Types of programs this grant funds
Our Public Program Grant funds a wide variety of programs and activities that explore challenging questions and strive for just communities, including community dialogues, lectures, online engagements, storytelling formats that center undertold experiences, programming that connects exhibits to current experiences, and culturally specific and intercultural events. We accept applications for multilingual programs, but the grant application and reporting are required to be in English. Read examples of past grant recipients here.
Funding Details
Oregon Humanities will award a total of up to $100,000 in PPG awards for 2023. The maximum award per organization is $10,000. Organizations are limited to one application per grant cycle.
Note: The following information reflects the funding process for our 2023 fiscal year grant cycle. We review the process each year and may make adjustments for future cycles.
Applications
Closed for applications.
Timeline
- Applications open: Monday, January 9, 2023
- Applications due: Friday, March 10, 2023, by 5:00 pm PT
- Awards announced: early May 2023
- Grant period (funded programs/events held): May 15, 2023–May 13, 2024
- Interim Grant report due: November 1, 2023
- Final Grant report due: August 14, 2024
Training and Support for Grant Applicants
Instructional video
Online information sessions
We host online information sessions with grants program staff members to help applicants with questions and to discuss eligibility, program and grant alignment, and all aspects of applying for our grants. Please email grants@oregonhumanities.org to receive the zoom link for the sessions.
- Tuesday, January 17, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. PT: Online Info Session #1. This hour will cover general information about the grant: how to apply, what kinds of programs PPGs fund, etc. This will be an informal session, with an opportunity for attendees to ask questions.
- Friday, January 20, 2023, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT: Online Info Session #2. This hour will be an opportunity for applicants who are newer to applying to grants to bring their questions to OH grants staff. This will be an informal session, mostly centered on the attendees’ questions. (If you have a specific question you’d like covered during the session but would prefer not to ask it during the session, please send it in advance to grants@oregonhumanities.org.)
Additionally, two in-person events supporting the online information sessions will be held in La Grande at Cook Memorial Library, located at 2006 Fourth Street.
If you wish to have a phone consultation to get feedback on your program’s alignment with this grant, please email grants@oregonhumanities.org to request a call with our grants coordinator. Phone consultations will be available through February 27, 2023.
Training and Support for Grantees
We will host online information sessions with grants program staff members to help grantees who receive funding discuss, review, and answer questions about grant management, including preparing Interim and Final Reports. All grantees will be emailed a zoom link for the sessions.
- Tuesday, May 30, 2023, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. PT: Post-award online info session for grantees
- Friday, April 26, 2024, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. PT: Online info session focused on preparing grantees’ Final Reports
Eligibility
Requirements for Applicants
- Be incorporated as a nonprofit organization in the state of Oregon or be a federally recognized tribe in Oregon. Nonprofit applicants must be registered as a 501(c)(3) organization located in Oregon and be registered with the State of Oregon as a charitable organization.
- Be able to complete an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) W-9 form in order to receive an award payment from Oregon Humanities.
- Have an organizational budget under $1.5 million (not including any federal emergency Covid-19 funding) for their most recently completed fiscal year if the applicant is not a federally recognized tribe.
- Have a current Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number at the time of grant application submission.
IMPORTANT NOTE: As of April 4, 2022, the US federal government switched from requiring that our grantees have a DUNS number, to requiring that our grantees have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number issued by SAM.gov. It can take anywhere from a few days to months to receive your UEI number. We recommend applying for it when this grant opens for application submissions.
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Website for UEI registration and further instructions: sam.gov/content/entity-registration
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Video instruction: Get A Unique Entity ID (SAM). Please note that you do not have to do a full entity registration in order to get your UEI. If you do not already have an entity registration in SAM.gov and you simply want to obtain a UEI number, begin watching the short video at timecode 2:30 for instructions.
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If your organization’s UEI number on sam.gov is set to be private information, please either change the setting to make your UEI publicly viewable, or your organization will be required to upload a screenshot of your UEI number showing on sam.gov when you submit your grant application.
Requirements for Applicants Who Have Received Prior OH funding
- Must be in good standing with past awards in order to be eligible to apply for funding.
- Must not have received Oregon Humanities’ Public Program Grants consecutively in the previous two cycles. Organizations awarded a Public Program Grant in both 2021 and 2022 are not eligible to apply for a 2023 Public Program Grant and must wait until the 2024 grant cycle to be eligible to apply again. (Note: this rule does not apply to any Oregon Humanities’ CARES and/or SHARP funding your organization received.)
