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Overview
Since 1990, the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands (CFVI) has been a catalyst for positive change in the U.S. Virgin Islands through initiatives committed to youth, learning, family support, and the environment; with professional staff and a volunteer Board of Directors composed of community leaders, CFVI is a trusted advocate and supporter of programs that ensure opportunity and sustainability for current and future generations. CFVI is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization entirely supported by individual donors, grants, trusts, corporate donations, and estate planning.
In the absence of a humanities council in the U.S. Virgin Islands, CFVI applied for and was awarded funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) that will be sub-awarded to eligible entities throughout the U.S. Virgin Islands to support humanities programming and activities.
This funding opportunity’s primary goal is to enrich the lives of people throughout the U.S. Virgin Islands through projects focused on humanities education, lifelong learning, and public humanities programming. CFVI will make dedicated subawards for humanities programming that reflects the unique needs of the U.S. Virgin Islands' diverse communities, advance the public’s knowledge and understanding of the humanities, culture, heritage, and preservation, and make humanities programs accessible to all people throughout the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Summary of Funding
Up to $200,000 is available to fund eligible humanities-based projects up to $25,000 each.
- Grants are available to fund humanities programs, projects, and initiatives such as book festivals, literacy campaigns, speaker’s bureaus, teacher development, cultural tourism, humanities publications, films, exhibitions, and projects that preserve and provide access to cultural and educational resources in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- Projects that incorporate U.S. Virgin Islands history/culture are encouraged.
CFVI is committed to equitable grantmaking and will consider geographic diversity and the importance of reaching underrepresented communities in its funding decisions.
Unique Entity Identifier (UEID) and System for Award Management (SAM) Update:
As required by federal guidelines, organizations will be required to have a Unique Entity ID (UEI) created in SAM.gov. to obligate federal funds. If your entity is registered in SAM.gov, your Unique Entity ID has already been assigned and is viewable in SAM.gov. This includes inactive registrations. The Unique Entity ID is located on your entity registration record and you must be signed in to your SAM.gov account to view entity records. To learn how to view your Unique Entity ID go to this help article. New entities can get their Unique Entity ID at SAM.gov and, if required, complete an entity registration. The DUNS Number has been removed from SAM.gov.
*New registrations can be delayed so please complete this as soon as possible.
Eligibility
Eligible organizations must be:
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A U.S. nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service (check your organization’s IRS status here); an accredited institution of higher education; state and local governmental agencies, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments; or a group of persons that have formed an association to carry out a project.
- Non-public organizations or groups must be constituted for nonprofit purposes, and donations to them must be deductible under Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 170(c)). It is not necessary that such organizations or groups be incorporated or have tax-exempt status.
- Have a physical presence in the USVI and have USVI residents as its primary audience.
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Awards will not be processed for organizations with delinquent federal debt or who have been suspended, debarred, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from eligibility for covered transactions by any federal department or agency. To see if you have delinquent federal debt or other exclusions recorded in SAM, go to the SAM website; click on “Search Records,” and then on “Advanced Search - Exclusion.”
- Maintain active SAM registration with current information at all times during which they have an active federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a federal agency.
Humanities organizations include, but are not limited to, museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, and public television stations. See examples of the humanities here.
The following are not eligible to apply:
- Individuals
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Nonprofit organizations without 501(c)(3) status seeking to use a fiscal sponsor
- Fiscal sponsors
- For-profit organizations
- Organizations solely focused on the arts
- Political or advocacy organizations
- Foreign entities
Grant awards may not be used for the following purposes:
- Promotion of a particular political, religious, or ideological point of view;
- Advocacy for a particular program of social or political action;
- Support of specific public policies or legislation;
- Lobbying;
- Projects that fall outside of the humanities including the creation or performance of art; creative writing, autobiographies, memoirs, and creative nonfiction; and empirically based social science research or policy studies;
- Unallowable expenses as defined in 2 CFR 200 Subpart E - Cost Principles
Period of Performance
The period of performance will begin on January 1, 2023, and must end on or before December 31, 2023.
Application & Evaluation Process
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Applications must be submitted using the appropriate application form in CFVI’s online grant portal.
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Applications must be submitted by 11:59 pm AST on October 31, 2022.
- New applicants must create a new account.
- Returning applicants should log in using their previously created account.
- The grant portal will not accept applications after the established deadline. Once the application has been submitted, an automatic email receipt will be sent confirming that all application materials were successfully received.
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Applicants will be notified regarding decisions on or before December 16, 2022.
- Grant awards will be publicly announced via the CFVI website and circulated to local news media.
Applications must be received by the deadline. Late, incomplete, nonresponsive, or ineligible applications will not be considered for funding under this notice.
Evaluation Criteria
Applications will be reviewed based on the following criteria:
- The importance/significance of the proposed humanities activities to the cultural sector and/or to the general public.
- The feasibility of successfully completing the proposed activities within the period of performance.
- The experience and qualifications of the project team AND/OR integration of humanities advisers or scholars in the project in an exemplary fashion.
- The accessibility and appeal of the project to the intended audience.
- Overall evaluation of the quality of the project as a whole.
- Whether the budget is reasonable/cost-effective and linked to proposed activities and outcomes.
Applications will be reviewed for eligibility and completeness, and evaluated by a committee composed of experts in humanities, nonprofit grantmaking, and/or U.S Virgin Islands’ history and culture. Each application will be assessed in accordance with the eligibility and evaluation criteria outlined in the Request for Proposal.
Please Note: Applications from organizations with past due reports owed to CFVI will not be considered.
Reporting Guidelines
Recipients must comply with the following reporting and review activities:
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Interim financial and performance report, by no later than May 31, 2023.
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Final financial and performance report, due no later than by January 15, 2024 (or within 90 days of project completion, if the project is completed sooner).
Questions?
Applicants with additional questions are encouraged to contact Davica Brathwaite, CFVI Grants and Programs Manager, at davicab@cfvi.net.
Supporting Documents
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. (Source: NEH.gov)
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