Step 1: To confirm project eligibility, contact the LEH, and consult the chart below for deadline dates and appropriate application type on all grants. Review the appropriate guidelines for the grant type.

Step 2: Applicants are encouraged to submit a preliminary application for review by LEH staff at least 4 weeks prior to the grant deadline. Preliminary applications should be developed using the Preliminary Application Worksheet found on the Web page of the appropriate grant type, and should be submitted to the appropriate LEH staff member via email. Staff will provide a written critique of your application so that you may revise it before the deadline. Often, projects are rejected or receive reduced funding because of preventable errors or guideline violations. See Preliminary Applications Policy for more information.

Step 3: Use the Grant Checklist in this Guide. Submit your application online from the LEH Web site. If the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, proposals are due by 11:59 p.m. the next business day. Grant applications WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED by mail, facsimile transfer (fax) or e-mail.

INTRODUCTION
The primary challenge to state humanities councils, such as the LEH, is bridging the all-too-traditional schism between the academic and public sectors while ensuring the distribution of grant funds to all geographic and demographic areas within the state. This goal is reflected in the balanced structure of the LEH itself. The Endowment Board of Directors is composed of academic and public members who represent the four major state regions. This board is supported by a professional staff trained in the humanities.

The LEH approaches its mandate to increase the public’s exposure to an understanding of the humanities by adhering to the following principles:

1. To make humanities project grants which are of demonstrable intellectual value to the people of Louisiana, both as individuals and as social beings;
2. To establish a long-term program which educates both individuals and institutions as to the necessity of the humanities to human culture, and which weaves the humanities deeply into the fabric of Louisiana life;
3. To make grants to diverse nonprofit groups for public programs, which relate the humanities to current social issues and concerns;
4. To select these grants in open competition on the basis of widely known established criteria, ensuring that humanities programs in all disciplines reach a diverse audience throughout the state;
5. To seek financial and other support from foundations, corporations and other interested organizations and institutions for public activities in the humanities.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS
“I should demand a program of culture, drawn out, not for a single class alone, or for the parlors or the lecture rooms, but with an eye to practical life...I should demand of the program or theory a scope generous enough to include the widest human area” —Walt Whitman, Democratic Vistas

The prevailing assumption is that the humanities reside in ivory towers. The LEH believes differently. We believe that the ideas generated when the humanities are applied to daily life can help shape our cultural landscape. Far from being remote and alien to the typical citizen, the humanities lie closest to what it means to be human, since they concern those things that make us who we are as individuals and social beings. Public humanities programs are those that help citizens deepen their knowledge. Through the dissemination of scholarship on particular subject, public humanities programs illuminate fundamental social, cultural or political issues.

The Humanities
When Congress established the NEH, and subsequently the LEH, it defined the humanities to include the following disciplines: history; philosophy; literature; foreign languages (classical and modern); linguistics; comparative religion; ethics; archaeology; jurisprudence; art history, theory and criticism; and philosophical and historical approaches to social sciences.

These fields are differentiated from the quantitative social sciences and the arts (visual, performing or creative). However, even the social sciences and the arts, at times, interface with the humanities in terms of method or content. For example, political theory and cultural anthropology and geography are considered humanities disciplines. So are folklore and certain interdisciplinary fields such as American, ethnic and women’s studies.

Given the central role played by humanities disciplines in all LEH projects, humanities scholars must figure prominently in all phases of a project--as project planners, speakers, panelists, resource persons, and evaluators. If a grant applicant is not trained in, or professionally involved with the humanities, the first step for developing a program should be to engage an appropriate scholar as project advisor. If prospective
applicants need assistance in locating humanities scholars, there are at least two avenues open. They can (1)discuss their needs with an appropriate dean or humanities department head at a nearby college or university, or (2) contact the staff of the LEH directly.

In terms of program content, and in keeping with the diversity of the state’s population, the LEH encourages a diversity of subjects. The LEH also seeks to retain a sensitivity for local projects while using them as a springboard into larger statewide or national questions of culture. Projects involving classic humanities texts and the themes residing therein are always of interest to the LEH. Often such texts are capable of speaking to contemporary concerns and provide the historical contexts for more recent works and issues. At the same time, programs on contemporary literature, history or culture are also essential to the richness of the LEH program.

THE GRANTS PROGRAM
The LEH seeks grant applications within certain clearly defined areas of concentration, which address the varied concerns of our constituency. The LEH promotes subjects and themes that fall within one or more of the following concentration areas:

General Humanities: As the title indicates, programs within this area deal directly with basic humanities subject matter. Project directors may address one or more of the disciplines as subjects, or use these disciplines to investigate the current conditions of life in America or the world at large.

