The Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security (IEMA-OHS)/Illinois Homeland Security Advisory Council received an announcement on October 28, 2024, from the Grants Program Directorate/Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, of a grant opportunity for non-profit organizations in one of the FFY 2024 UASI-eligible urban areas, including the Chicago Urban Area of Cook County and the City of Chicago. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 UASI Nonprofit Security Grant Program National Security Supplemental (NSGP-NSS) (UA) will provide a total of $105 Million nationally to eligible 501(c)(3) organizations who are deemed at high-risk of a potential terrorist attack.

Grants of up to $200,000 will be awarded to eligible nonprofit organizations through their State Administrative Agency (SAA) according to criteria that include:

• For NSGP-NSS-UA, state and federal verification that the nonprofit organization is located within one of the FY 2024 UASI-designated urban areas; (contact the appropriate SAA for the UAWG-defined high-risk urban area footprints); and for NSPG-NSS-S, verification that the nonprofit is located outside of one of the FY 2024 UASI-designated high-risk urban areas; 
• Identification and substantiation of current or persistent threats or attacks (from within or outside the United States) by a terrorist or other extremist organization, network, or cell against the subapplicant based on their ideology, beliefs, and/or mission as: 1) an ideology-based/spiritual/religious; 2) educational; 3) medical; or 4) other nonprofit entity;
• Symbolic value of the site(s) as a highly recognized regional and/or national or historical institution(s) that renders the site a possible target of terrorist or other extremist attack;
• Role of the applicant nonprofit organization in responding to or recovering from terrorist or other extremist attacks;
• Alignment between the project activities requested within the physical or cyber vulnerabilities identified in the organization’s vulnerability assessment;
• Integration of nonprofit preparedness with broader state and local preparedness efforts;
• Integration of nonprofit preparedness with broader state and local preparedness efforts;
• Completed Investment Justification for each site that addresses an identified risk unique to that site, including the assessed threat, vulnerability, and consequence of the risk; 
• Demonstration that the nonprofit organization is located within a disadvantaged community; see Section E, Application Review Information – Review and Selection Process, for additional information on how this demonstration will affect scores; and
• History of prior funding under NSGP. Not having received prior year NSGP funding is a positive factor when calculating the state score of the application; see NOFO, Section E, Application Review Information – Review and Selection Process, for additional information. 

 NSGP-NSS-UA Maximum Award

Nonprofit organizations must apply through their respective SAA. For NSGP-NSS-UA and NSGP-NSS-S, consistent with prior years, each nonprofit organization may only represent one site/location/physical address per application. For example, a nonprofit organization with one site may apply for up to $200,000 for that site.

Nonprofit organizations with multiple sites/locations/physical addresses may choose to apply for additional sites for up to $200,000 per site, for a maximum of three sites per funding stream, not to exceed $600,000 total per state. That is, a nonprofit organization with sites in both NSGP-NSS-S and NSGP-NSS-UA areas in a given state may apply for a total of up to six sites, but the total of their applications cannot exceed $600,000. A nonprofit organization subapplicant may not exceed a total of six applications (three for NSGP-NSS-S and three for NSGP-NSS-UA) for a total of $600,000 per state. A nonprofit organization with locations in multiple states may apply for up to three sites within each state and funding stream (three for NSGP-NSS-S and three for NSGP-NSS-UA per state).

Consortium applications are also eligible under the NSGP-NSS. In this case, an eligible entity would apply on behalf of themselves and other eligible entities as a sub-applicant to IEMA-OHS. A Consortia may apply for a maximum of $1,000,000. The $200,000 per site maximum still applies for each individual nonprofit organization within the consortium.

If successful, the lead consortium member will accept the subaward on behalf of the consortium, implement the approved projects/contracts for all consortium member sites, and manage the subaward throughout the period of performance, to include ensuring that all terms and conditions of the subaward are met.

Additionally, the final beneficiary of the NSGP-NSS grant award must be an eligible nonprofit organization and cannot be a for-profit/fundraising extension of a nonprofit organization or organizations. While these for-profit or fundraising extensions may be associated with the eligible nonprofit organization or organizations, NSGP-NSS funding cannot be used to benefit those extensions and therefore they will be considered ineligible applications. If the funding being sought is for the benefit of a for-profit/fundraising extension, then that would constitute an ineligible subaward since only nonprofit organizations and consortia of nonprofit organizations are eligible subrecipients. 

