The Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) is a federal grant administered by FEMA. It funds physical security improvements at nonprofit organizations at high risk of terrorist or other extremist attack.
If your synagogue, church, mosque, religious school, or community nonprofit has a security plan it cannot afford to act on, NSGP is the program most likely to pay for the work. This guide explains what NSGP is, who created it, how it works, what it pays for, and who is eligible.
NSGP at a Glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Nonprofit Security Grant Program |
| Administered by | Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), under the Department of Homeland Security |
| First cycle | Fiscal Year 2005 |
| Two funding streams | NSGP-UA (Urban Area, inside designated UASI regions) and NSGP-S (State, outside UASI regions) |
| Maximum award per site | $200,000 per facility, per cycle (FY 2024 and FY 2025) |
| Sites per applicant | Up to three sites per funding stream, capped at $600,000 per state |
| Period of performance | 36 months from award date |
| Allowable cost categories | Planning, Organization, Equipment, Training and Exercises, Maintenance and Sustainment, Construction and Renovation, and Contracted Security (per current NOFO) |
| Application route | Through the applicant’s State Administrative Agency (SAA), not directly to FEMA |
| Federal portal | grants.gov |
| Scoring | The SAA scores the Investment Justification across several sections, then FEMA applies an organization-type multiplier and a first-time-applicant bonus |
Specific dollar caps and category language change between cycles. The current Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is always the controlling document.
Who Created NSGP and Why
NSGP was created in the post-9/11 reorganization of federal homeland security funding. Congress recognized that nonprofits with high symbolic or ideological visibility, faith institutions in particular, faced threats that local police budgets did not cover and that the nonprofits themselves could rarely fund out of their own reserves.
The first NSGP cycle ran in Fiscal Year 2005 under DHS, with a small appropriation focused on UASI-designated urban areas. Funding stayed modest through the late 2000s and early 2010s.
The trajectory shifted after a series of attacks on faith communities. The 2012 Sikh temple shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, the 2015 Emanuel AME Church shooting in Charleston, the 2017 Sutherland Springs church shooting in Texas, and the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh each drew congressional attention to the gap between nonprofit risk and nonprofit security capacity.
NSGP appropriations grew accordingly: roughly $60 million in FY 2018, $90 million in FY 2020, $180 million in FY 2021, and more than $300 million by FY 2023 ($305 million) and FY 2024 ($454.5 million, including supplemental funding). The 2022 attack on Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, and continued antisemitic and anti-Muslim incident counts reported through the FBI Hate Crime Statistics program have kept support consistent across both parties.
How NSGP Works in Practice
The cycle has a predictable shape, though the calendar shifts from year to year.
- NOFO release. FEMA publishes the federal NOFO on its NSGP program page and on grants.gov. The NOFO defines that cycle’s caps, allowable costs, and scoring rubric.
- State Administrative Agency window. Each State Administrative Agency (SAA) opens its own submission window inside the federal window. State deadlines fall before the federal deadline, and the gap varies by state, so confirm your SAA’s date early.
- Applicant submission. Nonprofits submit through the SAA, not directly to FEMA. The package includes the Investment Justification (IJ), a vulnerability assessment, the mission statement, budget detail, the IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, and a SAM.gov Unique Entity Identifier.
- SAA scoring and ranking. The SAA scores and ranks every complete application inside its allocation and forwards the top scorers to FEMA. Applications that do not make the SAA cut never reach FEMA.
- Federal review. FEMA reviews the forwarded IJs for eligibility, allowable costs, and any security concerns. FEMA does not re-score the narrative. Instead, it applies the multiplier and bonus described below to the SAA’s score to produce the final score.
- Award notification. Awards have typically been announced a few months after the SAA deadline, though recent cycles have shifted the calendar. (See our post on NSGP cycle timing for the recent patterns.)
- Environmental and Historic Preservation (EHP) review. Funded projects with construction or ground-disturbance components require EHP clearance before procurement begins.
- Drawdown over the period of performance. Awardees procure equipment competitively under federal rules (2 CFR Part 200), then submit reimbursement requests through the SAA across the 36-month period.
Two practical points follow. First, the SAA layer is a real gate: a strong application that arrives late or misses a state-specific form is rejected before scoring. Second, the period of performance is long enough for serious construction work but tight enough that long-lead-time equipment should be ordered early.
The multiplier and first-time bonus
Two scoring mechanics matter a great deal for faith institutions, and they often surprise first-time applicants.
After the SAA scores an application, FEMA multiplies that score based on organization type:
- Three times for ideology-based, spiritual, or religious organizations, including houses of worship and religious schools.
- Two times for secular medical and educational institutions.
- One time for all other nonprofits.
On top of that, applicants that have never received an NSGP award receive a 15-point bonus, and in a tie, priority goes to organizations that have not had prior-year funding. For a synagogue, church, or mosque applying for the first time, both factors work in your favor.
NSGP-UA vs NSGP-S in One Section
NSGP has two streams:
- NSGP-UA (Urban Area). For nonprofits inside a designated UASI region, the largest metropolitan areas, defined annually by DHS.
- NSGP-S (State). For nonprofits located outside any UASI region. NSGP-S allocations go to every state and territory through the SAA.
The IJ template, the scoring rubric, the $200,000 per-site cap, and the 36-month period of performance are the same for both streams. Which stream applies depends on whether the facility’s address sits inside the current UASI map, which is republished each year. A deeper comparison lives in our NSGP-UA vs NSGP-S guide.
What NSGP Funds
The current NOFO lists seven allowable cost categories. At a high level, NSGP pays for:
- Planning. Vulnerability assessments, security plans, and emergency and continuity plans.