Education and Teacher Institutes: Given the increased emphasis being placed on education nationally, and especially in Louisiana, the LEH is stepping up its activities within this area. The LEH targets three specific formats, which will receive priority within this category: (1) in-service seminars for humanities teachers; (2) institutes of intensive study for elementary, middle and secondary school humanities teachers; and (3) curriculum development in the humanities at either the school, school board or state-wide level.

Louisiana History and Culture: Any assessment of the current conditions of life remains flawed without a consideration of history, either of a region and a people, or of an issue and its transformation. Projects within this category are encouraged to study local history for its own sake and with the goal of grafting it onto larger issues of culture. This area also includes programs such as local public festivals, focusing on regional and local history, regional folklore and folklife, and ethnic studies.

Museums and the Humanities: Recognizing that museums are not just receptacles for objects to be stored and displayed, the LEH seeks to engage museums as sites for local cultural/heritage tourism, as centers for research and dissemination, as hubs for humanities public programs, as motivators of community dialogue and as purveyors of knowledge, through the development of scholarly and interpretive exhibits, materials and programs. Fine arts, decorative arts, as well as historic and/or cultural institutions are welcome.

FUNDABLE FORMATS
The LEH funds a variety of program formats including, but not limited to, planning, discussion, exhibition, short-term consultancies, and media projects:

Discussion: This category includes projects that enable humanities scholars to meet directly with a public audience. Discussion projects may take the form of symposia, community forums, debates, conferences, seminars, workshops, discussion groups, lectures, and panel discussions.

Documentary Film or Radio: This category provides funds for the production of DVD or CD programs. All documentary projects must use one or more humanities disciplines to examine a topic(s) of Louisiana history and/or culture.

Electronic Media/Website: Accessible to the public through the Internet, this format consists of interpretive virtual exhibits of local history and culture, folklore/folkways and museum exhibits. The site developed may also be interactive and include teacher guidelines and curriculum materials. Note: When preparing an application, first consult the Supplemental Guidelines for Electronic Media.

Exhibition Development: Exhibitions using artifacts, documents, works of art, and/or other cultural objects to interpret ideas and concepts are eligible. Funds may be used to assist in interpreting the permanent collections or temporary exhibitions of museums, or to assemble permanent or traveling exhibitions. In addition, eligible applicants may apply for funds for the interpretation of historic sites.

Festivals/Literary or Film Festivals: This format includes informances, chautauquas, interpretive demonstrations of folkways and traditional food, music, crafts and practices, and scholar led film screenings and discussions as well as author readings and discussions.

Planning: This format provides funds for completing the preliminary work necessary to plan complex humanities programs. Funds may be used to engage humanities scholars and/or consultants, to pay travel expenses and to cover other essential expenses. Limited to $1,000, Planning Grants are available through the Outreach Grant program.

Publication: Consists of the production of Louisiana humanities publications and photodocumentaries; interpretive brochures, guides and booklets, catalogues, and teacher manuals. Under this format, the LEH would also support the development of interpretive and historically/culturally significant, community walking/driving tours.

Scholar-in-Residence: This format allows for the placement of a humanities scholar within an eligible sponsoring organization for a period not to exceed four months. Such a scholar could aid the sponsor in the planning and implementation of humanities programs; long-range planning efforts; defining and clarifying public policy issues; and increasing cooperative activities between the sponsor and local humanities resources.

Teacher Institutes/Workshops: An institute must be designed for elementary, middle or high school teachers in the humanities. These intensive four-week programs are designed to heighten a teachers’ knowledge and appreciation of specific humanities disciplines. Workshops are shorter versions of teacher institutes. Docent and teacher training for new exhibitions and historic sites would also be eligible under this format.

FUNDING GUIDELINES
Detailed requirements appear in the descriptions of specific grant types or formats, but the following must be a part of all LEH projects:

Humanities Scholars Involvement: Due to the content of LEH projects, humanities scholars must play a central role in all phases of a project as planners, speakers, resource persons, panelists, and/or evaluators. The LEH defines a humanities scholar as an individual professionally trained and primarily engaged in the study, research, writing, and/or teaching of humanities disciplines. The individual can be retired, not employed, or on temporary leave from a professional position in the humanities. Affiliation with a college or university is usual but not mandatory. Scholars usually have a Ph.D. in a humanities discipline or at least alternative credentials.

Humanities Focus: All LEH projects must focus on topics and themes drawn from the humanities, or bring the analytical potential of the humanities to bear on current political, social or economic concerns and issues.