If a nonprofit subapplicant applies for projects at multiple sites, regardless of whether the projects are similar in nature, each individual site must include an assessment of the vulnerability and risk unique to each site. That is, one vulnerability assessment per location/physical address. Failure to do so may be cause for rejection of the application.

IEMA-OHS, as the State Administrative Agency, will issue these competitive grants to applicants that are approved by the Grants Program Directorate/FEMA. The period of performance is 36 months.

The NSGP-NSS funds must be used for target-hardening activities, which can be accomplished through the purchase or installation of security equipment on real property (including buildings and improvements) owned or leased by the nonprofit organization. Allowable equipment is limited to select items on the Authorized Equipment List (AEL): 1) Physical Security Enhancement Equipment (Category 14), e.g., alarm systems, reinforced security doors, barriers/fences, 2) Inspection and Screening Systems (Category 15), e.g., walk-through magnetometers or conveyor-belt x-ray systems to screen personnel and packages, 3) AEL 06CP-01-PORT Handheld Radios, 4) 03OE-03-MEGA Public Warning Systems, 5) Cybersecurity Enhancements.

In addition, private contracted security personnel hourly costs are eligible expenses under the NSGP-NSS grant program. Equipment to support contracted security is not allowable.

Security enhancements must be for the locations that the nonprofit occupies at the time of the application, and the projects must be fully completed during the three-year performance period. In addition, only one facility per Investment Justification is allowed and it must be for a physical address and not a PO Box. Also, each organization is limited to $600,000 total for all Investment Justification submissions.

Certain costs for planning, training, exercises, and M&A are allowed under this program only as described in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. 

Eligible applicants should download the funding announcement FFY24 NSGP-NSS Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), FFY24 NSGP-NSS Subapplicant Quick Start Guide, and  Authorized Equipment Listing (AEL) for more information. A completed grant application package must include the following six items:

1. FFY24 NSGP-NSS Investment Justification with AEL numbers included in the Target Hardening bottom section.  In order to open FEMA’s Investment Justification, the most updated version of Adobe Reader is required! Set your default reader to Adobe Reader on your PC, then open FEMA’s Investment Justification. The Investment Justification should be submitted by the nonprofit organization to the State Administrative Agency (SAA) as a completed fillable Adobe file. Scanned copies will not be accepted. Please save the Investment Justification with the title as:
   
   FY2024_NSGP-NSS_UA_IL_NAME OF ORGANIZATION
   
   
2. Vulnerability/Risk Assessment (any format deemed appropriate by applicant)
   
   
3. Mission Statement (any format deemed appropriate by applicant)
   
   
4. FFY24 Attachment A1: Grantee Contact Information (Must include Zip + 4 digits)
   
   
5. IRS Form W-9 
   
   
6. Tax Exempt Organization statement​​

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Potential grantees are required to register and pre-qualify per the Grants Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) in order to be considered for an award from any State of Illinois grant making agency/department. Each organization will need to create an Illinois.gov authentication user name and password to get into the system. The create account link will assist organizations in establishing a user name and password for the system. The GATA Grantee Portal link will allow each organization to validate that its information is current as well as allow each organization to complete the required Internal Control Questionnaire (ICQ).

• Create Account
  
• GATA Grantee Portal
  

Please make sure your organization’s FEIN#, UEI#, and SAM accounts are all current and up-to-date.

• SAM.gov
  

As always, IEMA-OHS is committed to assisting grantees through these new GATA processes. If you have any questions or require any assistance, please email ema.ittf.grants@illinois.gov  or call 217-557-4831.

Complete applications from eligible non-profit organizations must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.  

In order to submit items #1-6 (Investment Justification, Vulnerability Assessment, Mission Statement, Grantee Contact A-1 Spreadsheet, W-9 and Tax Exempt Statement) in the grant application package, please send an e-mail with those attachments individually labeled as separate attachments to: ema.ittf.grants@illinois.gov.  Only 1 complete application is allowed per email. Please title the subject line of the e-mail:

FY2024_NSGP-NSS_UA_IL_NAME OF ORGANIZATION

In accordance with program guidance, a review panel will evaluate all NSGP-NSS proposals submitted, and the State Administrative Agency (IEMA-OHS), in coordination with the subject matter experts, will develop a rank-ordered priority listing of sites based on criteria established by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.