National Endowment for the Arts
Notice of Funding Opportunity: FY27 Partnership Agreement Grants
Application Instructions: Regional Arts Organizations (RAOs)
Table of Contents
Click a heading below to navigate directly to that section.
Partnership Agreement Grants: Regional Arts Organizations 2
To Access the Application Package and Create a Workspace 2
Step 1: Fill out the Application for Federal Domestic Assistance (“SF-424 Mandatory”) 4
Step 2: Fill out the Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) 7
Step 3: Complete and Attach Required Items to the Attachments Form 8
Attachment Button 1: Application Narrative 9
C. PRIORITIES AND PROGRAMMING 11
D. RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT 12
Attachment Button 2: Regional Arts Plan 14
Attachment Button 3: Changes in Conflict of Interest/Appeals 14
Access for individuals with disabilities:
Contact accessibility@arts.gov to request an accommodation or an alternate format of the guidelines at least 2 weeks prior to the application deadline.
Reminder: RAO Applicants are no longer designated as on-year or off-year, ALL RAO applicants must submit a full application each year.
A complete application submitted through Grants.gov will include:
Application for Federal Domestic Assistance form (“SF-424 Mandatory”)
Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form (SF-LLL)
Attachments Form, to which you will attach:
Application Narrative *
Regional Arts Plan *
Changes in Conflict of Interest/Appeals
Items with an asterisk (*) will be reviewed by Partnership Agreement grant reviewers. Other submitted items are for administrative use only. Application narratives should not refer reviewers to application materials that are not marked with an asterisk.
Step |
Date |
Submit Application to Grants.gov |
October 8, 2026 11:59 pm ET |
Notification |
April 2027 |
Submit Partnership Agreements Budget Form |
Date Announced in Notification of Funding |
Earliest Start Date for Proposed Project |
July 1, 2027 |
You will use Grants.gov Workspace to complete the application Grants.gov.
Review the Grants.gov video tutorial on how to create a Workspace.
Access the application package on the Partnership Agreements webpage by clicking on the application package link found under “How to Apply.” to go directly to the pre-populated application package for this opportunity in Grants.gov.
The Grants.gov “View Grant Opportunity” screen will open, click the red “Apply” button. To create the Workspace application, you must be logged into Grants.gov with a participant role of either Workspace Manager or Authorized Organization Representative (AOR).
If the Apply button is grey or you receive a “bad request” error, see instructions on how to troubleshoot.
Create a Workspace application:
Fill in the Application Filing Name field with your organization name, then
Click the Create Workspace button.
Go to the Manage Workspace page, where you can begin working on the application.
GRANTS.GOV HELP: Grants.gov is a government-wide portal, and NEA staff does not have control of, or administrative access to, the site. If you run into technical issues with Grants.gov, please contact them directly at 1-800-518-4726, via email support@grants.gov, or consult the information posted on the Grants.gov website at Support or Help. The Grants.gov Contact Center is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Completing Grants.gov forms:
All asterisked (*) items and yellow fields on the Grants.gov forms are required. Do not type in all capital letters. Enter information directly into the forms, do not copy and paste from an old application package or another document. Review the Grants.gov video tutorial on how to complete forms in Workspace.
1. Items 1a-d default to certain selections; do not change them.
2. Date Received: Filled automatically with the date of application submission; leave blank.
3. Applicant Identifier: For your own use or leave blank.
4., 5., and 6.: Leave blank.
7. Applicant Information:
Legal Name: The applicant's legal name as it appears in the current IRS 501(c)(3) status letter or in the official document that identifies the organization as a unit of state or local government. (Do not use your organization's popular name, if different.)
Employer/Taxpayer Identification Number (EIN/TIN): Enter the 9-digit number that was assigned by the Internal Revenue Service; do not use a Social Security Number.
Organizational Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): All organizational applicants for federal funds must have a UEI. Enter your organization’s UEI here. You can find your UEI in your System for Award Management (SAM) record. If you cannot locate your UEI, contact SAM for assistance. For your application to be validated, the UEI you enter here must match the UEI associated with your organization’s SAM record that was used as part of your Grants.gov registration.
Address: Use Street 1 for your organization’s physical street address. This address must be identical to the physical address that you used with SAM. Only use Street 2 if your organization’s mailing address differs from the SAM physical street address.
In the Zip/Postal Code box, enter the full 9-digit zip code assigned by the U.S. Postal Service. The full zip code can be found on the USPS website.
