Flexible Support Grant Program

The Flexible Support grant provides up to $15,000 in funding to help groups create access to the arts and stay connected to audiences/community across the seven-county metro area: Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties. Projects must benefit Minnesotans. Grant requests must outline specific arts projects that may include related costs for artists and other personnel, supplies, equipment rental, and other expenses needed to carry out the project. No matching funds are required for this program.

This grant opportunity is open to new applicants as well as applicants who have received funding in the past.

This program supports the production of artistic projects, and/or activities that strengthen the organizational capacity and operations of groups providing access to the arts.

Examples of proposals could include one or more of the following: planning, adapting, maintaining, expanding, producing, developing resources or leadership capacity, moving towards recovery.

Please read the guidelines before you apply.

Text Guidelines for screen readers and translation applications are available at this link: Flexible Support Text Version Grant Guidelines The pdf of the grant guidelines are available in the grant document section below.

Grant Workshop

A video of the grant workshop is available on YouTube at this link: Flexible Support Grant Workshop Video The slides referenced in the workshop are available in the grant document section below.

Apply here

Deadlines

Tuesday, September 8, 2020 - 11:59 pm
Monday, November 9, 2020 - 11:59 pm
Monday, February 8, 2021 - 11:59 pm

Program directors

Scott Artley
651-523-6384| scott@mrac.org

Masami Kawazato
651-523-6386| masami@mrac.org

Jovan Rebollar
651-523-6381| jovan@mrac.org

Grant documents

Program requirements & eligibility

The requirements listed below are intended to give a sense of the program and are NOT comprehensive. Please read the complete guidelines before beginning your application and contact your program director with questions.

Flexible Support Grant Program

  • This program funds IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts and/or cultural organizations, non-arts nonprofits, and community education units with a history of arts programming, and informal/unincorporated arts groups applying with a nonprofit as a fiscal sponsor.
  • The applicant group and project must be located in the 7-county metropolitan region
  • The applicant group’s annualized operating/arts programming expenses must be less than $400,000.
  • Fiscally Sponsored groups must have their own board of directors or advisory committee that provides input on the project and oversight of the grant funds

Help with your application

MRAC Program Directors are available for questions on eligibility and program intent, project idea development, and will, when possible, review your application materials for eligibility in advance of the deadline. We encourage you to reach out to the program director before you submit an application, especially if you are a first-time applicant to MRAC.

If you would like to talk with a program director about this grant program, fill-out this Flexible Support Program application assistance meeting request form. Someone will follow up (ideally within 1 business day) to schedule a meeting.

Grant application workshops

Application workshops are held about a month prior to the deadline. Participants learn about the grant program, application process, and how to write an effective MRAC grant application. This is a great opportunity to get your questions answered about your project ideas.

Previously funded projects

MRAC encourages groups to review previously awarded grants to enhance the understanding of the process and improve your application. You may also contact your program director to have up to 3 grants emailed to you as pdfs. To see a list of this and last fiscal year’s funded projects, visit the recent grant awards link for the full listing.

Apply here

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