yes” when completing the “Representations & Certifications” section. All awardees are required to have these representations & certifications in order to receive an award.
• Go to Grants.gov's Organization Registration to create a new organization registration.
• Grants.gov Contact Center: Call 1-800-518-4726, email; support@grants.gov, or consult the information posted on the Grants.gov website at Support. The Grants.gov Contact Center is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. NOTE: You must contact Grants.gov for help. Grants.gov is not an Arts Endowment system and is outside of our control.
• SAM Federal Service Desk: Call 1-866-606-8220 or see the information posted on the SAM website at SAM Help. NOTE: You must contact SAM.gov for help. SAM.gov is not an Arts Endowment system and is outside of our control.
• Registration in SAM.gov and Grants.gov can take several weeks. Exceptions to the deadline will be considered only for registration or renewal issues that are the result of failures on the part of DUNS, SAM, Grants.gov, or NEA systems as determined by the Arts Endowment.

Go to the Grant Opportunity Package:

Access the Grant Opportunity Package with the Application for Federal Domestic Assistance/Short Organizational Form on Grants.gov by clicking on the link below:

IMPORTANT: To access the correct Grant Opportunity Package, select the funding opportunity number link that corresponds with the first letter of your organization’s legal name.

See How to Apply or contact us if you are not sure which link to select.

OR

When you go to Grants.gov through the link above, the Grants.gov “View Grant Opportunity” screen will open. Choose “Apply” in the “Action” area. On the next screen, choose “Apply” again. You will be prompted to enter your Grants.gov Username and Password.

You will apply using a Grants.gov Workspace. To create a Workspace, look for the “Application Filing Name” field above the “Create Workspace” button (you must be logged in as the Authorized Organization Representative or AOR to be able to see this button and create the Workspace). Enter the legal name of your organization, click the “Create Workspace” button, and follow the screens from there. Learn more about using Grants.gov’s Workspace.

See detailed instructions on how to complete and submit the required forms through Workspace.

You will submit the substantial part of your application during Part 2. Please remember, the dates when the Applicant Portal will be available for you to complete Part 2 are different for Group A-L versus Group M-Z.

Fill out the Application for Federal Domestic Assistance/Short Organizational Form:

All asterisked (*) items and yellow fields on this form are required and must be completed before you will be able to submit the form. Do not type in all capital letters when completing the form. Enter information directly into the form. Do not copy from an old Application for Federal Domestic Assistance/Short Organizational Form or another document and paste into the form.

Due to restrictions from the Department of Homeland Security we are not able to send emails to alias addresses that forward to another email account. Do not enter this type of email address in this form.

1. Name of Federal Agency: Pre-populated.
2. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: Pre-populated.
3. Date Received: This will be filled automatically with the date that you submit your application; leave blank.
4. Funding Opportunity Number: Pre-populated.
5. Applicant Information:

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 independent component, do not list the name of the independent component here. You will be asked for that information later.

b. Address: Use Street 1 for your organization’s physical street address. This address should agree with the address that you used with the SAM (System for Award Management). In addition, use Street 2 for your organization’s mailing address if it differs from the physical street address. 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, 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 SAM (System for Award Management) as part of the Grants.gov registration. Confirm your DUNS with SAM.gov before filling out this form.

g. Congressional District: Enter the number of the Congressional District where the applicant organization is located. The Congressional District that you enter here must agree with the Congressional District that you used with the SAM (System for Award Management) as part of the Grants.gov registration. 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.

6. Project Information:

a. Project Title: Enter “N/A.” Anything you enter here in Grants.gov will not be used in the review of your application.

b. Project Description: Enter “N/A.” Anything you enter here in Grants.gov will not be used in the review of your application.

c. Proposed Project Start Date/End Date: Enter the beginning and ending dates for your requested period of performance, i.e., the span of time necessary to plan, execute, and close out your proposal. The start date should be the first day of the month, and the end date should be the last day of the month. Our support of a project may start on or after January 1, 2022. Generally, a grant period of up to two years is allowed. Your budget should include only the costs incurred during the requested period of performance.

7. Project Director:

Provide the requested information for the Project Director.

Provide contact information, including an email address, that will be valid through the announcement date for your category.

8. Primary Contact/Grant Administrator:

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. For the Telephone number field, use the following format: 000-000-0000.

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, complete all items under both 8 and 9 even though there will be some repetition.)

9. Authorized Representative:

Enter the requested information for the AOR (Authorized Organization Representative) who is authorized to submit this application to Grants.gov. The AOR must have the legal authority to obligate your organization (e. g., be a senior member of the staff such as an Executive Director, Director of Development). See specific requirements for who can serve as an AOR for colleges and universities. Contractors, including grant writers or grant consultants, or administrative support staff cannot serve as an AOR.

NOTE: 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 of the Grants for Arts Projects guidelines.) The "Signature of Authorized Representative" and "Date Signed" boxes will be populated by Grants.gov upon submission of the application.

Submit your application to Grants.gov:

• To begin the submission process, log on to Grants.gov and go to the Forms tab on the Manage Workspace page. Click the “Sign and Submit” button, under the Forms tab.

• Be certain that you are satisfied with your Application for Federal Domestic Assistance/Short Organizational Form before you click this button. No revisions to your form can be made in Grants.gov once it is submitted.

• Once you complete and submit your application, you will see a confirmation screen explaining that your submission is being processed. Take a screenshot and retain the Grants.gov Tracking Number that you receive in the application submission confirmation screen.

• If you wait until the day of the deadline to submit your application, you are taking a significant risk! Give yourself ample time to resolve any problems you might encounter.

• We will not accept late applications. The only exceptions are for a technological failure on the part of Grants.gov or an NEA system, or in the event of a major emergency (e.g., hurricane, natural disaster, etc.), as determined by the Arts Endowment. If a deadline is extended for any reason, an announcement will be posted on our website.

  You must provide documentation of a Grants.gov technological failure to be considered for an exception. We will consider and address your situation as appropriate. We will not make exceptions for applications that are the result of user error, including failure to verify that your application was validated by the Grants.gov system through Track My Application.

• Failure to successfully submit the Application for Federal Domestic Assistance/Short Organizational Form through Grants.gov will make you ineligible to complete Part 2 of the application process.

Track Your Application

Verify that your application was validated by the Grants.gov system. Go to Track My Application to confirm the validation and track the progress of your application submission through Grants.gov. Take a screenshot of your validation confirmation for your records. Do not wait until the day of the deadline to verify your submission in case you encounter any difficulties.

Prepare to Complete Part 2

• Read the Part 2 instructions (PDF). This document will guide you through Part 2 of the application process, including information about how and when to access the Applicant Portal as well as the application questions and requirements. You must refer to the Part 2 instructions (PDF)
• You will not have access to the Applicant Portal until the Part 2 application windows listed below. Use the Part 2 instructions (PDF) to prepare your responses well in advance so you will have them ready to upload once the system opens.
• We recommend that you begin working in the Applicant Portal early in the application window to give yourself ample time to complete the process. Please note that these grants are NOT awarded on a “first come, first served” basis, so you should feel comfortable taking your time.

OR