The grants program seeks innovative research and research-based development projects that can make a profound contribution to the field of financial literacy. Inquiries are encouraged from disciplines in fields as diverse as:
- behavior
- economics
- neuroscience
- sociology
- psychology
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- marketing
- finance
- education
- change theory
- decision sciences and others
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Project outcomes should be actionable in the field of financial literacy, directly relevant to the financial well-being of the public, and able to be applied broadly.
Grant Process
Grant Awards
Grant Amounts and Durations
Types of Projects Funded
Types of Grants Funded
Funding Priorities
Characteristics of Successful Grants Projects
Basic Eligibility Requirements
Approved Projects
Submittal Requirements: How to Apply for a NEFE Grant
Questions about NEFE’s Grants Program
In awarding grants, NEFE adheres to an established process as described below. All applicants are asked to read this material in its entirety, familiarize themselves with the process, and follow all of the requirements indicated for application.
Due to the number of requests for funding and to ensure that all applicants are treated equitably, NEFE will not consider grant requests that fall outside the established application process.
All grants are made at the sole discretion of NEFE, based on its evaluation of individual applications, its determination of relative priorities, and its availability of funds.
The National Endowment for Financial Education reserves the right not to award any specific grant for any reason, or for no apparent reason, no matter how clearly the proposed project may seem to relate to NEFE's initiatives and no matter how closely the grant seeker has followed the guidelines and procedures.
The entire decision-making process, from the submission of a Concept Inquiry form to the notification of acceptance can take several months. Funding decisions are made by a Board committee. Applicants are informed of the committee’s decision in writing within 10 business days after the committee meets. Due to the many requests for funding, NEFE will not critique proposals.
These are the key activities in the grant process:
- Applicants submit a Concept Inquiry Form by the deadline for one of the two annual cycles.
- Receipt of inquiries is generally acknowledged via e-mail within 10 business days.
- Inquiries are reviewed for eligibility and assessed relative to funding priorities.
- Applicants may be asked to provide further information, and discussions may be undertaken for projects of interest.
- Solely at NEFE’s discretion, projects appearing to have strong potential will move to a proposal phase.
- Proposals and Concept Inquiries will be referred to the Board committee for a decision.
- Staff communicates the decision via e-mail within 10 business days after the meeting.
- Grant agreement negotiations are undertaken for approved proposals (Note: Funding is not released until a grant agreement is fully executed).
- Payments are made in installments according to a performance and drawdown plan.
- Project outcomes are disseminated as appropriate to a broad audience.
NEFE awards grants each year in varying amounts, depending on the number and type of requests received, the size and scope of the projects for which funding is requested, and the financial commitments needed to support activities in other areas of NEFE. All grants are made at the sole discretion of NEFE. Grants are awarded only to organizations that have been designated tax-exempt status according to Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) or its equivalent for colleges and universities. To view the types of grants NEFE has awarded in the past, click here.
The merits of the proposed project are the primary focus of consideration. However, many applicants express interest in the grant amounts NEFE has awarded. Recent grant awards for research projects have ranged from $100,000 to $208,000. Grant durations generally range from 12 to 36 months.
NEFE funds research projects and research-based development projects whose outcomes strongly correlate to its funding priorities. Applicants are discouraged from submitting Concept Inquiries that fail to meet basic eligibility criteria.
As explained below, NEFE funds two types of projects, both of which must conform to NEFE’s grant guidelines, submittal requirements, and funding priorities.
- Directed Grants: These grants fund projects that respond to a specific directive initiated by NEFE. Generally, NEFE will allocate most of its funding to directed grants. Examples of directed grants might include requests for research relative to recommendations from a NEFE think tank; or a specific, conceptualized development project directed to an entity or individuals whose knowledge, experience, and credentials pre-qualify her/him to pursue the project; or some combination thereof.
- Unanticipated Grants: These grants refer to project ideas that are fully responsive to NEFE’s general grant guidelines and funding priorities, but are not in response to a specific grant directive. By allowing Concept Inquiries for unanticipated projects, NEFE fosters an environment that is continually receptive to unique and innovative thinking capable of making a profound contribution to the field of financial literacy.
NEFE seeks projects whose outcomes can improve the public’s ability to achieve personal and household financial well-being. Of particular interest are pro-active research projects initiated from one of a broad spectrum of scholarly disciplines whose findings may cultivate critical thinking in the financial literacy community. Also of interest are development projects that put research recommendations into action. Project outcomes must be capable of achieving traction and measurable impact with audiences such as financial education intermediaries, researchers, practitioners, decision makers, and others who can achieve effective outreach to a target population with an unmet financial literacy need or to the general public.
Within the limits of its available funding, and at its sole discretion, NEFE awards grants to organizations that have tax-exempt status according to Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) or its equivalent for colleges and universities.
- All projects must strongly correlate with at least one NEFE Initiative, and in particular NEFE’s Grants Program seeks to fund projects responsive to Initiatives number 7 and 8.
- Once the basic eligibility requirements are satisfied, projects are considered in relation to the strength of the project’s compatibility with NEFE’s organizational and philanthropic goals, and the opportunities to achieve actionable outcomes
Organizational goals refer to NEFE’s long-term strategies to create demand, build or sustain partnerships, and increase awareness of NEFE for the purpose of generating an expansive community of individuals and entities who can address or resolve issues of broad concern to the financial literacy field.
