The Foundation supports arts and culture organizations, including parks and gardens, located in New York City and working directly to enhance the vibrancy and cultural richness of New York City. Arts and culture organizations eligible to apply include performing, presenting, arts education, intermediary, advocacy, public policy and capacity-building organizations. Support is available for capacity building or capital projects. The Foundation does not provide general operating support or support for ongoing programs or activities. Grants may be single-year or multi-year commitments, and typically range from $75,000 – $150,000 per year.
Priority organizations will meet the following criteria:
- Demonstrate standards of artistic excellence
- Engage significant numbers and reach a diverse audience and constituency base
- Maintain an annual budget of over $1 million for the last complete fiscal year
- Demonstrate a proven record of success in achieving measurable outcomes
- Maintain a strong track record of fiscal health, including sound financial planning and robust funding from diverse sources
The following requests will receive priority:
- Requests for capacity building efforts or capital projects (see guidelines below) directly linked to long-term strategic planning
- For capacity building, requests that lay out a plan for sustainability beyond the funding period
- Requests that come at a period of transformative organizational growth or at a critical juncture in the organization’s life cycle
- Requests that lay out clear benchmarks for success and a plan for measuring project outcomes
Support is available for an organization’s own capacity building or for its capacity building activities on behalf of a group or network of nonprofits.
Guidelines for capacity-building support:
The Foundation supports capacity building activities that build nonprofit infrastructure and sustainability, enabling organizations to achieve greater performance and impact. The Foundation supports activities to strengthen leadership and adaptive capacities, as well as management and technical capacities. Strong proposals will clearly articulate intended goals and a process for measuring capacity building outcomes. Examples of capacity building activities supported by the Foundation include:
- Adaptive Capacity- Strategic planning, organizational assessment, needs assessment, strategic plan implementation, program evaluation, collaborations and mergers
- Leadership Capacity- Board development, professional leadership development and succession planning
- Management and Technical Capacity- Human resources management, financial management, fundraising, marketing/communications and technology
Guidelines for capital support:
Capital campaigns and major capital improvement projects must have already met at least 50% of their fundraising goals in order to apply for support. Priority will be given to smaller-scale projects and discrete capital requests.