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Arts & Culture Opportunity Fund Grant Guidelines

Understand guidelines and funding cycles

MacArthur publishes program guidelines to help applicants determine whether their idea for a grant fits within a particular grantmaking strategy.

As a general rule, applicants should base this decision on three related criteria that appear in program guidelines: the topical focus addressed by the grantmaking strategy; the geographic area covered by the grantmaking strategy; and the type of funding (i.e., general operating support, research, program support, etc.) that supports the grantmaking strategy.

Like most strategic grantmaking foundations, the MacArthur Foundation considers funding only those applications that closely match the topical, geographic, and funding criteria for a specific grantmaking strategy.

Questions about this fund can be addressed to Program Officer Deepa Gupta.
MacArthur is no longer accepting proposals for this fund.

The Arts and Cultural Opportunity Fund will provide grants over the next two years to strengthen the institutional and programmatic capacity of arts organizations that meet all of the following criteria:

  • Led by an executive director or an artistic director who is African American, Latino, Native American or Asian
  • Primary organizational mission is to convey the social and cultural experience of a particular community through its art to its own communities and to individuals outside of their communities
  • Organizations are current grantees of the Foundation under its support for arts and culture organizations. This includes grantees of the MacArthur Funds at Prince and Driehaus.

Potential projects may include strategic planning, leadership development, staff support for capacity building of new or growing programs, technology upgrades, or the strengthening of board governance. The Foundation will not entertain capital campaign requests. Funds must be used for institutional growth or strengthening; they may not be used for specific exhibitions or educational programs or for specific musical, dance, or theatrical programs.

Grant Amounts

Multi-year (2-3 year) grants will be awarded. The average amount will be $25,000 to $50,000. No grants will exceed $100,000.

Application Process

Applications should be no more than five pages and contain the following information:

  • Identification of grantee and purpose of grant
  • Specific activities to be supported by the grant funds
  • How the activities will support institutional and program capacity
  • Impact and outcomes the grantee hopes to accomplish in a 2-3 year timeframe
  • Project budget outlining major uses and sources of funds for proposed initiative
  • Background information regarding the mission and leadership of the organization to demonstrate that the applicant group is led by an executive director or an artistic director who is African American, Latino, Native American or Asian and its primary m ission is to better explain its community's experience through art

Considerations

The Foundation will Consider the following factors in reviewing each application:

  • Strength of organization's leadership and governance
  • Quality of artistic work
  • Audience composition and reach within and outside of its immediate community
  • Community support and demand for the organization's work
  • Evidence of organizational readiness to reach next level of growth and operations
  • Organization's ability to use MacArthur Funds to bring in new resources

Additional Information Required:

Applicants should also submit the following:

  • Current letter from the Internal Revenue Service showing the organization has current 501(c)(3) status.
  • For grantees from the Prince Charitable Trusts and the Driehaus Foundation, the most recent audited financial statements of the organization (as part of its due diligence, the Foundation will also obtain a letter of reference from Driehaus, or Prince showing the proposed grantee is in "good standing" and has performed well under the terms of the relevant grant).

Reporting

At the conclusion of grant period, a successful applicant will be expected to submit a written report describing the activities funded by the grant and what was learned or accomplished through the use of the grant funds.

Restrictions on Use of Funds

Grant funds must be used in accordance with applicable law. Additional expense guidelines will be made available to successful applicants.

Questions about this fund can be addressed to Program Officer Deepa Gupta.
MacArthur is no longer accepting proposals for this fund.
Updated June 9, 2010