The Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) is a federal grant administered by FEMA. It funds physical security improvements at nonprofit organizations at risk of terrorist or extremist attack.
NSGP sits inside FEMA’s preparedness grant portfolio, alongside programs like the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) and the State Homeland Security Program (SHSP). The program is funded by an annual congressional appropriation through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is rebuilt each year through a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that sets the cycle’s award caps, allowable cost categories, and submission deadlines. The official program page lives at https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/nonprofit-security.
The grant pays for hardening at specific facilities: barriers, doors, windows, alarms, cameras, access control, fencing, contract security, and a defined list of related categories. It does not pay for salaries (with one narrow contract-security exception), general operating costs, or programs not tied to a documented vulnerability assessment.
Awards are non-competitive for eligibility but competitive for funding. Every applicant that meets baseline eligibility can submit. Only the highest-scoring applications inside each state’s allocation receive money.
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 cycles) |
| Maximum sites per applicant | Up to three facilities per nonprofit, per cycle |
| Period of performance | 36 months from award date |
| Allowable cost categories | Planning, equipment, training, exercises, and contract security (per current NOFO) |
| Application route | Through the applicant’s State Administrative Agency (SAA), not directly to FEMA |
| Federal portal | https://www.grants.gov/ |
| Scoring | Investment Justification scored against four criteria: Risk, Vulnerability, Consequences, Effect of Funding |
Specific dollar caps and category language change between cycles. The current 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 operating 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 generated congressional attention to the gap between nonprofit risk and nonprofit security capacity. NSGP appropriations grew from roughly $25 million in FY 2018 to $180 million in FY 2020 and surpassed $300 million in FY 2023 and FY 2024.
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 congressional support consistent across both parties. The program’s profile inside DHS preparedness funding is now larger than it was at any point in its first decade.
How NSGP Works in Practice
The cycle has a predictable shape, though the calendar shifts by a few weeks each year.
- NOFO release. FEMA publishes the federal NOFO on https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/nonprofit-security and on https://www.grants.gov/. The NOFO defines that cycle’s caps, allowable costs, and scoring rubric.
- State Administrative Agency window. Each SAA opens its own submission window inside the federal window. SAA deadlines are typically 7 to 21 days before the federal deadline.
- Applicant submission. Nonprofits submit through the SAA, not directly to FEMA. The submission package includes the Investment Justification, vulnerability assessment, mission statement, budget detail, IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, and SAM.gov Unique Entity Identifier confirmation.
- SAA ranking. Each SAA scores and ranks submissions inside its state allocation and forwards the top scorers to FEMA. Applications that do not make the SAA cut never reach FEMA.
- FEMA review and scoring. FEMA panels score the Investment Justifications that survive SAA review against the four published criteria.
- Award notification. Awards are announced in late summer or early fall for spring-cycle submissions.
- 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 2 CFR Part 200, then submit reimbursement requests through the SAA portal across the 36-month period.
The structure has two practical implications for applicants. 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 has to be ordered in year one.
NSGP-UA vs NSGP-S in One Section
NSGP has two streams that share one application:
- NSGP-UA (Urban Area). For nonprofits inside a designated UASI region (the largest metropolitan areas, defined annually by DHS). UASI regions receive a separate appropriation pool.
- NSGP-S (State). For nonprofits located outside any UASI region. NSGP-S allocations go to every state and territory through the SAA.
The Investment Justification template, the four scoring criteria, the $200,000 per-site cap, and the 36-month period of performance are the same for both streams. Eligibility for one versus the other depends on whether the facility’s address sits inside the current UASI map. The map is republished each year.
A deeper comparison lives in our dedicated NSGP-UA vs NSGP-S guide.
What NSGP Funds
The current NOFO lists allowable cost categories. At a high level, NSGP pays for:
- Planning. Vulnerability assessments, security plans, continuity of operations plans.
- Equipment. The largest category. Includes barriers and bollards, fencing, security doors and frames, ballistic film and security glazing, intrusion detection systems, video surveillance, access control, emergency communication, and related hardening equipment.
- Training. Active threat response, security awareness, de-escalation, evacuation drills, and similar instruction for staff and volunteers.