- Equipment. The largest category. Includes barriers and bollards, fencing, security doors and frames, ballistic film and security glazing, intrusion detection, video surveillance, access control, emergency communication, and related items on the Authorized Equipment List.
- Training and Exercises. Active-threat response, security awareness, de-escalation, evacuation drills, and tabletop and full-scale exercises that test response plans.
- Maintenance and Sustainment. Maintenance contracts, warranties, repair or replacement, upgrades, and user fees for allowable equipment, within program limits.
- Construction and Renovation. Allowed in support of facility hardening, but only with prior written approval from FEMA, and subject to NOFO cost limits. This does not cover new buildings, expansions, or aesthetic upgrades unrelated to security.
- Contracted Security. Paid contracted (not in-house) security personnel, up to limits defined by the NOFO.
- Management and Administration (M&A). A small capped percentage of the total award.
Every funded line has to trace back to a documented finding in the vulnerability assessment. The Investment Justification connects each gap to a specific mitigation.
What NSGP Does Not Fund
NSGP cannot pay for:
- General operating costs of the nonprofit
- Salaries of existing in-house staff, including in-house security staff
- New construction, building expansions, or renovations unrelated to security
- Equipment not tied to a documented vulnerability finding
- Programs unrelated to the security purpose, such as educational, religious, or social-service programming
- Equipment purchased before the period of performance began
- Land acquisition
Mismatches between proposed costs and the allowable-cost list are one of the more common reasons otherwise credible applications get scored out of the funded range.
Who Is Eligible
Baseline eligibility for NSGP requires:
- 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code
- Demonstrated risk of terrorist or other extremist attack, documented inside the IJ’s Risk section
- A current vulnerability assessment for each facility named in the application
- An active SAM.gov Unique Entity Identifier
- Submission through the State Administrative Agency
Some states layer additional requirements on top of the federal baseline. The full eligibility picture, including the documentation standard for demonstrated risk, lives in our NSGP eligibility guide.
How Much a Nonprofit Can Apply For
A nonprofit with one site may apply for up to $200,000 for that site. A nonprofit with multiple sites may apply for up to $200,000 per site, for up to three sites per funding stream, with a cap of $600,000 per state.
An organization with sites in both an urban (NSGP-UA) and a non-urban (NSGP-S) area of the same state may file up to six applications in that state, three per stream, but the total still cannot exceed $600,000 in that state. An organization with sites in more than one state may apply within each state, up to three sites per stream per state.
Why NSGP Matters for Nonprofits at Risk
The categories of nonprofits that apply each cycle reflect where ideological and identity-based violence concentrates:
- Synagogues and Jewish day schools. The largest category by application volume across multiple cycles.
- Churches. Catholic parishes, mainline Protestant congregations, evangelical churches, historically Black churches, and others, particularly those with high-visibility programs or recent threats.
- Mosques and Islamic centers.
- Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist temples. Smaller in count but consistently funded when the IJ documents local risk.
- Religious schools attached to faith communities.
- Community centers serving identity-based communities, including Jewish community centers, Muslim community centers, LGBTQ+ centers, and immigrant-community centers.
- Cultural institutions and museums with high symbolic visibility, such as Holocaust museums and civil rights museums.
For these organizations, a $200,000 award is often the difference between a security plan that sits on a shelf and a hardened facility that actually closes the gaps the assessment identified.
Federal NSGP vs State Programs
NSGP is the federal program, but it is not the only nonprofit security grant. Several states run their own programs alongside federal NSGP, including New York (SCAHC), California (CSNSGP), New Jersey, Illinois (NSGP-IL), Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Washington, Georgia (FPC), and others.
State structures vary. Some mirror federal NSGP closely. Others have different award caps, allowable costs, or scoring. Most states allow nonprofits to apply to both federal NSGP and the state program in the same cycle, with awards stacking on different scopes of work at the same facility, as long as the same equipment line is not double-counted. The state landscape is covered in our state nonprofit security grants overview.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can a nonprofit receive from NSGP?
Up to $200,000 per site, for up to three sites per funding stream, with a cap of $600,000 per state. Specific caps are set by the current NOFO on FEMA’s NSGP program page.
Is NSGP a loan or a grant?
It is a grant. Funds do not have to be repaid. The award works as reimbursement: the nonprofit procures equipment under federal procurement rules, then submits documentation to the SAA to draw down the awarded amount.
Does NSGP require a match?
No. Federal NSGP does not require cost share or matching funds. Some state programs do.
How long does it take from application to award?
Award notification has generally come a few months after the SAA submission deadline, though NOFO and award timing have shifted in recent cycles. After award, the period of performance runs 36 months.
Do prior awards affect a new application?
Yes, but in the applicant’s favor for newcomers. Each cycle is scored on its own, and there is no cap on how many cycles a nonprofit can be funded. First-time applicants receive a 15-point bonus, and ties are broken in favor of organizations that have not received prior-year funding. Many organizations are funded across multiple cycles for different facilities or different scopes of work.
What This Means for Your Organization
If you have a vulnerability assessment and a list of security gaps you cannot fund on your own, NSGP is built for exactly that situation. The work that wins is specific: a clear risk picture, a credible assessment, and a budget that ties every line back to a documented vulnerability and to the current NOFO’s allowable costs.
A nonprofit can submit NSGP without outside help. Whether that is the right call depends on internal bandwidth, prior experience, and the strength of the existing vulnerability assessment.
Talk It Through With SGA
Not sure where you stand? If any of this is confusing or you want to talk through how it applies to your organization, we are happy to help. You can book a free consultation with SGA here: book a consultation.
Official Sources
- FEMA Nonprofit Security Grant Program: https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/nonprofit-security
- Grants.gov federal opportunity portal: https://www.grants.gov/
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security: https://www.dhs.gov/
- FEMA agency overview: https://www.fema.gov/