CHALLENGE AMERICA: How to Apply

IMPORTANT: Grants.gov will be down for maintenance from April 20-23, 2024. The Part 1 deadline has been moved to April 30, 2024 to allow applicants more time to submit. We recommend you submit Part 1 of your application early in order to avoid any issues.
Grants.gov Notice: See guidance on how to troubleshoot a grey apply button or a “bad request” error on Grants.gov.

Submitting an application is a multi-step process. Please be sure to give yourself sufficient time for registration, which can take several weeks. We estimate that after registering, the process to draft and submit an application takes approximately 26 hours.

Submitting an application is a multi-step process:

  1. Register with Login.gov, the System for Award Management (SAM) at SAM.gov, and Grants.gov or renew/verify these registrations. Download Registration Guidance PDF.
  2. Submit your application:
    • Application Part 1, Grants.gov
      Submit to Grants.gov the “Application for Federal Domestic Assistance/Short Organization Form.” This is a brief form that will collect basic information about your organization. A direct link to the Grants.gov Opportunity Package is included further down this on this page. You must successfully submit Part 1 in order to continue to Part 2. See links below for full instructions and application questions.

    • Application Part 2, NEA Applicant Portal
      Complete the “Grant Application Form (GAF)” and upload items through the NEA’s Applicant Portal. This web form is where you will enter the majority of your application material (e.g., project description, timelines, budget information, work samples, etc.). See links below for full instructions and application questions.

      Download full instructions and Application questions for Application Parts 1 & 2 

      Haga clic aquí para obtener instrucciones en español

Direct link to Grants.gov Opportunity Package for Part 1

Access the Grant Opportunity Package for Part 1 with the Application for Federal Domestic Assistance/Short Organization Form (SF-424) on Grants.gov by clicking on the link below:

  1. Clicking the link above will take you directly to the pre-populated application package in Grants.gov.
  2. The Grants.gov “View Grant Opportunity” screen will open, click the red “Apply” button. If the Apply button is grey or you receive a “bad request” error, please see further instructions on how to troubleshoot.
  3. After logging in, to create a Workspace application:
    1. Fill in the Application Filing Name field with your organization name, then
    2. Click the Create Workspace button.
  4. Afterwards, you will be directed to the Manage Workspace page, where you can begin working on the application. 
  5. See the Application Instructions PDF for full details on how to complete and submit the form.

Learn more about using Grants.gov’s Workspace. For Grants.gov assistance: Call 800-518-4726, email support@grants.gov, or consult the information posted on the Grants.gov website at Support or Help. The Grants.gov Contact Center is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.