Organizational Unit: Leave blank.
Name and contact information of person to be contacted on matters involving this application: Provide the information for the individual who should be contacted on all matters involving this application and the administration of any grant that may be awarded. If this person is already associated with prior awards from your organization, you must use the same exact name and primary email address associated with that person’s existing REACH account. Due to restrictions from the Department of Homeland Security we are not able to send emails to alias addresses that forward to another email account. Do not enter this type of email address. NOTE: Offer and award notifications will be sent to the person listed here and the AOR listed in 18.
8a. Type of Applicant: Select the item that best characterizes your organization from the menu in the first drop-down box. An additional description is optional.
9. Name of Federal Agency: This has been pre-populated.
10. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: This has been pre-populated.
11. Descriptive Title of Applicant’s Project: Enter “Partnership Agreement”.
12. Areas Affected by Funding: Leave blank.
13. Congressional District Information:
Applicant: Enter the number of the Congressional District where the applicant organization is physically located. Use the following format: 2-character State Abbreviation-3-character District Number. For example, if your organization is located in the 5th Congressional District of California, enter "CA-005." If your state has a single At-Large Representative or your territory has a single Delegate, enter your 2-character state/jurisdiction abbreviation and "-000." If you need help determining your district, visit the House of Representatives website and use the "Find Your Representative" tool.
Project: Leave blank.
14. Funding Period: Enter the beginning and ending dates for your requested period of performance, i.e., the span of time necessary to plan, execute, and close out your Partnership Agreement grant. This should include adequate time to administer and close out all subawards made with NEA and/or cost share. The start date should be the first day of the month, and the end date should be the last day of the month. The period of performance may start on or after July 1, 2026. Generally, a period of performance of up to two years is allowed.
15. Estimated Funding:
Federal: Enter "0."
Match: Leave blank.
16. State Executive Order 12372 Process: Applicants should contact the State Single Point of Contact for Executive Order 12372 to determine whether this application is subject to their state’s intergovernmental review process. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) maintains a list of official State Single Points of Contact designated by the States to review and coordinate proposed federal financial assistance and direct federal development.
17. Is the Applicant Delinquent on Any Federal Debt?: Examples of relevant debt include delinquent payroll or other taxes, audit disallowances, and benefit overpayments. If your response is "yes," click on the "Yes" box and include an explanation with your application.
18. Authorized Representative: Enter the requested information for the AOR (Authorized Organization Representative) who will be submitting this application to Grants.gov. The AOR must have the legal authority to obligate your organization (e. g., be a senior staff member such as an Executive Director, Director of Development). If this person is already associated with prior awards from your organization, you must use the same exact name and primary email address associated with that person’s existing REACH account. Due to restrictions from the Department of Homeland Security we are not able to send emails to alias addresses that forward to another email account. Do not enter this type of email address.
NOTE: Offer and award notifications will be sent to the person listed here and the contact listed in 7f.
By clicking the "I Agree" box in item 18, this individual will be certifying compliance with relevant federal requirements on your organization's behalf. (These requirements can be found in the Assurance of Compliance .) The "Signature of Authorized Representative" and "Date Signed" boxes will be populated by Grants.gov upon submission of the application.
Stop after item 18. Do not add attachments to this form.
Items 1-3 default to certain selections; do not change them.
4. Name and Address of Reporting Entity: Provide the requested information for the reporting entity. Include Congressional District, if known.
5. If Reporting Entity in No. 4 is Subawardee: Leave blank.
6. Federal Department/Agency: Enter "National Endowment for the Arts."
7. Federal Program: This has been pre-populated.
8. Federal Action Number, if known: Leave blank.
9. Award Amount, if known: Leave blank.
10. a. Name and Address of Lobbying Registrant: Provide the requested information for the registrant under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 engaged by the reporting entity identified in item 4 to influence the covered federal action. If not applicable, enter "N/A" in the fields for First Name, Last Name, Address 1, and City.
b. Individual Performing Services: Enter the name of the individual performing services, and include an address if different from 10 (a). If not applicable, enter "N/A" in the fields for First Name, Last Name, Address 1, and City.
11. Authorized Representative: Provide the requested information for the AOR (Authorized Organization Representative) who will be submitting the Partnership Agreements application to Grants.gov. This should be the same person listed as the AOR on the Application for Federal Domestic Assistance (SF-424 Mandatory). The "Signature" and "Date" boxes will be populated by Grants.gov upon submission of the application.