Balanced Viewpoints: To avoid advocacy and bias, programs sponsored by the LEH must provide for a balance of viewpoints, especially those projects dealing with controversial contemporary issues. For example, a project addressing the First Amendment’s relation to religion in public schools should provide subject matter for both sides of the issue.

Public Audiences: Programs must be designed to address the out-of-school public rather than exclusively the scholarly community. Preference is given to projects that target adults as their primary audience. However, while encouraging the participation of the general public, programs may also target specific audiences, such as families, professional groups, ethnic and/or minority groups, or women’s groups. The LEH does not support projects that have students as their primary audience.

Community Involvement: Representatives of the community must be involved in all phases of a project to complement the presence of the humanities scholars. The LEH encourages advance planning with community groups.

Nonprofit Status: The LEH awards grants to nonprofit groups, organizations and institutions operating in the state of Louisiana. However, the LEH will accept applications from ad hoc groups formed for the purpose of planning and implementing humanities programs. Individuals may apply only for Louisiana Publishing Initiative Grants.

Applicant Cost Share: Project sponsors are required to show applicant cost share equal to or greater than the LEH contribution, with the exception of Outreach Grant projects. This support may be either in actual cash or in the form of in-kind contributions. For most sponsors, this obligation is met through volunteer time, contributed equipment and supplies, contributed facilities, and indirect costs.

Evaluation: Sponsoring organizations are obliged to provide an objective assessment of whether program activities fulfill or do not fulfill the original intent of the project as articulated in the grant proposal. All programs must include an outside independent evaluator to provide an objective assessment. The evaluation narratives supplement the quantitative data gathered from the audience.

Restrictions
LEH funds cannot be used to support the following types of projects:

• Creative and performing arts (theater, dance, music, opera, etc.)
• Research, writing and publication of material targeted exclusively or primarily for a scholarly audience
• Scholarships and fellowships
• Course work for academic credit, except for teacher institutes
• Museum or library acquisitions
• Construction or renovation (capital improvements projects)
• Institutional staffing or any other form of operational support
• Social or political action
• Public information campaigns
• Archival materials without a public component

Within the actual budget, LEH grant funds, as a rule, cannot be used for the following purposes:

• Food, entertainment or liquor costs
• Expenses incurred prior to the grant award date
• Equipment purchases
• Paid Advertising
• Indirect costs (overhead) of sponsoring organizations

APPLICATION PROCESS
The LEH office staff is available to assist prospective applicants. All professionally trained in the humanities, they assist in project design, connecting applicants with resource groups and scholars, and helping project designers complete budgets. Staff members, however, do not write grant proposals. In addition, applicants should understand that all funding decisions are made exclusively by the LEH Board.

Preliminary Proposals: The staff will review drafts of applications submitted at least 4 weeks prior to a grant deadline. Responses to late arriving drafts cannot be guaranteed. Preliminary applications should be developed using the Preliminary Application Worksheet found on the Web page of the appropriate grant type, and should be submitted to the appropriate LEH staff member via email. Staff will provide a written critique of your application so that you may revise it before the deadline. Please see the Preliminary Applications Policy for more information.

Applications must be submitted online. You may access the online application from the LEH Web site. Applications are due at the LEH office by 11:59 p.m. on the day of the specified deadline. No exceptions are made. For those instances when a deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, grants should be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. of the first business day following the grant deadline.

GENERAL PROVISIONS
Potential grant applicants should be aware that the receipt of a grant award from the LEH carries with it certain responsibilities. These obligations fall into the following general categories:

Post-Funding Workshops: Project directors and fiscal agents of Louisiana Publishing Initiative, Public Humanities, Media Grants and Teacher Institutes awarded by the LEH are required to attend a post-funding workshop shortly after receipt of the award letter from the LEH. These workshops are designed to familiarize grant recipients with the LEH staff member charged with oversight of the grant, with the reporting forms of the LEH and with the financial management requirements of the LEH. Attendance can be waived, except for Teacher Institutes, if the project director and fiscal agent have previously attended a workshop.

Financial Management: Grant recipients are required to adhere to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. This system would provide for the separation of grant funds from other revenues of the sponsoring organization and the maintenance of records (such as invoices, receipts, or vouchers) that adequately identify the reason for each expenditure of grant funds. This system should document the applicant’s share of the cost of a project (both cash and in-kind). The LEH requires that each recipient of a LPI, Public Humanities, Media Grant or Teacher Institutes furnish interim narrative and fiscal reports, which list and identify all disbursements of grant funds for the project up to that point.

