The West Virginia Humanities Council is seeking applications for an Emergency Relief Grant to assist humanities-centered institutions and organizations in West Virginia by providing general operating and/or programming support during this period of financial hardship caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Applications will be accepted until midnight on July 26, 2021.
Funding for this grant has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act economic stabilization plan appropriated by the U.S. Congress.
Application
Click here for a printer-friendly application template for your review. Read the grant guidelines (below) before applying. Use the link below to apply.
Click here to apply.
American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act Emergency Relief Grants Grant Guidelines
(click here for printer-friendly guidelines)
For questions, contact Grant Administrator Erin Riebe at riebe@wvhumanities.org or call (304) 346-8500.
PURPOSE:
To assist humanities-centered institutions and organizations in West Virginia by providing general operating and/or programming support to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and/or recover from the current COVID-19 pandemic.
What are the humanities?
The term 'humanities' includes, but is not limited to, the study and interpretation of the following: language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of the social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.
PROCESS:
Applications will be accepted until midnight on July 26, 2021. If the Council does not receive sufficient eligible proposals in response to this deadline, applications will continue to be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until funds are expended. Applications received by the deadline will be prioritized.
Applicants can apply for projects that support the following:
- General operating costs, including staff support, administrative cost, utilities, and mortgage payments.[1] General operating costs may also include the following:
- Strategic planning and capacity building efforts related to preparing, responding to, and recovering from the coronavirus (general capacity building efforts are not eligible).
- Technical/consultant needs related to a digital transition or in support of preservation and access programs (equipment costs cannot exceed 20% of the total request).
- Expansion, due to the effects of the coronavirus, of outdoor and virtual humanities programming and engagement or similar activities to transition from traditional environments to those that are more accessible.
- Equity assessments and planning related to coronavirus and the economic crisis.
- Humanities programming directly related to the pandemic (these projects must include the participation of a humanities scholar). Humanities programming related to the pandemic might be a project ABOUT the pandemic, but it may also be humanities programming that advances the goals of the ARP Act to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and/or recover from the coronavirus.
Applicants must apply through the Council’s regular grant process for all other projects.
Applicants will be notified of the Council’s decision via e-mail by August 16, 2021.
Applicants may request up to $20,000. The Council cannot award funding for project costs that overlap with any other pending or approved application(s) for federal funding. For example, if you are applying funding support from the National Endowment for the Arts to a specific expenditure, funds from this grant cannot be allocated for the same expenditure. It is the responsibility of the grant recipient to track expenditures separately.
Cost share is not required. It may be included on project-based subawards.
Applicants will be required to submit a narrative and financial report by within 90 days of the contract end date, which must include a spreadsheet of grant expenditures detailing the item paid, date paid, check/transaction number, and amount paid. The Humanities Council will provide reporting templates.
The total amount to be awarded is $545,000.
ELIGIBILITY:
- West Virginia organizations with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, public and 501(c)(3) accredited institutions of higher education, state and local governmental agencies, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments.
- Any West Virginia-based nonprofit organizations with a demonstrated commitment to programming in humanities content areas, including history (any aspect), cultural heritage or cultural studies, living or historical traditions, literary or aesthetic criticism, or religious/philosophical/ethical studies.
- Applicant must supply FEIN # and DUNS # and have an active SAM.gov account, if the grant is awarded (not required for application).
- Applicant must propose a grant period in which all activities are complete and expenditures made between March 15, 2021 and September 30, 2022 (extensions beyond this date will not be granted).
- Applicant must propose an appropriate and accurate budget.
- Applying organization must comply with federal nondiscrimination statutes.
CRITERIA:
- Public Humanities Benefit. Applying organization must serve the general public. The applicant offers substantial public humanities benefit to West Virginia residents in a typical year. “Public humanities benefit” describes your organization’s efforts to make your events, activities, and programming available to West Virginians in specific local communities or statewide in accordance with your organization’s mission. Examples may include:
- Demonstrated service to general public as evidenced by available data on audience contact
- Demonstrated service to traditionally under-served communities (age, income, rurality, ability, race, etc.)
- Adverse Impacts. Applicant must address how they have been adversely impacted by the pandemic and demonstrate that the project advances the goals of the American Rescue Plan Act to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and/or recover from the coronavirus. Adverse impacts, financial or institutional hardships may include, but is not limited to:
- increased costs incurred in complying with official social distancing policies
- purchase of new technology specifically to support online program delivery or remote work by full-time employees
- conversion of in-person programming to digital or online delivery
- disproportionate reduction in revenue as the result of loss of income or opportunities, thus resulting in potential loss of rent, mortgage, utilities, staff, and/or healthcare.
PRIORITIES:
Priority will be given to organizations:
- with the humanities as their primary mission
- with limited access to other emergency relief funds
- with limited access to other public funding
- directed at increasing equity and inclusion
- serving underserved communities
- that direct programming at underserved and minority-serving institutions/organizations
- in imminent danger of losing staff, space, or utilities
RESTRICTIONS:
Funds may not be used for the following purposes:
- unallowable expenses as defined in 2 CFR 200 Subpart E - Cost Principles
- overlapping project costs with any other pending or approved application(s) for federal funding and/or approved federal awards
- funds for activities supported by other non-NEH federal funds
- regranting (including offering discounts/savings or otherwise passing award forward)
- replenishing savings
- cancellation costs
- pre-award costs dating to before March 15, 2021
- equipment costs in excess of 20% of total project costs
- travel (both foreign and domestic)
- construction, purchase of real property, major alteration and renovation
- environmental sustainability
- collections acquisition
- the preservation, organization, or description of materials that are not regularly accessible for research, education, or public programming
- promotion of a particular political, religious, or ideological point of view
- advocacy of a particular program of social or political action
- support of specific public policies or legislation
- lobbying
- indirect costs on general operating support
- programming projects that fall outside of the humanities and the humanistic social sciences (including the creation or performance of art; creative writing, autobiographies, memoirs, and creative nonfiction; and quantitative social science research or policy studies)
[1] Organizations whose mission falls outside of the humanities and the humanistic social sciences (including the creation or performance of art, creative writing, autobiographies, memoirs, and creative nonfiction; and quantitative social science research or policy studies) are not eligible to receive funding for general operating costs. If your organization's mission falls outside of the humanities and the humanistic social sciences, funding may be used for specific programming initiatives if based in the humanities and rooted in humanities scholarship.
Click here for a printer-friendly application template for your review. Use the link below to apply.
Click here to apply