The Attachments Form is where you will attach documents that you have completed and saved elsewhere on your computer. The form has 15 attachment buttons. By clicking on a button, you will be able to choose the PDF file from your computer that you wish to attach.
All attachments must be submitted as PDF files.
When you have completed the document, save it to your computer and convert it to PDF before attaching. Do not create PDFs of your electronic documents by scanning.
Do not embed non-printable media files (video and/or sound) in your PDF documents.
No attachment should be more than 2 MB.
Document Formatting:
Label pages clearly with the name of the item (e.g., Application Narrative) and your organization's legal name.
Leave a margin of at least one inch at the top, bottom, and sides of all pages.
Pages should be single-spaced, using a 12-point font size.
Do not type in all capital letters.
Place numbers on the bottom righthand corner of each page.
Do not enable any document security settings or password-protect PDFs.
File Naming:
Name your files as indicated in the instructions and attach them in the proper order.
Limit file names to 50 characters and use only the following characters when naming your attachments: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, underscore (_), hyphen (-), space, and period.
You cannot change the name of a file once it has been uploaded to the Attachments Form. Therefore, make certain that each file is named correctly before you attach it.
Your agency name (or acronym) must be included in each file name (e.g. "ABCArtsCouncilNarrative”).
REQUIRED
Recommended length is three pages.
To this button, attach an Application Narrative. The file name should include the name of your organization or a recognizable acronym followed by "Narrative." Label each page clearly with your organization's legal name and "Application Narrative."
Recommended length for the application narrative is three pages. If more space is needed to address significant items relevant to the required prompts below, additional pages may be used. The application narrative should not exceed five pages. Application reviewers will be directed to not review more than five pages of application narrative.
You may reference details provided in the regional arts plan (Attachment Two) as needed, so as not to duplicate information. Please include specific page numbers and/or sections in your references to the plan. Applicants may also provide URL links to support/supplementary material that is referenced in your narrative, including links to organization work plans, program implementation plans, or previous regional arts plans, if relevant. Use links in moderation, and do not direct reviewers to additional narrative content.
Partnership Agreement grants eligibility requires that RAOs must have developed a regional arts plan that:
Results from a responsive, public process that solicited and represented the perspectives of arts constituencies throughout the regional’s service area, and
Reflects recommendations from the public process, as well as programmatic and/or policy responses to the recommendations.
To meet the needs and eligibility requirements noted above, please address, in order, items A-D below.
Note: For the purposes of these guidelines, an underserved group/community includes populations whose opportunities to experience the arts have been limited relative to factors such as geography, economic status, ethnicity, or disability. Within this broad definition, RAOs are asked to specify their own underserved groups/communities. Identify those constituencies your organization considers underserved and describe your organization’s efforts to engage members of those groups/communities.
Describe major developments or conditions in your region – e.g., economic, cultural, demographic, educational, geographical, or other – that have an impact on your organization's planning and operations.
Provide a link to your current staff and board lists.
IMPORTANT: If planning process information can be found in your Regional Arts Plan, you may identify the related pages or sections of the plan in lieu of reiterating that information in the Application Narrative attachment. Please be certain that all required details are referenced clearly, either directly in the plan or in this narrative.
Describe your organization’s most recent planning process, including:
The design and structure of the process;
Efforts undertaken to engage member state arts agencies;
Efforts undertaken to include a wide range of constituents in the planning process, including but not limited to those in underserved communities, artists, arts organizations, educators, state agencies, community groups, disability groups, artists and cultural workers with disabilities, businesses, municipal and tribal governments;
How members/representatives of underserved communities were invited into and involved in the planning process;
The efforts your organization made to engage constituents through a variety of means such as public meetings, surveys, interviews, virtual engagement, and digital communications as relevant to various constituent groups. Be sure to include specific, explicitly stated facts and figures about the methods employed to reach and involve participants. Include the number, dates, times, and locations of constituent meetings, numbers of participants, and which sectors they represent. *If this information is not included in your submitted plan, and would be difficult to fit within the short application narrative length, please contact staff for guidance.
Efforts to ensure in-person and virtual events, publications, website, and offices are in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Discuss the recommendations and priorities for your regional arts plan that resulted from the public meetings and other forums.
Describe your organization’s response to these recommendations, and the ways in which the response was communicated to the public – including but not limited to references in the regional arts plan.
