Emma A. Sheafer Charitable Trust 

Guidelines

The Emma A. Sheafer Charitable Trust provides capacity-building support to performing arts organizations in New York City.

Funding Interests:
Performing arts organizations with an annual operating budget less than or equal to $1,000,000 as of the last fiscal year. Performing arts include dance, theater, and music.

Type of Support:
Grants are provided for capacity-building support and small-scale capital projects. Support is not provided for commissions, programs, or project-related requests. Grants may be single year or two-year commitments, and are typically $15,000 – $30,000 annually.

Geographic Focus:
New York City

Restrictions:
A minimum of three years must elapse between grant awards, calculated from the last fund distribution date. No grants are made to individuals, private foundations, governmental organizations, or for matching gifts or loans.

Eligibility:
Organizations must be classified by the Internal Revenue Service as public charities and tax-exempt under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

Grant Cycle:
The annual application deadline is August 1. Grant notifications and awards are sent to all applicants in November.

Application

Please include the following items in your organization’s request:

1. Proposal (maximum of three pages, 12 pt font, normal margins) which includes:

a. Overview of the organization (i.e., primary goals, needs or problems being addressed, population served)
b. Description of the project for which you are seeking support

i. Statement of purpose and the needs being addressed by the project
ii. Population served and how they will benefit from the project
iii. Project timeline/anticipated project duration

c. Brief biography of the executive director and key project staff

2. Project budget

a. If it is a two-year request, please include a two-year projected budget
b. Include a list of foundation, corporate and other support applied to the budget

3. Current fiscal year organizational budget

a. Also include a projected budget for upcoming year (if available)
b. Indicate if the organization has an endowment

i. Quote the most recent value of the corpus
ii. Indicate if the funds are permanently restricted or board restricted

4. List of foundation and corporate supporters

a. Include a list of funders for the current fiscal year
b. Also provide a list from the most recently completed fiscal year
c. Include foundation and corporation names and amounts

5. List of board members

a. Include professional affiliations (employer)
b. Include length of board service

Please note:
All applications to the
Emma A. Sheafer Charitable Trust
must be submitted online.