January 10 Cultural Sustainability: Operational Impact Grants for Small Arts Organizations.

Mid-America Arts Alliance is now accepting applications for Cultural Sustainability: Operational Impact Grants for Small Arts Organizations.

This pilot program, in partnership with The Wallace Foundation, will offer operational grants, capacity building, and cohort learning to small, culturally driven arts organizations with operating expenses under $500,000. M-AAA’s grant program is open to nonprofits AND arts-centric businesses in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and the Native Nations that share this geography.*

M-AAA expects to grant a total of $1,100,000 in the region, through 22 unrestricted, non-matching organizational grants of $50,000 each.

Learn more and apply here.

Who Cultural Sustainability is for

Cultural Sustainability invests in culturally driven organizations and businesses with annual operating expenses under $500,000:

• Located within the M-AAA Mid-America six-state region of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas
• Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations; fiscally sponsored artist or ensemble organizations; art-centered business entities (LLC, Partnership, Benefit Corporation, etc.); state or federally recognized tribal governments
• Have at least three years of arts programming. The years of activity do not need to be consecutive or connected to the date of formation/incorporation.
• Organizations that predominantly serve Black, Latine, Asian, Arab, Indigenous, Pacific Islander, and/or Caribbean communities, or another underserved community
• Founded by and for a community of color or another underserved community

Successful applicants will help diversify M-AAA’s historical grantmaking including:

• Organizations led by people of color or members of other underrepresented communities, either artistically or administratively
• First-time applicants or those who have received few or no grants from M-AAA
• Organizations with new leadership in key roles

Single artist sole proprietorships are not eligible for this initiative.

What Cultural Sustainability Provides

• $50,000 nonmatching operational grants
• Unrestricted funding meaning funds may be used for overhead and operational expenses including salaries
• Opportunity to regularly connect and learn with fellow culturally driven organizations and businesses
• Opportunity to develop innovative strategies to catalyze broad impact
• Opportunity to inform equitable grantmaking practices and processes
• One-on-one consultations and cohort workshops with experts in evaluation and data collection

Timeline