Describe the processes used to measure and monitor your organization’s progress in relation to the regional arts plan. Consider if relevant, any metrics or other information (e.g., program and/or organizational evaluations) used.
Also, describe how those served, including underserved groups, are part of the evaluation process, how outside experts are involved in your evaluation activities, and any changes that your organization plans to make to its programs and services based on this information.
Without reiterating your regional arts plan, which reviewers will see in full, briefly describe your organization’s priorities for the upcoming year and the leadership your organization is undertaking to achieve those priorities.
Describe your organization’s most significant programs, activities, and accomplishments in relation to your region’s current or most recent regional arts plan.
In addition, as relevant, consider addressing programming if/as it intersects with the Program Goals and Objectives outlined in the Partnership Agreement grants program description.
Describe how each program, activity, and special initiative responds to constituent priorities and/or a changing environment in your region.
Describe those programs and special initiatives in which your RAO has exercised exemplary leadership.
Describe any public and private partnerships that enable you to deliver these programs and initiatives and the role played by your organization.
You may also discuss internal organizational work, such as introduction of new funding categories or completion of long-term programming, which may also demonstrate the most significant accomplishments of your organization.
If relevant, describe and explain any challenges that resulted in the objectives or goals either not being met or only partially met since your organization’s last application.
Include details relevant to regional/federal cooperative program areas as detailed below:
REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM: Describe programs, activities, and accomplishments associated with the NEA Regional Engagement Program, including artist-centered engagement with an emphasis on programs that reach underserved communities and enhance public engagement with the arts.
Describe the process by which funds are awarded, including the criteria used and the expertise involved in adjudicating grants, and the provisions for ensuring that an appropriate proportion of activity takes place in underserved communities.
FOLK & TRADITIONAL ARTS: Describe briefly your organization’s support of stable, outreach-driven programs that are responsive to your region’s folk & traditional arts heritage. In your description, include:
How you will support folk & traditional arts in your region, including any grant programs (e.g., apprenticeships, etc.), fieldwork/research, technical assistance, and cultural sustainability programs for traditional artists.
Your outreach to folk & traditional arts stakeholders (e.g., artists, community leaders, folklorists, other organizations, etc.) to facilitate field-building and to inform your organization’s programming or activities.
List the name and position/title of the lead staff for your folk and traditional arts programming. If programming is managed through a partnership or contract, such as agreements with a nonprofit organization or a university, list the partner/ contractor’s information, including details on any agreements that are in place.
ACCESSIBILITY: If you would like to request accessibility funding, please describe briefly your organization’s plans related to accessibility professional development and/or accessibility subaward programs. Your description should include a requested budget figure for Accessibility funds, up to $15,000 for FY27. Accessibility-related activities can include, but are not limited to:
Support for travel and registration expenses for SAA and RAO Accessibility Coordinators and other staff to attend peer sessions at the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability Conference, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) Assembly, and/or other conferences, if applicable.
Delivery of other professional development activities including in-person training, webinars, and other virtual events on topics related to accessibility and engagement of the disability community. Activities can include constituents, but should prioritize training of SAA and RAO staff.
Funding for SAA and RAO staff to attend other accessibility training and educational activities, such as Regional or National ADA Center conferences and certification training.
Support for subawards to cover the cost of access accommodations for cultural organizations and/ or professional development for artists and other cultural workers with disabilities.
Discuss the health of your organization's development efforts (grants, contributions, earned income). What strategies are you employing to secure and enhance future revenues?
Describe the steps that your organization is taking to maximize the cost effectiveness of its operations.
Budget: Provide information about your organization’s annual budget for the current fiscal year, and a projection for the next fiscal year. Use the following format:
|
Current Fiscal Year |
Projected Next Fiscal Year |
Fiscal Year End Date |
MM/DD/YYYY |
MM/DD/YYYY |
Total Operating Expenses |
$ |
$ |
Revenue Sources Information: Using the chart format below, provide the following information for the previous and current fiscal years. Include entire organizational budget figures, not just NEA dollars
|
Previous Fiscal Year |
Current Fiscal Year |
Fiscal Year |
|
|
NEA Partnership Agreement |
$ |
$ |
Other Federal |
$ |
$ |
SAAs - Direct Unrestricted1 |
$ |
$ |
SAAs - Direct Restricted Regional2 |
$ |
$ |
SAAs - Direct Restricted Non-Regional3 |
$ |
$ |
SAAs - In-Kind4 |
$ |
$ |
Private and Corporate Contributions |
$ |
$ |
Earned Income |
$ |
$ |
SUBTOTAL |
$ |
$ |
SAAs – Indirect Contributions5 |
$ |
$ |
GRAND TOTAL |
$ |
$ |
REQUIRED
To this button, attach your organization’s current, approved regional arts plan. The file name should indicate the name of your organization or a recognizable acronym followed by "Plan." Label each page clearly with your organization's legal name and "Regional Arts Plan."
