NEH Grants for Archives & Collections
The National Endowment for the Humanities is the largest federal funder of humanities initiatives in the United States, supporting museums, historic sites, colleges and universities, K-12 teachers, libraries, public television and radio stations, research institutions, independent scholars, and nonprofits. The fund offers over a dozen grant programs, some specifically tailored to archives and memory institutions.
NEH has recently made changes to its grant programs, so grants you may have heard of in the past like Preservation Assistance Grants have been replaced by new programs. Information on some of the new grant programs is linked below.
The scope of subject matter that federal agencies will fund has significantly changed. For any federal grant, read the grant announcement and its requirements very carefully.
Collections Stewardship Grant
This fund offers two deadlines per year, in May and December. Single organizations may apply for up to $350,000, and consortia may apply for up to $500,000. It supports the preservation and accessibility of physical and digital collections in archives, libraries, and museums.
Projects funded by this grant will run for three years, and must fall into one of the following categories:
Conducting physical and digital preservation assessments
Writing policies related to collections care
Conducting conservation assessments and implementing treatments
Purchasing storage and preservation supplies
Managing collection storage environments
Processing archival collections
Cataloging rare materials, including books, maps, audiovisual material, archaeological materials, and digital objects
Transcribing, translating, or indexing primary sources
Preserving, enhancing, and improving access to existing digital resources
Providing preservation education
Grant applicants must sign up at sam.gov before applying, as with any federal grant application.
Eligible applicants are nonprofit organizations as defined by 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; accredited institutions of higher education; state or local governments or their agencies; or federally-recognized Native American Tribal governments. Individuals, other federal entities, and for-profit organizations are ineligible for this grant. This grant does not require cost-sharing or matching.
As a federal grant program, the Collections Stewardship application is long, consisting of a narrative, nine appendices, and seven additional forms. Applying for the Collections Stewardship grant is an extensive undertaking, but this high level of preparation builds a strong foundation that will make the project much more successful.
Backlog can help with grant-funded projects. We will need to know the scope of the project and photographs of the collections and storage space. Schedule a short Zoom meeting with us so we can gather information, and we can write a proposal to give a cost estimate. Shoot an email to emma@backlog-archivists.com or fill out our contact page to get started.