Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) Grants

2025 NMBCA Grant Cycle

Application Due Date: October 31, 2024, 11:59pm Eastern Time (ET)

Funding Opportunity #: F25AS00015 - FY25 Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grants

All applicants must register with the System for Award Management (SAM) and GrantSolutions to submit proposals through the Directed Announcement. Accounts must be properly set up to obtain the correct user roles within the system. For more information on this process, see Registration Guidance and How to Apply to a Directed Announcement.

Forms on GrantSolutions must be filled out completely and accurately. Before starting the online form, please review the Grant Administration Standards & Guidance, Application Process Overview and Notice of Important Changes sections on this page to make the application process smoother. Familiarize yourself with the management and reporting pages to fully understand your commitments. If your proposal is selected and you accept the award, compliance with these standards will be required.

Applicants are encouraged to initiate enrollment in the required systems as soon as possible, and at least 6 weeks before the posted deadline. Organizations that have never applied to NMBCA before or have never received a NMBCA award are also strongly encouraged to apply. We also encourage applications from organizations based in the Caribbean, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.

UPDATE (As of September 2024): NMBCA would like to help eliminate application barriers for inexperienced or small organizations. If you have tried but were unable to register in the System for Award Management (SAM) or in GrantSolutions, or if you are currently enrolled but are having difficulty navigating these systems, you may be eligible to receive technical support through the FWS Small Grants Program. Please contact neotropical@fws.gov to learn if you are eligible for help with your application and grant administration. US State governments, Institutions of Higher Education (except Minority Serving Institutions), or large Nonprofit Organizations (i.e., received more than $10M from Department of the Interior bureaus and offices combined in the past three years) are not eligible.

Grant Administration Standards & Guidelines

FWS General Award Terms and Conditions apply to every award.

Projects on lands or waters under the jurisdiction of the United States (U.S.) see:

• U.S. Grant Administration Standards

Projects located exclusively outside the U.S. see:

• Grant Administration Guidelines for Projects Outside the U.S.

Projects with activities located both inside and outside the U.S. see both:

• U.S. Grant Administration Standards 
• Grant Administration Guidelines for Projects Outside the US

Application Overview

Your application will require the following:

1. Proposal Narrative
2. Partner Contribution Statements
3. Project Abstract Summary
4. Standard Forms 424 (“Application for Federal Assistance”)
5. Spreadsheet of your Proposal Narrative Budget (424A)
6. GIS shapefile (or Google Earth .kmz file) of your project area

Notice of Important Changes for FY25

1. The Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act of 2023 lowered the required matching contributions (cost-sharing) amount to 2-to-1.
2. Matching contributions are allowable from January 1, 2022.  
3. Applicant organizations are eligible to receive a maximum of 2 awards. 
4. There is no limit to the number of applications an organization can submit. 
5. The maximum amount you may request per proposal is $250,000.
6. Proposals are now allowed in Spanish. Supplemental English translations are optional. (Spanish application instructions)
7. The is no IMPACT program opportunity this year. 
8. We encourage the inclusion of Conservation Evidence to support the justification for the appropriateness of your proposed actions (see Proposal Narrative section “3. Project Description, a. Statement of Need”). 
9. The program’s Fiscal Year 2025 funding may not be appropriated by Congress before your proposal is submitted; therefore, any grant selections are contingent on the availability of funds.
10. There is a Matching Contribution Savings Plan opportunity for real property acquisitions to exceed the minimum matching contribution requirements. See Proposal Application Instructions and optional Appendix M.

Changes from Recent Years

1. The "Assurances for Non-Construction Programs (SF-424B)" form and the "Assurances for Construction Programs (SF-424D)" form are no longer required. 
   1. Note: All applicants must review the Financial Assistance Representation and Certification in the SAM.gov registration and agree to compliance to remain eligible. What are Representations and Certifications?
2. We now define “Cash” as any cash outlay for a project related cost that is made up to two years before January 1 of the year that we receive the application. There must be documentation of the purchase of these goods or services.
   1. Note: This primarily affects U.S. and Canada based projects.
3. Matching contributions are allowable from January 1 two years prior to proposal.
4. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) numbers replaced DUNS numbers.
5. Applications MUST include a Project Abstract Summary (English only), Proposal Narrative with associated documents, and the SF-424, SF424A budget (A) 
   1. [NOTE: Amounts for the broad categories in SF424A should match your proposal narrative budget]. Please also submit an excel table showing the budget included in your Proposal Narrative and/or Appendix D.
6. 2 CFR 200 applies to all NMBCA grants foreign and domestic.
7. Real property acquisitions have perpetual reporting requirements using SF-429.
8. Phased projects must evaluate their progress towards long-term goals with measurable indicators and provide those measures to justify continued funding (see Proposal Narrative: Section 3e and Section 9).
9. Proposal Narrative Changes: 
   1. Cover Pages no longer count towards the 12-page limit.
   2. Section 9 now has a monitoring and evaluation table example.
   3. Section 13 was moved to Appendix A.
   4. Budget and Budget Justification sections now require statements pertaining to Indirect Cost Rates.
   5. An Optional Appendix N was added. These are highly recommended data tables to inform certain Selection Criteria Questions.