The plan should convey your organization’s mission, vision, goals, objectives, major strategies, and evaluation plans.
Attachment Two should be your current, approved regional arts plan. If the accomplishments described in your application narrative (Attachment One) relate to an earlier plan, you may include a link in narrative to the former plan. If you have an organization work plan or program implementation plan developed to complement your strategic plan, you may also link to it within the narrative. It is the applicant’s responsibility to maintain the availability of linked material.
IF APPLICABLE
To this button attach your Changes in Conflict of Interest/Appeals document.
Submit this item only if there has been a change in your conflict of interest policies or appeals process since you last applied for a Partnership Agreement grant. The file name should include the name of your organization or a recognizable acronym followed by "Changes." Label each page clearly with your organization's legal name and "Changes in Conflict of Interest/Appeals."
LEAVE ALL ADDITIONAL ATTACHMENT BUTTONS BLANK.
Be certain that you are satisfied with your application before you click submit. No revisions are possible through Grants.gov once submitted. After submission, the only way to update items in your application is to create a new application. The NEA will only review your most recently submitted application.
We strongly suggest that you submit your application well before the deadline to provide ample time to resolve any problems.
Review the Grants.gov video tutorial on submitting an application in Workspace.
Check the size of your electronic application. The total size should not exceed 10 MB.
Navigate to the Forms tab on the Manage Workspace page:
Once the forms are filled out and the Form Status column says "Passed," they will be ready for submission.
The status “Forms Passed” does NOT indicate that your application has been submitted, only that your forms have been filled out. You still need to click the Sign and Submit button after receiving the “Forms Passed” status. For more information, review the Forms Tab help article.
Click Complete and Notify AOR to notify the user(s) with the AOR role that the workspace is ready to submit.
The AOR must click Sign and Submit to submit the application.
After the AOR submits the application, they will see a confirmation screen explaining that the submission is being processed. Take a screenshot and retain the Grants.gov Tracking Number that you receive in the application submission confirmation screen.
Verify that the application was validated by the Grants.gov system. Take a screenshot of the validation confirmation for your records.
You can track the progress of your application submission through Grants.gov in one of three ways:
Check the progress bar in Workspace. When your application has been successfully received, the bar will be green, and a check mark will appear in each bubble.
When logged in to Grants.gov, click the Check Application Status link under the Applicants drop-down menu and search for the submitted application.
When not logged in to Grants.gov, go to Track My Application and enter your Grants.gov Tracking Number.
Information about checking Grants.gov application status and a complete list of statuses.
If any significant developments affecting the RAO occur subsequent to submitting the application, please contact NEA staff immediately. Significant developments might include changes to the organization operating environment, budget, key leadership/staff, strategic planning, and notable accomplishments. Email updates to: NEAStateRegional@arts.gov.
REMINDER:
Following the notification of funding offers (anticipated to be April 2026), all applicants must complete and submit a Partnership Agreement grant budget for NEA review. Instructions and deadlines will be provided with the notification of funding offer.
For additional help on how to use Grants.gov, see the Grants.gov website at Support. You also can send email to the Grants.gov Contact Center at support@grants.gov or call them at 1-800-518-4726, 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week.
For specific help on how to complete your application contact NEA Staff
ALN 45.025
OMB No. 3135-0112 Expires 10/31/25
1 Cash contributions (or dues) paid directly to the organization for unrestricted support of operations, programs, and services.
2 Direct cash contributions or contracts for support of specific multi-state programs or services to a member state
3 Direct cash contributions for support of specific programs and services that are not multi-state.
4 Non-cash third-party contributions in support of the organization's programs or services.
5 Cash contributions not made directly to or through the organization's accounts but which support its programs or services.
National Endowment for the Arts
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | FY25 RAO APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS |
| Author | Lara Allee |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2025-09-19 |