Payment Schedule: The LEH makes payments of grant funds in installments. The current payment schedule of the LEH is as follows:

Outreach, Planning and President’s Discretionary Grants: First payment: 67% of the total outright funds will be released upon receipt of 1) a signed award letter and grant agreement; 2) satisfactorily meeting all grant conditions; and 3) commencement of the term of the grant. The remaining 33% of the grant funds will be held as the final payment for the grant. This amount will not be released until the LEH receives the project director’s Final Evaluation Report packet, which includes all the necessary documentation to close the grant.

Public Humanities and Louisiana Publishing Initiative Grants: First payment: 25% of the total outright funds including will be released upon receipt of 1) a signed award letter and grant agreement; 2) satisfactorily meeting all grant conditions; and 3) commencement of the term of the grant. Second Payment: 50% of the grant funds, will be released upon receipt of 1) a completed Payment Request (Form A), 2) Interim Narrative Report; and 3) review of these materials by the LEH staff. The remaining 25% of the grant funds will be held as the final payment for the grant. This amount will not be released until the LEH receives the project director’s Final Evaluation Report packet, which includes all the necessary documentation to close the grant.

Documentary Film and Radio Grants: Documentary Film and Radio Grants awards are made as a final payment reimbursement only. At the end of the grant term, always June 30 of the following year, a completed film or radio program must be submitted with all final report materials as outlined in the Grant Agreement by July 31; otherwise, funds will be forfeit.

Teacher Institutes for Advanced Study Grants: First payment: $1,500 for publicity and promotion of the institute will be released upon receipt of 1) a signed award letter and grant agreement; 2) satisfactorily meeting all grant conditions; and 3) commencement of the grant term. Second payment: Released upon confirmation from the project director that the institute is fully enrolled per the grant proposal. With this second payment (in addition to the $1,500 first payment), the LEH will have provided 75% of the total award. The remaining 25% of the grant funds will be held as the final payment for the grant. This amount will not be released until the LEH receives the project director’s Final Evaluation Report packet, which includes all the necessary documentation to close the grant.

Final Report: Using the online grants management system, project directors must submit a final report to the LEH within 30 days following the end of the grant term. The first section of this report consists of audience statistics for the public program. The second section is the project director’s written narrative evaluation of the project (three to four pages, double spaced, typewritten) critiquing the topic, format, humanities scholars, resource personnel, logistics, promotion, audience attendance, and the overall administration of the grant. The last section consists of all other reporting forms for the project and includes:

1. Final Payment Request and Budget Summary;
2. LEH Independent Evaluation Form;
3. Audience Evaluation Forms (a representative sampling);
4. 30 copies of promotional materials (posters, brochures, flyers, catalogues, programs, etc.) and sample copies of publicity materials (newspaper clippings, etc.) to be MAILED to LEH offices as part of the final report;
5. For Exhibits - photographs to document and support narrative reports to be MAILED to LEH offices as part of the final report;
6. For Documentary Film and Radio – 30 DVD or CD copies of the final media product to be MAILED to LEH offices as part of the final report;
7. For Louisiana Publishing Initiative Grants - completed manuscript or five copies of the published book to be MAILED to LEH offices as part of the final report and a 4,000-word article for publication in the LEH magazine, Louisiana Cultural Vistas.

Acknowledgment: Each grantee must credit the LEH’s support for the project. The LEH logo must be prominently displayed on ALL materials, which publicize project activities, such as brochures, catalogues, radio and television announcements, newspaper articles, documentaries, invitations, or publications. LEH funds may not be spent on project publications, which do not bear the LEH logo. Applicants who receive awards must also acknowledge support from The National Endowment for the Humanities in all materials resulting from activities supported by LEH funds. Failure to adhere to this acknowledgment requirement will result in the forfeiture of publicity expenses awarded and can jeopardize future grant applications from the sponsoring organization.

Legal Requirements: In addition to complying with all relevant LEH guidelines, grant recipients are further required to adhere to those federal laws and LEH policies summarized below:

Federal Laws:
1. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) which provides that no person in the United States shall, on grounds of race, color or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity for which the applicant received federal financial assistance.

2. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 794), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of handicap in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.

3. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.

4. The Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended (42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance, except that actions which reasonably take age into account as a factor necessary for the normal operation or achievement of any statutory objective of the project or activity shall not violate this statute.

5. Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary Exclusion Lower Tier Covered Transactions (45 CFR 1169). The prospective lower tier participant* certifies, by submission of this proposal, that neither it nor its principals is presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from participation in this transaction by any federal body. Where the prospective lower tier participant* is unable to certify to any of the statements in the certification,
such prospective participant shall attach an explanation to this proposal.