- Exercises. Tabletop and full-scale exercises that test response plans.
- Contract security personnel. Paid contracted (not in-house) security guards, up to limits defined by the NOFO.
- Inspection and maintenance of allowable equipment. Within the period of performance.
- Management and administration. 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)
- Construction beyond hardening (no new buildings, no expansions, no aesthetic renovations)
- Equipment not tied to a documented vulnerability finding
- Programs unrelated to the security purpose (educational programs, religious programs, social services)
- Reimbursement for 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 extremist attack (the documentation lives inside the Investment Justification’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 eligibility requirements on top of the federal baseline. The full eligibility picture, including the documentation standard for “demonstrated risk,” lives in our NSGP eligibility deep article.
Why NSGP Matters for Nonprofits at Risk
The categories of nonprofits that apply to NSGP each cycle reflect where ideological and identity-based violence concentrates:
- Synagogues and Jewish day schools. The single largest category by application volume across multiple cycles, reflecting documented increases in antisemitic incidents.
- 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. Applications track the documented anti-Muslim incident counts in the FBI Hate Crime Statistics.
- Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist temples. Smaller in application count but consistently funded when the Investment Justification documents local risk.
- Religious schools (K-12 day schools attached to faith communities).
- Community centers serving identity-based communities (Jewish Community Centers, Muslim community centers, LGBTQ+ centers, immigrant-community centers).
- Cultural institutions and museums with high symbolic visibility (Holocaust museums, civil rights museums, ethnic heritage institutions).
For these organizations, a $200,000 NSGP award is often the difference between an unfunded security plan that sits on a shelf and a hardened facility that actually closes the gaps a vulnerability assessment identified.
Federal NSGP vs State Programs
NSGP is the federal program, but it is not the only nonprofit security grant in the United States. Fourteen states currently run their own nonprofit security grant programs alongside (or in coordination with) federal NSGP. The state-level list includes New York (SCAHC), California (CSNSGP), New Jersey (NSGP-NJ), Illinois (NSGP-IL), Pennsylvania (NSGFP), Massachusetts (CNSGP), Connecticut (NSGP-CT), Arizona, Maryland (PAHC), Ohio (OSG), Tennessee (HOW), Washington (NROSGP), Georgia (FPC), and Colorado.
State program structures vary. Some mirror federal NSGP closely. Others have different award caps, different allowable cost categories, or different scoring rubrics. Most states allow nonprofits to apply to both federal NSGP and the state program in the same cycle, with the awards stacking on different scopes of work at the same facility (no double-counting the same equipment line).
The state landscape is covered in detail in our state nonprofit security grants overview.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can a nonprofit receive from NSGP?
Up to $200,000 per facility per cycle, with a maximum of three facilities per applicant, for a per-cycle ceiling of $600,000 in federal NSGP awards. Specific caps are set by the current NOFO published at https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/nonprofit-security.
Is NSGP a loan or a grant?
NSGP 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 from the applicant. Some state programs require a match; the federal program does not.
How long does it take from application to award?
Typically four to six months from the SAA submission deadline to award notification. Federal NOFOs usually open in winter or early spring; awards are announced in late summer or early fall. After award, the period of performance runs 36 months, with most equipment installed in months 6 through 24.
Has any nonprofit been funded multiple times?
Yes. There is no cap on the number of cycles a nonprofit can receive NSGP funding. Many organizations are funded across multiple cycles, addressing different facilities or different scopes of work at the same facility. Each cycle is scored independently. Prior awards neither help nor hurt a new application’s score.
What We Do
Security Grant Advisors helps nonprofits assess whether NSGP is a fit, then runs the application process end to end when it is. The work covers eligibility review, vulnerability assessment, Investment Justification drafting against the current NOFO rubric, budget assembly with vendor quotes, and submission through the SAA portal.
A nonprofit can submit NSGP without outside help. Whether that is the right call depends on internal bandwidth, prior application experience, and the strength of the existing vulnerability assessment.
If you are evaluating NSGP for a 2026 or 2027 application, contact us or call (855) 674-7946.
Official Sources
- FEMA Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP): 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/about