The Flexible Support grant provides up to $15,000 in funding to help groups create and sustain Minnesotans’ access to the arts. Groups’ primary addresses must be located in Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott or Washington county. This program supports the production of artistic projects, and/or projects that strengthen the organizational capacity and operations of groups providing access to the arts. The deadline for Flexible Support Round 1 applications is August 1, 2022 at 11:59 PM.
Application Resources
MRAC wants to make sure the application process is accessible and available for you to share who you are and your project ideas. Here are some ways we are trying to make the process accessible:
Guidelines & Appendices
Flexible Support Guidelines FY23: all applicants must read the guidelines
- Guidelines in English and accessible formats
- Guidelines in Spanish and accessible formats
- Appendix: Sample Budgets: includes sample budgets and budget checklists
- Appendix: Leadership Identities Examples: examples of Leadership identities
- Appendix: Have an awarded or pending MRAC Grant: groups who have an awarded or pending grant must review this document, as awarded or pending grants may affect your eligibility.
Additional Documents
- Application template: A Word template that you may use to create your application prior to uploading it to the grant interface.
- Fiscal sponsorship letter template A template that fiscally-sponsored groups may use to create their fiscal sponsorship letters.
The Panel Rating Guide: This document describes how the information you provide will be used to review your application.
Sample applications: These proposals have been successfully funded in past rounds:
Application Tools
Recorded Grant Information Webinar
A recorded Grant Information Webinar on Flexible Support is available on the grant webpage and on MRAC’s YouTube page. The webinar includes ASL interpretation, adjustable captions, automated translated captions into other languages, and adjustable playback speeds. Downloadable files of the grant webinar slides are on the grant webpage.
Application Assistance
Virtual Question & Answer Sessions
Do you still have more questions after reviewing the guidelines and/or viewing the webinar? MRAC program directors will host two informal drop-in Zoom sessions to answer brief questions in a large group setting. Please note, this is not a grant information webinar. We recommend viewing the webinar and/or reading the guidelines in advance of attending a Virtual Q & A Session, as many frequently asked questions can be found there. Pre-registration for the Virtual Q & A Session is required. Specific date/times and registration for Round 1 Q&A sessions are below; dates for Round 2 will be listed on this page later.
Round 1 Q&A Session #1
- July 14, 2022, 5:30-6:30 PM
- Register here
Round 1 Q&A Session #2
- July 25, 2022, 5:30-6:30 PM
- Register here
Program Directors
Program directors are available to help with your application. To schedule a video or phone meeting with a program director, fill out the application assistance meeting request form.
You may also call or email the program director listed under Contacts. There are three types of meetings you may request:
- Group Eligibility/Project Ideas Check-in (early in the process)
- Application Eligibility Review (for when you have a draft ready for us to review for eligibility)
- Project Check-In (once you received a grant and want to discuss any project changes)
Please note: We will do some initial brainstorming/refining with you about ideas, and will review application materials for eligibility and completeness. We are not able to help with reviewing content beyond eligibility. This is intended to provide general guidance ahead of submission; final eligibility determinations depend on a variety of factors and are made only after an application is submitted.
For additional online resources and contacts, go to https://mrac.org/grants/flexible-support/.