OMB Generic Clearance Form

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of
Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 3135-0130)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Applicant Survey
PURPOSE:
This information collection request is for an NEA Applicant Survey to solicit opinions and
feedback from recent grant applicants regarding the guidance, assistance, and technological
platforms provided by NEA during their most recent experience preparing and submitting an
NEA grant application. Each year, the survey will be administered by the NEA to a random
sampling of grant applicants after each of the agency’s principal grant deadlines. Results will be
aggregated and shared within the agency on an annual basis to improve customer service.
Since 2012, the NEA has administered an NEA Applicant Survey to grant applicants after select
grant deadlines to receive regular customer feedback. The NEA wishes to continue receiving this
feedback through the survey.
DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:
The universe is a random sampling of applicants to up to five of the agency’s principal grant
deadlines. Grant applicants include the following types of entities: nonprofit organizations, state
governments, county governments, municipal governments, and tribal governments. The listing
of grant applicants will be drawn from the primary contacts of submitted grant applications to
each funding deadline.
TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)
[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form
[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software
[ ] Focus Group

[X] Customer Satisfaction Survey
[ ] Small Discussion Group
[ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:
I certify the following to be true:
1. The collection is voluntary.
2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.
3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal
agencies.
4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.
5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential
policy decisions.
6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have
experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.
Name: Lara Allee

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To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:
Personally Identifiable Information:
1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No
2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the
Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [X] No
3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [X]
No
Gifts or Payments:
Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to
participants? [ ] Yes [X] No
BURDEN HOURS
Category of Respondent

No. of
Participation
Respondents Time
(minutes)
1,500
5

Individuals (survey)
Totals

Burden
(hours)
125

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $0.
If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please
provide answers to the following questions:
The selection of your targeted respondents
1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential
respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe?
[X] Yes
[ ] No
If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If
the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of
respondents and how you will select them?
The NEA estimates a total annual distribution of 1,500 randomly selected grant applicants out of
a universe of approximately 5,500 applicants. Distributions per administration will range from
approximately 25 to 500 based upon the estimated number of applicants to each grant deadline.
This represents a sample size per administration ranging from 20% for grant deadlines with
larger numbers of applications to 50% for grant deadlines with smaller applicant pools.
The NEA will administer the NEA Applicant Survey, using SurveyMonkey, within 1 week of
each of the agency’s principal grant deadlines (up to five grant deadlines). An email invitation
and a follow-up reminder email will be sent to each potential respondent. Each survey will be
open for respondents to complete for five business days. We estimate a response rate of
approximately 35% based upon our experience with previous applicant surveys.

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Administration of the Instrument
1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)
[X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media
[ ] Telephone
[ ] In-person
[ ] Mail
[ ] Other, Explain
2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [X] No

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