The Federal FY2024 Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NPSG) supports the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) focus on enhancing the ability of state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, as well as nonprofit organizations, to prevent, protect against, prepare for, and respond to terrorist or other extremist attacks. The NSGP provides funding to nonprofit organizations at high risk of a terrorist or other extremist attack for facility hardening and other physical security enhancements and activities. The maximum amount for an individual application is $150,000; an organizations may submit applications for up to three separate sites.

To be eligible for the FY 2024 NSGP, a nonprofit organization must:

• Meet the description under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) of 1986 and be exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such code;
• For NSGP-UA, be located within one of the FY 2024 UASI-designated high-risk urban areas; and 
• Be able to demonstrate, through the application, that the organization is at high risk of a terrorist or other extremist attack.

Allowable costs include contract security, as well as planning, equipment, training, and exercises. Below are some examples:

• Planning – activities related to the development of plans such as:
  • Security Risk Management Plans;
  • Continuity of Operations Plans; and
  • Response Plans.
    1. Equipment –those items listed in the Authorized Equipment List as allowable under NSGP. 
• Training:
  • Active shooter training; and
  • Security training for employees or members of the organization.
    1. Response exercises.

The Notice of Funding Opportunity is available below, but you may also find the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) webpage hosted by FEMA useful as you consider applying on behalf of your organization. The application process itself is lengthy and requires submission of an Investment Justification, a Mission Statement, and a Vulnerability Assessment, as described below and at the websites linked to above. Allow plenty of time to complete the application.

PLEASE NOTE: this grant program is NOT administered by Montgomery County Government. Applicants must be located within the National Capital Region and they must submit their applications no later than Friday, May 31, 2024, at 11:59.59 PM EDT to the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (DC HSEMA), which is the State Administrative Agent (SAA) for this grant. Do not submit applications to Montgomery County or directly to FEMA--they must be sent through DC HSEMA. Questions about this grant may also be directed to DC HSEMA at [email protected] or  [email protected]  

To Prospective FY 2024 Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) Applicants: 

On April 16, 2024, FEMA released the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the FY2024 Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP).  This grant provides $274,500,000 in funding support for target hardening and other physical security enhancements and activities to eligible nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of terrorist attack and other extremist attacks. 


The 2024 NSGP has two components: 

1. $137.25 Million for eligible nonprofit entities that are within designated major urban areas (NSGP-UA).
2. $137.25 Million for eligible nonprofit entities that are not within those designated major urban areas, through a state-level application (NSGP-S).  

The District of Columbia and the surrounding National Capital Region urban area is only eligible to apply for the urban area NSGP program (NSGP-UA). 
The following information and instructions are for nonprofit applicants that are within the National Capital Region urban area (NCR), which includes the District of Columbia, Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland, and Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William Counties and the City of Alexandria in Virginia. Any nonprofit applicants in Maryland and Virginia that are not within the boundaries of the NCR must submit their applications to the Maryland Department of Emergency Management or Virginia Department of Emergency Management, respectively.  

Below are instructions for applications for FY2024 NSGP for the National Capital Region urban area: 

• Applicants must be 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to be eligible. 
• Applicants must be located within the National Capital Region.
• The maximum amount for an individual application is $150,000. An applicant with multiple locations may submit up to three (3) separate applications for different locations in total, for a maximum of $450,000 per organization. 
• Applicants must only request funding for equipment/activities that are consistent with the allowable costs’ guidance listed on pp. 25-34 of the NSGP NOFO. 
• Applicants must submit their applications no later than Friday, May 31, 2024, at 11:59.59 PM EDT to the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (DC HSEMA), which is the State Administrative Agent (SAA) for this grant.                                                                            

Applicants must submit the following three (3) documents to the SAA for a complete application (see pg. 23-24 of the NOFO) 

1. A completed FY2024 NSGP Investment Justification template  
2. A “mission statement” which explains the nature of the applicant organization’s purpose and mission.  This will primarily be used to validate the organization’s type identified in the IJ as either: 1) Ideology-based/spiritual/religious; 2) Educational; 3) Medical; or 4) Other. 
3. A copy of the vulnerability/risk assessment on which the request in the application is based. 

 
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) 

As of April 4, 2022, the federal government requires all recipients and subrecipients of federal funding to use a Unique Federal Identifier (UEI) to identify their organization. The UEI must be acquired through the SAM.gov website and is free of charge. For FY2024 NSGP applicants, if you have a UEI, enter it in the FY2024 application template where it is indicated. If you do not yet have a UEI you may leave that field in the application template blank, and your application will be accepted. However, continue your efforts to get a UEI, as DC HSEMA must have a UEI for all successful applicants in order to issue sub-grants in the coming months. Please refer to the UEI instructions in the Preparedness Grants Manual and the FY2024 NSGP NOFO. 

• Here is a link to a helpful guide from SAM.gov explaining how to acquire a UEI. NSGP applicants do not need to register their UEI’s (that is a much more complicated process). The video link here explains the difference and shows the simplified process for simply getting a UEI issued.

Nonprofit applicants must use the following naming convention for the files submitted to the SAA: 

• The Investment Justification file name should follow this format: “FY2024_NSGP_UA_DC_NCR_”
• As an example, an application from an organization named ABC School would name their Investment Justification file “FY2024_NSGP_UA_DC_NCR_ABC School”
• The Mission Statement file name should be: “ Mission Statement” 
• The Vulnerability Assessment file name should be: “ Vulnerability Assessment” 
• Submit applications by email to [email protected] and  [email protected].
  • Do not submit anything to FEMA or grants.gov—DC HSEMA will do that on behalf of the region. 

The scoring criteria for the applications is included in the NOFO on pages 50-56, applicants should review the scoring criteria to understand how your applications will be reviewed and scored.

DC HSEMA will conduct an initial review and scoring of the applications received and will submit a combined application to FEMA on behalf of the National Capital Region urban area that includes all eligible applications. FEMA will make the final selection of award recipients, announce the result later in the summer of 2024, and issue the grant award to DC HSEMA no later than September 30, 2024. Once DC HSEMA has received the federal grant award and the list of selected recipients, DC HSEMA will issue subawards to those selected recipients in the fall of 2024. 

This information and other relevant NSGP information will be available on the DC HSEMA website here.
 

How to Apply:

For more information on how to apply, including links to the Notice of Funding Opportunity and the Investment Justification form, visit the DC HSEMA webpage.