The National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency in the executive branch, provides general operating support grants to 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils.

The councils operate, as designated by Congress, in each of the fifty states as well as in American Samoa,

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the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U. S. Virgin Islands.

Federal/State Partnership is the NEH office designated to work with the councils.

The Office of Federal/State Partnership is a collaborative effort that links a national federal agency with the state and jurisdictional humanities councils.

The office serves the two primary strategic goals of the National Endowment for the Humanities:
advancing knowledge and understanding of the humanities and increasing public awareness of, access to, and support for the humanities in the United States.

State humanities councils make high-quality humanities education and lifelong learning readily available at the state and local level, uniquely tailored to community interests and needs and drawing upon local resources and experiences.

NEH and the Office of Federal/State Partnership use General Operating Support grants as the primary means of funding the 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils.

NEH awards General Operating Support Grants for five-year periods, with funding provided in years one, two, and three, followed by two subsequent years to complete funded activities.

General Operating Support Grant award amounts are amended each year to reflect the current federal fiscal year’s budget and the funds that Congress has made available to NEH.

NEH determines funding for each state and jurisdictional council according to a legislatively mandated formula.

Each state council must apply annually (via Grants.gov) in order to receive the yearly distribution for its General Operating Support grant.