Matching Fund Requirements
- Oregon Humanities Public Program Grant requests must not constitute more than fifty percent of your program’s budget. All grant award dollars must be matched at least 1:1 with earned, contributed, or in-kind support from the applicant or co-applicant.
- In-kind support is the dollar value of goods and services donated to your program by third parties. For example, if a printer donates services, the dollar value of the donation should be included in your budget as an in-kind contribution. Please be sure that in-kind contributions are reflected in both the revenue and expense sections of your budget when applicable. You may value volunteer time at $29.95/hour when calculating in-kind volunteer labor.
Approved Activities for Awards
Public Program Grants can support program-related expenses that may include, but aren’t limited to, the following:
- Honoraria for facilitators and featured participants (excluding audience members)
- Program/event planning costs, including project planning and management salaries
- Supplies and materials
- Event space rental costs
- Labor and technical support for online events
- COVID-19 safety supplies for hosting in-person events (masks, cleaning supplies, etc.)
- Event advertising
- Printing and duplication
- Publication costs for electronic and print media, including distribution, promotion, and general handling (note: writing costs are not allowed)
- Equipment (maximum of 10% of grant award) purchased to specifically support the program being proposed for funding.
- ADA access (note: capital expenditures are not allowed)
- Applicants may request an indirect cost rate of up to 10 percent of the total award request. These costs may include but aren’t limited to payroll processing, audit fees, office equipment (for general office purposes), purchases, or maintenance not directly related to the program.
- Documenting the program through production of video, audio, digital/print publication
- Programs can be in multiple languages or be in a language other than English. (Please note: grant reporting must be in English.)
Review Process and Award Selection Standards
Review Committee
The Public Program Grant Review Committee is composed of members of Oregon Humanities staff, board and guest reviewers (people outside of the organization who have participated in past programs).
Scoring Rubric
The following scoring rubric will be used by the Review Committee:
#1: The applicant's intentions for their program (1–10 scale)
Relevant questions in the application: "Program short summary" and "Program description"
#2: The proposed logistics for the creation of the program (1–10 scale)
Relevant questions in the application: "Program Planning Team" and "Program creation and its relationship to program participants/audiences."
#3: The proposed program budget (1–10 scale)
Relevant questions/items in the application: the "Budget Narrative" question, the Budget form, the fiscal stability of the organization found in the most recent, board-approved budget, and the relationship between the organization and the program budgets
#4: The proposed program's alignment with OH and the grant’s purpose (1–10 scale)
Relevant question in the application: "Alignment with OH's mission and grant's purpose"
#5: If the applicant answers the optional application question, "Is there other information you think our grant application reviewers should take into account in reviewing your application?" reviewers will consider the content of their answer in the most appropriate scoring category above.
Our Review Committee members individually score each application based on the merits of each proposal. After numerical scoring is completed, the applications are ranked according to the scoring. The Review Committee meets to discuss proposals and rankings and determines which applications to fund. Then OH evaluates if the Committee’s intentions for awards will allow OH to reach our 60% awarding goal to our two Funding Priority Groups. OH may potentially adjust the award amounts and/or the number of awards in order to reach our 60% FPG goal, but the importance of the original scoring/ranking of applications remains intact throughout the process.
Note: Available funding for the 2023 cycle of Public Program Grants may be affected by the 2023 federal budget.
Funding Priority Groups
Oregon Humanities is committed to funding organizations across Oregon. Knowing that we have limited grant funds to award and are committed to funding organizations and communities that have historically been underserved, we prioritize funding to Oregon organizations that are based in and led by rural communities (using the Oregon Office of Rural Health’s definition of rural as locations in Oregon ten or more miles from the center of a population center of 40,000 people or more) and/or organizations led by Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color (BIPOC) communities.
Ineligibility, Restrictions, and Compliance Standards for Grant Awards
Oregon Humanities offers programs and publications that help Oregonians connect, reflect, and learn from one another. To be notified when Oregon Humanities grants open for submissions, and to learn about opportunities for grant application assistance, please sign up for our e-newsletter.
Questions about applying or eligibility? Want to share feedback or ideas about this grant? Please contact Dawn Smallman, grants and programs coordinator, at d.smallman@oregonhumanities.org or (503) 241-0543 ext. 123.
Please note that Oregon Humanities staff are available to answer questions Monday through Friday, during normal business hours.
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