6. Department of Labor Standards for Performance and Related Personnel. Regrantees that employ professional performers and related or supporting professional personnel under an Endowment grant are required to provide written assurance that:

A. These employees shall be paid, without subsequent deduction or rebate on any account, not less than the minimum compensation as determined in accordance with 29 CFR 505.3 to be the prevailing minimum compensation for persons employed on similar activities, and
B. No part of any project or production which is financed in whole or in part under an Endowment grant will be performed or engaged in under working conditions which are unsanitary or hazardous or dangerous to the health and safety of the employee engaged in such project or production.

Admission Policy: To encourage public participation, LEH -funded projects should be open to the public at no charge or only a nominal fee. When admission costs are charged, these funds should be reflected in an applicant’s budget as part of their cash cost share for the project. In other words, in those exceptional cases, admission costs will be allowed only if the revenue is used for project purposes during the period of the grant.

Copyrights and Rights Governing Project Products: The following guidelines govern all copyright situations, revenue situations and the permanent status of products through LEH grants:

1. Grantees are required to obtain a copyright in the name of the sponsoring organization on all publications, films, videotapes, scripts, audiotapes, and products of a similar nature. The LEH reserves the right to unlimited access and reproduction of these materials.
2. A final total project budget must be approved by the LEH at the conclusion of the project. During the grant term and following its termination, a percentage (this percentage being equal to the proportion of the LEH contribution to the final total project budget represented in the Final Report as approved by the LEH) of the gross revenues that arise from the sale, rental, or use of a project or its products must be paid to the LEH. This reporting shall continue for a period of three (3) years after the official closing of the grant or the broadcast or publication of any product of a grant, whichever comes later. A report on revenues and reimbursement of payments to the LEH shall be due on a yearly basis on the anniversary of the project completion date or within ten (10) days of a written request from the LEH.
3. At least 30 copies of any media product (DVD or CD) resulting from LEH grant funds shall be furnished to the LEH by the grantee and shall be permanently retained by the LEH for its use. Likewise, 30 copies (5 copies for Louisiana Publishing Initiative projects) of any publication shall be made available to the LEH by the grantee and shall be permanently retained by the LEH for its use.

The LEH also reserves the right to purchase at cost additional copies of each product and to use all copies as it deems appropriate.

*Note: Lower tier participant = LEH grant recipient.

GLOSSARY

Authorizing Official: An individual at the sponsoring organization who is qualified to accept the sponsorship of the project on behalf of the organization; usually the chief official.

Consultant: An individual or firm providing technical services; for example, a graphic designer, exhibit designer, or videographer.

Cost Share: Cash or in-kind support of a project provided by the project director or sponsoring organization.

Credentials: Academic degrees, awards, publications, or other examples of scholarly activity that serve to document the ability and expertise of a humanities scholar.

Evaluator: A scholar not affiliated with the project or sponsoring organization that provides an objective assessment of an LEH funded project at its completion.

Fiscal Agent: An individual affiliated with the sponsoring organization who has fiscal oversight of the project.

Gifts: See third-party gifts.

Honoraria: Fees paid to humanities scholars.

Humanities: As defined by Congress, the disciplines of history; philosophy; literature; foreign languages (classical and modern); linguistics; comparative religion; ethics; archaeology; jurisprudence; art history, theory, and criticism; also includes philosophical and historical approaches to the social sciences such as political theory and cultural anthropology.

Humanities Scholar: Individual professionally trained and primarily engaged in the study, research, writing, and/or teaching of humanities disciplines. Scholars most often have a Ph.D. or at least alternative credentials; alternative credentials include publication or recognition by other scholars in the appropriate field.

Independent Evaluator: A humanities scholar who is not affiliated with a project or its sponsoring organization or the LEH who assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the project.

Indirect Costs: Organizational operating expenses, such as furniture, utilities, security, insurance, or other overhead.

In-kind Cost Share: Goods, services, and/or facilities donated to the project. Examples include time donated by volunteers, use of equipment, and donated supplies.

Preliminary Application: A draft of an application submitted to the LEH for a complimentary review at least 4 weeks prior to the deadline. A preliminary application includes a narrative, budget and budget narrative, and a list of what will be included in the supplementary materials. In order to be eligible for more than $2,000 in the Outreach Grant category or $10,000 in the Public Humanities and Documentary Film and Radio Grant categories, it is mandatory that a draft be submitted at least 4 weeks prior to the grant deadline.

Project Director: The individual charged with the project’s administration and successful execution.

Sponsoring Organization: The non-profit organization sponsoring the project on behalf of the project director.

Third-party Gifts: Cash contributions to a project that come from a source outside the sponsoring organization or the LEH. An example is a corporate or foundation donation. Gifts from project directors or their families are not considered third-party gifts.