Project Support Grants

Project Support Grants is sponsored by North Carolina Arts Council. These grants are designed to assist organizations that produce or present specific arts programs that actively engage audiences and participants. Organizations may apply for support for exemplary programs in any artistic discipline.

Projects that involve young audiences and military-connected communities are also eligible under this category. This grant supports arts and culture within the Raleigh Triangle area.

Project Support Grants | NC Arts Council Reminder: Please review General Grant Information and Eligibility Requirements before proceeding. Project Support grants are designed to help organizations that produce or present specific arts programs with a strong emphasis on engaging audiences and participants of all ages. Organizations may apply for funding to support exemplary programs across any artistic discipline.

Examples of such programs include: A single exhibition, performance, or two to three related events, such as a reading series An annually or regularly recurring event, such as a festival A community-based artist residency where the artist is hired to engage audiences A summer program where teaching artists lead youth in hands-on arts experiences Please note: Project Support grants in the Youth Arts category are designed to support programs that take place exclusively outside of school hours.

Range: From $5,000 to $15,000 Organizations may apply for Project Support grants if they meet the North Carolina Arts Council’s general eligibility criteria: Must be a North Carolina-based nonprofit organization Must have a track record of producing high-quality programs for at least two years Must have prior-year organizational cash operating expenses of at least $20,000 An applicant that doesn’t meet the above criteria may apply with a fiscal agent that does.

The details of fiscal agency for Project Support are listed below.

The following are not eligible for support through this category: Organizations that receive Sustaining Support for Arts Organizations grants or Statewide Service Organizations grants Grassroots Arts Partners that receive the Grassroots allocation for their county Public, private, and charter schools (Visit our Arts Learning Resources and Support page for resources available to schools and districts.)

Scope and allowable expenses Grant amounts range from $5,000 to $15,000. Organizations with prior-year expenses between $20,000 and $50,000 are eligible to apply for $5,000, the minimum grant award. Grant funds may be used for artist fees, marketing, interpretive materials, contractual fees (including contractual personnel), and other related costs.

With the exceptions of colleges, universities, and arts organizations that are a part of another entity (such as a municipality), organizations may use up to half of the grant amount for administrative overhead expenses, including salaries that are directly related to the project.

Applicants from Tier 2 and Tier 3 counties may apply for up to two-thirds of the overall project expenses and must provide a cash match for the remaining third. For applicants from economically distressed Tier 1 counties , we will waive the matching requirement. Grant funds must be spent between July 1, 2026, and June 30, 2027.

How we make funding decisions We evaluate applications using the following criteria: Artistic value of the program Benefit of the program to the audience, participants, and broader community and relevance to the applicant’s audience development goals Involvement of artists and representative community partners, as appropriate to the project’s themes and content Feasibility of the project and organizational capacity to implement it Project Support grant scoring rubric [DOC] The following questions and documents will be required for the application.

Reach out to your staff contact for questions or application assistance. If you’re applying on behalf of an organization, first check whether your organization already has a profile in our grant system. If not, you’ll need to create one.

Each applicant must also set up a separate user profile. The organization profile requires details such as the authorized signatory, Employer Identification Number (EIN) and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) numbers, mission statement, and documentation of nonprofit status. Provide an overview of your artistic project.

Include information about the location(s), date(s), and price range for audiences and participants to engage with the programs. For a recurring event, such as a festival, explain how the proposed activities show development or improvement from the previous year’s activity. Name the selected artists and outside professionals you are working with and explain how and why they were chosen.

State the rate of compensation for each artist and professional contracted for services. Describe other key people involved in the project, citing their roles and their expertise. Provide the demographic attributes of all artists and professionals who will be involved.

Provide a description of the audience and/or community that you will serve, including anticipated numbers, geographic reach, and demographic details. Describe the key community partners who are helping you to reach your audience. To what degree have those partners been involved in planning your project to date?

Describe your planned audience engagement activities for the proposed project, focusing on outreach, educational and interpretive programs, and strategic communication in the community. Examples can include activities such as lectures and talks, workshops, family days, cross-disciplinary programming, and outreach activities. Summarize how you will raise matching funds needed to complete the project.

Indicate whether or not matching funds are secured, pending, or will be earned through ticket sales. What comparable projects have you successfully produced in the past? Explain how you will measure the project’s impact in terms of artistic and audience goals, community benefit, and other tangible and intangible outcomes.

Provide details about your evaluation methods and how you use the information you've gathered. Every applicant must submit support materials appropriate to the proposal. Support materials provide evidence that builds a strong case for an application and addresses the evaluation criteria.

Please upload all support materials as PDFs. Here are some examples of support materials that you can upload: Recent brochures and/or other marketing materials Letters of support from key community partners Recent published reviews of artistic work Letters of intent signed by artists who will be featured during the grant period Every applicant must submit work samples appropriate to the proposal.

The purpose of a work sample is to provide evidence of artistic value, which is an important evaluation criterion for the category. A good work sample will represent the artist(s) involved in the programming that the application narrative describes and help the panelists who will evaluate your application to understand the level of artistry that you anticipate.

