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Department of State

New Jersey Historical Commission

The Hon. Tahesha Way, Lt. Governor and Secretary of State
Naval Air Station Wildwood

Grant Opportunities

The New Jersey Historical Commission (NJHC) is a state agency within the Department of State dedicated to the advancement of public knowledge and preservation of New Jersey history. All of its grant funding is provided by legislative appropriation.

The NJHC offers General Operating Support Grants, Project Grants, County History Partnership Grants and more to support a variety of programs and activities related to New Jersey history. It also offers prizes and free archival evaluation services through the Caucus Archival Projects Evaluation Service or CAPES. Guidelines for the grants and prizes program (along with reporting requirements for grant recipients) are available below:

 

Project Grants

In order to get all grant funds distributed to our constituents as early as possible within the fiscal year, the NJHC will offer only one Project Grant deadline. The Declaration of Intent deadline for FY 2025 cycle is March 8, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. The application will be due by 3:00 p.m. on April 12, 2024. Applications that are not submitted by 3:00 p.m. on the deadline date will not be considered for funding.

ELIGIBILITY:  Grants are available for both individuals and organizations. There are general standards of eligibility as well as specific requirements for programs. See the posted guidelines for each grant or award for details regarding eligibility.

DEADLINES:  All applications for Project Grants will be filed using the System for Administering Grants Electronically (SAGE), and must be complete and filed by 3:00 p.m. on the deadline dates listed below. The entire proposal must be submitted by the applicant; NJHC staff will not assemble proposals. No revisions of the grant package are permitted after the submission deadline. All applications for Project Grants must be complete AND SUBMITTED by the posted deadline. Applications that have not been formally submitted using the SAGE system will be cancelled.

All Project Grant recipients that applied for their grant using the System for Administering Grants Electronically (SAGE) must also submit their Final Report using the same system. The link to create your Final Report can be found in the 'Related Items' box of the Proposal Menu for your grant. If you are having any difficulties creating or submitting a Final report, please contact the NJHC immediately at 609-292-6062.

PROJECTS: Funding for expenses of specific projects relating to New Jersey history. Eligible categories include conservation of historical materials (manuscripts, books, costumes, historical visuals); editorial and publication projects; educational initiatives; partnership projects; exhibitions; media (films, radio, videotape, digital media); public programs; capacity building, and research (including archaeological projects, fellowships, oral history, and National and New Jersey registers of historic places nominations). Guidelines for FY 2025 Project Grants are posted below.

Deadline FY2025
Intent to Apply March 8, 2024
Submission Deadline April 12, 2024
Notification of Award July 2024

Fiscal Year 2025 Project Grant Guidelines

SAGE Guide for Creating, Completing, and Submitting an FY 2025 Project Grant Declaration Of Intent to Apply (DOI)

 

FY 2024 Inclusive History Grant Program

FY 2024 Inclusive History Grant Program
The New Jersey Historical Commission (NJHC) is pleased to introduce a grant program focused on supporting research and interpretative planning at public history and cultural sites in New Jersey. Inclusive History Grants will fund the exploration of under-represented narratives in New Jersey history with a goal of expanding inclusive, community-centered interpretation and resources offered by historic sites and history organizations. Grants can be utilized in support of research and interpretative planning efforts that seek to tell a more diverse and complex story for a public audience. Applicants can request up to $25,000 in support of their project.

Inclusive History Grant Deadlines FY2024
Declaration of Intent to Apply (DOI) October 16, 2023
Application Deadline November 17, 2023
Notification of Award Winter 2024

The Declaration of Intent (DOI) is now live on the System for Administering Grants Electronically (SAGE)

View the Inclusive History Grant Guidelines

Guide to Register in SAGE
SAGE Guide to Complete Inclusive History Grant DOI
SAGE Guide to Complete Inclusive History Grant Application

Inclusive History Grants – Virtual Office Hours

The NJ Historical Commission will be holding a ZOOM virtual office hour session on October 13, 2023 from 11am - noon to answer all questions from prospective Inclusive History Grant applicants ahead of the October 16th DOI deadline.

Registration is required: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItd--sqj4sHdVaRy2lcB54-4kzaLoUpcTc

General Operating Support Grants

PURPOSE: General assistance to historical organizations, museums, historic sites, archives, libraries, and similar organizations with collections or programming relating to the history of New Jersey.

ELIGIBILITY: General Operating Support grants are available only to organizations. There are general standards of eligibility as well as specific requirements for programs. Please consult the following FY2024 General Operating Support Guidelines for more information.

General Operating Support Grant
The NJHC is committed to providing this support so that these historical organizations can develop and improve their services. It makes every effort to support a wide and varied list of history organizations providing New Jerseyans with excellent services, but the Commission’s funds are limited. Full funding is rarely possible.

PLEASE NOTE: The General Operating Support program operates on a three-year funding cycle. The next round of General Operating Support Grants will be announced in FY2027.

Deadline FY2024
Intent to Apply March 27, 2023
Submission Deadline April 27, 2023
Notification of Award July 2023

General Operating Support Grant FY2024-2026 Cycle Guidelines
Submitting Your FY 2024-2026 GOS Declaration of Intent (DOI) to Apply

New Jersey Historical Commission (NJHC) Announces FY 2022 Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) Grant Program

The New Jersey Historical Commission (NJHC) is committed to an ongoing, multifaceted strategy to make New Jersey history more accessible, inclusive, and relevant to diverse, 21st-century residents and visitors. By encouraging the use of new strategies for developing history programming, assessing audience engagement, and ensuring equity in the staffing and leadership of organizations, this approach will not only benefit history groups today, but create stronger institutions tomorrow.