Philanthropic goals reflect NEFE’s core values as embodied in its mission, initiatives, program action areas, and any funding directives that may be announced from time to time.
Achieving actionable outcomes is a defining attribute of NEFE’s funding priorities. Research projects must result in actionable recommendations or make a profound contribution to the financial literacy body of knowledge. Development projects must be research-based and have traction in terms of effective outreach and quantitative and qualitative evaluation.
For a list of key questions that guide assessment of a project’s merits and potential for success, visit Assessing Concept Inquiries.
- NEFE considers projects that strongly support its mission and philanthropic objectives.
- NEFE only considers requests that specifically and substantially address NEFE funding priorities.
Following is an overview of factors that exclude or compromise the likelihood that a project or applicant will be considered. Applicants whose projects include any of the following elements are encouraged to seek other sources of funding.
NEFE will NOT award grants to:
- Individuals
- Organizations that have not been designated tax-exempt status according to Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) or its equivalent for colleges and universities (Note: Pending status is not sufficient)
- Organizations that discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status
- Organizations and/or Project Principals and team members who fail to meet requirements of NEFE’s Strategy Statement and Procedures concerning the USA Patriot Act and related regulations
- Foreign organizations
- International programs or projects
- Organizations whose projects include re-grant of NEFE funding
NEFE’s Grants Program generally will NOT fund:
- Expenses that are not directly related to the project for which funding is sought
- An organization’s operating and administrative expenses. This includes general as well as program costs even if the costs are associated with an organization’s delivery of a financial literacy program for current or prospective constituents
- Salaries of permanent staff, such as prorated salaries of executive and administrative personnel whose work does not have direct and significant bearing on the project’s outcome. (Note that release time of university professors is acceptable when their work is devoted to research and/or development activities directly related to the project.)
- Capital costs, such as building and construction, or equipment, such as computer hardware and office furniture, or basic infrastructure costs, including rent, telephone, copy machines, software, etc.
- Pass-through funding—for example, if the 501(c)(3) organization plans to turn over the funding to a proprietary organization or consultant; or use NEFE funds either to award scholarships to individuals or re-grant to other nonprofit organizations
- Budget deficits
- Projects with a potential conflict of interest (for example, when a board member of the applicant organization will serve as a consultant or vendor)
- Conferences, workshops, seminars and similar activities that fail to provide a long-term solution, or sufficiently broad outreach
- Distribution methodologies that require ongoing maintenance when the ability to perform upkeep without continued funding is questionable—for example, print materials or Web sites with a short "shelf life" that would require ongoing funding, or timely or continuous updates
- Projects with commercial or proprietary elements, such as for-profit activities, use or purchase of copyrighted or trademarked materials, and proprietary research
- Lobbying, political contributions, fund-raising events, or other similar activities designed to influence legislation or intervene in political campaigns
- Donations, endowments, challenge grants, matching funds, sponsorships, and other similar programs
- Direct or matching payments to members of the public, such as scholarships, tuition, assistance with personal and family financial difficulties, registration fees for conferences and training, or similar activities
Once a project is approved by the Board committee, negotiation of a grant agreement is the next step. Funds are not awarded until an agreement is executed. Funds are disbursed in installments, based on mutually agreed upon performance milestones. Generally, each installment is disbursed prior to the subsequent milestone.
- Availability of project outcomes to the public (or an intended audience) is of particular importance to NEFE; such access is to be free of cost or limited to the actual cost of making it available. In general, copyrights would be retained by the grant recipient with NEFE having license to use and distribute the intellectual property created or developed in the course of the project.
- NEFE values and supports the need for independence in conducting research projects. However, in addition to being a funding source, NEFE enters grant agreements in a spirit of collaboration with the grantee and will take an active interest in the project’s progress and project outreach at its conclusion.
All applicants must submit a completed Concept Inquiry Form as the first step in being considered for funding. The inquiry form was developed to assist the applicant in providing basic and necessary information for NEFE to assess whether the applicant meets eligibility requirements and the likelihood that a project is a strong fit with NEFE’s funding priorities. Solely at NEFE’s discretion, projects appearing to have strong potential will move to a proposal phase; applicants for those selected projects will be given further instruction at that time.
NEFE conducts two grant cycles per year. Please refer to the table below for deadlines for each of the two annual cycles:
| Cycle * |
Postmark Deadline |
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Late April
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First Tuesday in December of prior year
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Late October
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First Tuesday in June of cycle year
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Please note: Submittals must be received in the NEFE office by 11:59 p.m. on the deadline date. Concept Inquiries may be submitted at any time. Submittals received after a deadline will be considered during the next cycle. For example, a Concept Inquiry received after the first Tuesday in December will roll to the Late October cycle.
Potential applicants are offered several ways to understand NEFE’s Grants Program, including the following:
Orientation calls: These calls are scheduled about four months before each grant cycle deadline. During these calls, NEFE Grants staff provides an overview of the process and responds to questions about the grant guidelines and how to submit applications.
What NEFE Grant Reviewers Look For: This section contains helpful information about what reviewers consider when assessing a request.
Application instructions offer instructions on how to submit a Concept Inquiry form.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) provide key facts about the NEFE Grants program.
Please note: NEFE does not give advice or offer suggestions regarding project ideas. Potential applicants who believe they have a project idea that fits with NEFE’s funding priorities are required to submit a Concept Inquiry.
*Cycle refers to the timing of the Board committee meeting.