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Program Description
The Arts Activities Support program offers grants of up to $7,500
in project support for groups wishing to offer quality arts activities
in any discipline to communities within the seven-county metro area.
Grant requests may include costs for artists and other personnel,
postage, supplies, equipment, printing, travel and other expenses
necessary to carry out the project.
Program Requirements
Requirements listed here are intended to give a sense of the program.
See program guidelines for a full description of requirements and eligibility rules.
Project Budget
MRAC funds must be matched dollar for dollar. At least 50% of
the match must be in cash. Cash sources may include general
operating funds, past surpluses, other grants and earned income
or revenue you plan to raise specifically for this project. The
remaining match may include cash and/or in-kind goods and sevices.
See program guidelines, page 6, for a definition of eligible in-kind expenses.
Nonprofit status
You must be able to furnish proof of your organization's IRS tax-exempt
status or furnish a letter of agreement with your fiscal agent
and proof of your fiscal agent's IRS tax-exempt status. See page 6 of the program guidelines for a
definition of fiscal agent.
Eligibility
To ensure eligibility, all applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss proposal ideas with MRAC staff before beginning an MRAC application. All eligibility requirements are fully outlined in the program guidelines. For general eligibility, see the eligibility page.
Who is eligible for an Arts Activities Support grant?
- Nonprofit arts groups with annualized operating expenses less than $300,000.
- Informal and/or unincorporated arts-focused groups and one-time arts projects with expenses less than $300,000. The applicant group must have a board of directors or advisory committee that provides input on the project and oversight of the grant funds.
- Nonprofit, non-arts organizations with a history of arts programming and annualized arts programming expenses less than $300,000 and community education units of any size may apply if 1) the group's art budget can be isolated from the organization's other costs and 2) the applicant can demonstrate clearly that the project is specifically and primarily intended to serve and under-served community (see definition of “under-served” in program guidelines, page 6).
- An organization that does not have nonprofit status may apply using a fiscal agent. Call MRAC for more information on finding and working with a fiscal agent.
For a description of what the Arts Activities Support grant does
not fund, see the program guidelines and the eligibility
page.
Deadlines
Arts Activities Support grants have two deadlines per MRAC fiscal
year, July 1 - June 30. See "Important Dates" at the top of this page.
Before You Apply – Technical Assistance
Grant Application Workshops
Free grant application workshops are held about a month prior to the Community Arts deadline. These workshops will be posted on this page as they are scheduled. For further information, see the grant application workshops page.
New Applicants are encouraged to attend an MRAC application workshop and to visit the MRAC office to review previous years’ successful grant applications. Applicants who do so have been shown to improve the quality of their applications.
Past Applicants, whether or not your previous project was funded, are urged to attend an MRAC application workshop and review the panel discussion of your previous application. This will help you address concerns raised by earlier review panels and improve your chances of getting a grant.
MRAC staff is available to answer your questions. Go to the staff page to determine your program director.
Application Materials
Click the links above to download the grant guidelines and form(s) in PDF format.
You must have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader or the commercial Adobe Acrobat
installed on your computer to view these files. Click
here to download Acrobat Reader. If you have trouble downloading or reading
these forms, call the MRAC office at 651-645-0402 and ask us to send you the
application materials by U.S. mail.
Read the instructions carefully before filling out the grant application.
You may fill out the grant application electronically by filling in the
fields and printing.
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