Upload up to 15 images of exhibitions, programs, and/or the work of featured artists representative of activities planned for the upcoming or current-year programming. When you upload an image into the work sample bank, you will provide descriptive information, including the artist’s name, the work’s title and medium, and the title of the exhibit or program. Leave all pricing information fields blank.

Submit a five-minute video sample representative of upcoming or current-year programming. The video may include just one piece or a sampling of more than one. In the description, provide the title, a short summary of each production, the name of each production’s director, and the year each was made.

Do not submit highly edited promotional materials. Upload up to five documents of recent work by writers involved in upcoming or current-year programming. Each document should be no more than six pages long.

Or, submit no more than five minutes of video presenting readings or spoken word performances by the writers involved in the upcoming or current-year programming. Provide the title of each work, the name of the author, and the year each work was published or presented. Submit no more than five minutes of video representative of upcoming or current-year programming.

The video may include just one piece or a sampling of more than one. In the description, provide the title and a short summary of each work, the names of the choreographer(s), and the year each work was made. Do not submit highly edited promotional materials.

Submit no more than five minutes of audio or video sample representative of upcoming programming associated with the application. The audio or video may include just one piece or a sampling of more than one. In the description, provide the title, names of the composer and featured artists, and the date of the performance.

Submit no more than five minutes of video representative of upcoming or current-year programming. The video may include just one piece or a sampling of more than one. In the description, provide the title and a short summary of each work and the date(s) of the performances.

Still photos of theatrical performances provide information about costumes and sets but are not considered strong work samples demonstrating overall artistic value. Do not submit highly edited promotional materials.

Arts in Education/Folklife/multi-arts (presenters, arts centers) Upload up to 15 images and/or one five-minute sample of audio or video of featured artists or programs representative of the programming in the current or upcoming year. For more information, refer to the work sample instructions above for the artistic disciplines that you are highlighting.

Note: Work samples for Arts in Education applications should focus on the artistry of the instructors.

Fiscal agency for Project Support Grants General eligibility criteria for the Project Support Grant category are as follows: • North Carolina-based nonprofit 501(c)3 organization • Track record of producing high-quality programs for at least two years • Prior-year organizational cash operating expenses of at least $20,000 An applicant based in North Carolina who does not meet these criteria may use a fiscal agent.

Individuals eligible to use a fiscal agent must contact the program director aligned with their discipline before applying. North Carolina Arts Council's fiscal agency policy for the Project Support Grant category Fiscal agents must meet the aforementioned general eligibility criteria and must be willing to accept legal and fiduciary responsibility for the grant funding if awarded. Fiscal agents must not be on the N.

C. Office of State Budget and Management’s suspension of funding list. While fiscal agents can charge a service fee up to 10 percent of the grant amount, the management of the Project Support Grant project is the responsibility of the applicant that will conduct the project.

The Arts Council allows an applicant to use a fiscal agent if the following terms are in place: A co-signed agreement between the fiscal agent and the applicant must exist and include provisions for funds distribution, rate of a service fee, if charged (if applicable), and terms of dispute resolution (if needed). View an example of a fiscal agent agreement.

If grant funds are awarded, both the fiscal agent and the grantee will sign the grant award contract and submit contracting paperwork. This includes a notarized “No Overdue Taxes” form. Both entities must have an Employee Identification Number (EIN) and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number before the grant check can be cut.

Both the fiscal agent and the applicant will be required to sign off on the final report at the end of the project period. The grant check is sent to the fiscal agent, which will disburse the funds for the expenses of the project as outlined in the fiscal agency agreement.

Please note that any payments from the fiscal agent to individuals or to non-501(c)3 entities are taxable income and must be reported on state and federal tax returns. Fiscal agents do not have creative authority over the funded projects; the ultimate management of the Project Support Grant project is the responsibility of the grantee.

A fiscal agent is not a co-producer of the project and should not list the project on its website as part of its programmatic offerings. However, a fiscal agent can publicize the fiscal agent service itself as part of its scope of work. A grantee cannot change from one fiscal agent to another once the grant contract is signed by all parties.

If a fiscal agency agreement is terminated, the terms and conditions of the grant contract with the North Carolina Arts Council are also terminated. Organizations submitting their own applications in the Project Support Grants category cannot also act as a fiscal agent for another applicant.

Organizations that receive their county’s Grassroots Arts Program allocation are allowed to serve as fiscal agent for Project Support Grant applicants. Organizations are allowed to provide fiscal agency for up to three applicants per granting cycle/fiscal year.

Senior Program Director, Artists & Organizations Contact Dara about about visual arts, craft, film, theater, and literature Music and Dance Director, Accessibility Coordinator jamie. katzcourt@dncr. nc.

gov Contact Jamie about music, dance, accessibility, and multi-disciplinary presenting Arts in Education Director Contact Lizz about arts in education Contact Zoe about folk and traditional arts Grant application assistance Accessibility questions or accommodation requests