National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC): State Board Programming Grants - FY 2026
| Agency: | US Other |
|---|---|
| CFDA: | 89.003 |
| Federal FON: | STATE-202505 |
| Office: | National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) |
| Multipart Grant: | No |
| Next Due: | 03/07/2025 (Multiple) |
|---|---|
| Solicitation Date: | 11/26/2024 |
| Match Required: | No |
| Actual Funds: | Unspecified |
| Range: | $1,000,000 (Max) |
| Award Range: | $25,000 (Min) / $125,000 (Max) |
Summary:
The purpose of this program is to promote access to America's historical records to encourage understanding of the nation's democracy, history, and culture. Projects will meet statewide and local needs to advance archival practice, build capacity, and promote the use and preservation of historical records at small and/or underserved archival organizations. Program funding will support activities in at least two of the following categories:
- State historical records advisory board (SHRAB) administration: organizational costs and activities associated with administering an active SHRAB, including:
- Travel for in-person SHRAB meetings, as well as meetings between SHRAB members and parties of interest
- Institutional membership with the Council of State Archivists
- Website development and virtual meeting software licenses
- Materials and expenses relating to strategic planning and organizational health; state-wide directories or other network development
- Publicity for SHRAB projects relating to regranting, professional development, and consultation services
- Costs associated with outreach and engagement efforts, such as Archives Month programming
- Part-time support staff, including an administrative coordinator or paid interns
- Regranting: regranting funds to be dispersed as subawards to address urgent needs among local repositories and support the preservation of historically significant records; funds may support historical records projects and/or essential needs
- Professional development: projects are encouraged to coordinate opportunities that meet the needs of practitioners at all professional levels and in a variety of content areas; allowable activities and costs include:
- Individual scholarship payments made to course/training providers or participants
- Group enrollment in a course or training
- Space rental fees, equipment, and program materials
- Speaker fees, travel, and lodging
- Payments to a partner organization that will jointly develop and/or lead trainings
- Consultation services: efforts to assist records repositories staff who have little or no archival training; consultation services activities may include:
- Salary for roving or traveling archivists, or similar positions
- Travel and material costs for on-site visits or assessments, or for workshops given for an audience of non-professional records custodians
- Archival supplies given to repositories that receive consultation services
- For states with experience providing consultation services, assessments of these projects in recent years and the development and dissemination of best practices
Eligibility Notes:
Eligible applicants are state historical records advisory boards (SHRABs) in each state, as well as the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
SHRABs that wish to rebuild their operations after a period of inactivity are encouraged to apply.
Eligible Applicants:
State GovernmentApplication Notes:
Applicants seeking exceptions to any policy outlined in the program solicitation, including the administrative cost limit, must submit mandatory exception requests by March 7, 2025.
Exception requests must be emailed to the address provided in the Contact section.
Applications must be submitted by May 7, 2025.
Before beginning the application process, applicants should contact Jacob Lusk, using the information provided in the Contact section, who may advise about the review process, answer questions about what activities are eligible for support, and read and comment on a preliminary draft.
Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov.
Applications must include:
- SF 424
- Budget
- Project narrative (22 pages max):
- Introduction (1 page)
- State overview (2-3 pages)
- SHRAB overview (2-3 pages)
- Funding requests (3-15 pages)
- Budget narrative (optional)
- Budget overflow document (optional)
- Supplemental materials, including resumes and job descriptions
The project narrative must be formatted on single-spaced, numbered, standard-sized pages with one-inch margins in a standard 12-point font. Attachments must be submitted in .pdf format.
The following are required in order to submit an application:
- Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
- SAM (System for Award Management) registration
- SPOC (state Single Point of Contact) notification
Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam. Applicants in states participating in the SPOC program must contact the relevant SPOC listed in the SPOC file before applying.
Applicants are encouraged to email optional draft applications or optional letters of inquiry to the address provided in the Contact section by March 7, 2025.
Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Clarity and soundness of narrative and budget (25 percent)
- Responsiveness of proposed activities to the needs of archival repositories and records custodians across the applicant's state (25 percent)
- Quality of proposed programming, including organization, reach, and accessibility (25 percent)
- Likelihood proposed work will be successfully completed, and that results will be appropriately evaluated and shared among the field (25 percent)
Refer to the NOFA, Guide, and Budget files for additional application information.
| Match Required: | No |
|---|---|
| Actual Funds: | Unspecified |
| Range: | $1,000,000 (Max) |
| Award Range: | $25,000 (Min) / $125,000 (Max) |
|---|
Match Notes:
Matching funds are not required for this program; however, applicants may include a cash and/or in-kind financial contribution in the application. Voluntary committed cost sharing will become a binding commitment and part of the award terms and conditions.
Indirect costs may be used as cost share.
Funding Notes:
Up to $1 million is expected to be available to support up to 20 awards ranging from $25,000 to $125,000 through this program.
The award period will span two years, beginning no earlier than January 1, 2026, and ending on December 31, 2027.
In the second year of the award, award recipients will be able to reapply for funding for the subsequent two years.
Costs for institutional membership with the Council of State Archivists are limited to 15 percent of the total award value.
In general, administrative costs are limited to 25 percent of the total award amount. Applicants may request an exception to this limitation.
Award recipients may direct up to 25 percent of regranting funds to institutions that do not have the resources to compete for funding at the state level.
Funds may not be used for:
- Programming that does not specifically relate to the preservation or use of archival collections or engagement in or development of the archival profession
- Tuition scholarships for students enrolled in a degree program
- Activities that would require or result in unpaid internships or fellowships
- Programming exclusively designed for children or K-12 education
- Indirect costs
- Constructing, renovating, furnishing, or purchasing a building or land
- Purchasing manuscripts or other historical records
- Exhibiting or conserving archaeological artifacts, museum objects, or works of art
- Undertaking historical research apart from the editing of documentary publications
- Cataloging, acquiring, or preserving books, periodicals, or other library materials
Refer to pages 3-4 of the Costs file for additional information regarding unallowable costs.
Contacts:
Jacob Lusk
Director for State Programs
jacob.lusk@nara.gov
Agency Address
The National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Contact Notes:
Questions should be directed to Jacob Lusk.
Exception requests must be emailed to the address provided.
Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov.
Optional draft applications/optional letters of inquiry must be emailed to the address provided.
The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.
Files:
NOFA File: US4467_NOFA_FY2026.pdf (320.1 Kb)Guide File: US4467_Guide_FY2026.pdf (268.8 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US4467_Budget_FY2026.pdf (953.8 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US4467_SampleNarratives_FY2026.zip (4.0 Mb)
Other Pre-Award File: US4467_Costs_FY2026.pdf (136.2 Kb)
Federal Forms:
SPOC (67.7 Kb)File Notes:
The NOFA file contains detailed program information and application guidelines. The Guide file contains detailed application instructions. The Budget file contains the required budget form for submission. The SampleNarratives folder contains sample application narratives and should be used for reference purposes only. The Costs file contains a list of allowable costs, unallowable costs, and funding restrictions. The SPOC file contains information on the state Single Point of Contact program.
| Project: | When Are We US?: Training and Resources for America250 Collecting and Programs (1.6 Mb) |
|---|---|
| Applicant: | State Historical Records Advisory Board of North Carolina |
| Summary: |
The purpose of this program is to promote access to America's historical records to encourage understanding of the nation's democracy, history, and culture. The State Historical Records Advisory Board of North Carolina requested $39,232 to support collection, preservation, and access to records related to the theme of "When Are We US?" and to catalyze engagement in local communities while encouraging a statewide community of practice. This project will help to motivate partner repositories to prepare for the America250 commemoration and to offer training on community collecting and budget-friendly digital storytelling methods. Funds will support travel expenses for regional trainings and consultations, resource development to support community commemorative programs, and scholarships for professional development. The applicant will provide $22,619 to match the remainder of the project cost. |
Grant Keywords
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Arts & CultureTraining & Vocational Services
Libraries