Mission: The goal of the DEAI Grant Program is to establish an opportunity for eligible New Jersey history nonprofits to access qualified DEAI consultants to inform and train leadership, while promoting best practices for institutional and programmatic diversity. Grants will be awarded to offset the costs associated for NJHC-approved DEAI consultants to work closely with organizations to maximize success and welcome ongoing progress in these critical areas.

Award Amount: The value for each DEAI grant is approximately $20,000. This will cover services related to bias training and assessment of institutional policies and programs.

Application Deadline: Monday, December 6, 2021 by 5pm.

DEAI Grant Program Guidelines

Grant Application Process

The NJHC requires that applicants submit a Declaration of Intent online prior to submitting an application.

Applications and Declarations of Intent will be filed electronically using the System for Administering Grants Electronically (SAGE). All new applicants are strongly encouraged to register for SAGE at least one week in advance of upcoming grant deadlines. If you are having any difficulties registering for SAGE, please contact the Commission immediately at 609-292-6062.

SAGE Information

The New Jersey Historical Commission (NJHC) upgraded to a new version of the System for Administering Grants Electronically (SAGE) in February 2017. Current and prospective NJHC grantees are highly encouraged to do the following:

View the SAGE Grantee Webinar
After logging into SAGE, the webinar is located on the bottom, left-hand side under “System Information”/ “Training Videos.”

Download Updated SAGE User Manual

To ensure that all applicants successfully complete the submission of their application, the submission deadline is 3 p.m. on the day of the deadline. Applications that are not submitted by 3 p.m. on the deadline date will not be considered for funding.

SAGE Guides for NJHC Applicants

FY 2022 Institutional and Financial Stabilization Grants for History and Humanities Organizations

Rotating every year with the NJ Historic Trust and NJ Council on the Arts, FY 2022 is a NJ Historical Commission year for Institutional and Financial Stabilization Grants. The program is designed to assist groups in addressing financial and operational challenges that threaten their stability and to help build greater operational capacity to manage and advance their work and achieve their missions. To be eligible, an organization must first be designated as "qualified" by the New Jersey Cultural Trust.

Important deadlines:

  • March 31, 2021 – Deadline to be designated a Qualified Organization by the NJ Cultural Trust
  • March 31, 2021 – Declarations of Intent to Apply due
  • April 30, 2021 – Full Applications due

Important documents:

Application for Qualification
FY 2022 New Jersey Cultural Trust Grant Guidelines
Submitting Your FY 2022 Cultural Trust Declaration of Intent (DOI) to Apply
Submitting Your FY 2022 Cultural Trust Application

County History Partnership Program (CHPP)

The County History Partnership Program (CHPP) was created in 2015 to extend local re-granting programs to all of the state’s 21 counties. The program enables the NJHC to support both existing and emerging local history organizations and practitioners serving diverse audiences. Through the partnership with county re-granting agencies, NJHC support can more effectively reach history organizations and projects in communities throughout the state.

FY 2023 County History Partnership Program (CHPP) Guidelines

County History Partnership Program (CHPP) Contact List

Caucus Archival Projects Evaluation Service (CAPES)

The New Jersey Historical Commission would like to take this opportunity to encourage your organization to consider CAPES (Caucus Archival Projects Evaluation Service), which provides free professional assessment of archival paper collections by consultants of the New Jersey Caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference.

If your New Jersey history organization has a collection of paper items such as manuscripts, books, photographs, and maps, you may take advantage of a FREE assessment from a professional archivist of how your collection can best be conserved.

CAPES consultants are available to evaluate archival collections held by New Jersey archives, libraries, historical societies, and other agencies. The linked document below is a letter from CAPES coordinator Frederic Pachman, and provides background information on the program, contact information, and other important details.

Consider applying for CAPES, a joint project of the New Jersey Historical Commission and the New Jersey Caucus of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference. In these difficult economic times, CAPES can provide an important service to your organization.

CAPES Guidelines and Application
CAPES Letter

Artifact Assessment Program (AAP)

Artifact Assessment Program - a service of the New Jersey Association of Museums.
There are no deadlines for application, apply anytime. AAP evaluations are performed at no cost to the organization. To be eligible to receive this service organizations must:

  • be nonprofit organizations located in New Jersey
  • have collections related to New Jersey
  • make their collections available to the public
  • hold artifact collections in the public trust
  • do not receive primary funding from a governmental entity

Types of Services Offered

Initial Collection surveys on-site:

  • Survey and evaluate environmental conditions in storage and exhibition areas
  • Survey and evaluate condition of artifacts in storage and on exhibition
  • Survey and evaluate storage arrangement and collection management processes
  • Survey and evaluate documentation systems, processes and intellectual access

Follow-up programs include but are not limited to:

  • Evaluation of a specific collection or project
  • Aid in disaster preparedness or response
  • Evaluation of move to new building or location
  • Scope of Work for Grant Funded Project

Disclosure
Reports will not be widely discussed by consultants but will be available to staff and consultants of NJHC and NJAM’s representatives on an as needed basis. The New Jersey State Archives is the final repository for the artifact assessment program’s reports. Membership in the New Jersey Association of Museums is not required (but always appreciated) to receive service. All consultants are members of the New Jersey Association of Museums.

AAP application form

Grants Awarded by the New Jersey Historical Commission FY2006-FY2024

 

 


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