NOFO: Research and Evaluation on Hate Crimes (United States)

Deadline: 27-Mar-25

The National Institute of Justice is seeking proposals for research and evaluation projects to inform policy and practice to prevent and combat hate crimes and their effects under two categories: (1) preventing and addressing hate crimes and (2) school-based hate crimes.

Under the first category, preventing and addressing hate crimes, NIJ seeks applications for:

• evaluations of interventions to prevent hate crimes;
• research to improve understanding of strategies used by targeted communities and their members to reduce the risk of hate crime victimization;
• evaluations of interventions to address the needs of hate crime survivors and their communities; and
• research to improve understanding, identification, and response to understudied bias types and hate crime motivations.

Grant Categories

• Category 1: Research and Evaluation on Preventing and Addressing Hate Crimes
  • NIJ seeks applications to conduct research and evaluation on preventing and addressing hate crimes in the following four topics:
    • Topic 1: Evaluations of interventions to prevent hate crimes
    • Topic 2: Research to improve understanding of strategies used by targeted communities and their members to reduce the risk of hate crime victimization
    • Topic 3: Evaluations of interventions to address the needs of hate crime survivors and their communities
    • Topic 4: Research to improve understanding, identification, and response to understudied bias types and hate crime motivations
• Category 2: Research and Evaluation on School-Based Hate Crimes
  • Under this category, NIJ seeks applications for rigorous research and evaluation on hate crimes in the K-12 education system, specifically in two areas:
    • Research to understand the nature of and response to school-based hate crimes.
    • Outcome evaluations of school-wide or individual-level programs, practices, and strategies to prevent and respond to school-based hate crimes.

Funding Information

• Total Amount to Be Awarded Under This Funding Opportunity: $3,200,000 (with $2,000,000 for Category 1 and $1,200,000 for Category 2)
• Anticipated Period of Performance Start Date: January 1, 2026.
• Anticipated Period of Performance Duration: 60 months.

Funding Priorities 

• NIJ will provide priority consideration when making award decisions to applications addressing the following research priorities:
  • Fostering Rigorous and Inclusive Research: Applications proposing methods that include meaningful engagement with the people closest to the subject of study—for example, criminal justice practitioners, community members, business owners, crime survivors, and people who have experienced incarceration—to guide data collection, help interpret findings, and identify implications of research findings for policy and practice.
  • Infusing Evaluation Research with a Strong Implementation Fidelity Component: Applications proposing evaluations of an intervention’s implementation in the field and identifying both their impacts and unintended consequences.
  • Encouraging Interdisciplinary Research: Applications proposing multidisciplinary research teams to build on the complementary strengths of different methods and areas of subject matter expertise.
  • Ensuring Research Evidence is Translated into Actionable Information to Promote Change in the Field: Applications proposing robust, creative, and multi-pronged dissemination strategies that include strategic partnerships with organizations and associations that are best equipped to ensure that research findings lead to changes in policies and practices; with at least 15% of the requested project award funding toward implementing such strategies.

Eligibility Criteria

• The types of entities that are eligible to apply for this funding opportunity are listed below:
  • Government Entities
    • State governments
    • County governments
    • City or township governments
    • Special district governments
    • Native American Tribal governments (federally recognized)
    • Native American Tribal governments (other than federally recognized)
  • Educational Organizations
    • Independent school districts
    • Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education
    • Private institutions of higher education
  • Nonprofit Organizations
    • Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), other than institutions of higher education
    • Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
  • For-Profit Organizations
    • Organizations other than small businesses
    • Small businesses
  • Other
    • Federal agencies
    • Other Units of Local Government

For more information, visit Grants.gov.