The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is seeking applications for its Challenge America to support primarily to small organizations for projects in all artistic disciplines that extend the reach of the arts to populations that are underserved.
Donor Name: National Endowment for the Arts
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 04/27/2023
Size of the Grant: $10,000
Grant Duration: 2 years
Details:
The program is rooted in principles that include, but are not limited to, recognition that:
- Some populations and some geographic areas have limited grant funding opportunities, and/or have been historically underserved by national arts funding;
- Some small organizations may face barriers to accessing grant funding; and
- Some applicants to the NEA may benefit from enhanced technical assistance resources.
Challenge America seeks to address these potential barriers for organizations seeking funding. The program features an abbreviated application, a standardized $10,000 grant amount, and a robust structure of technical assistance to facilitate entry to NEA funding opportunities. This category may be a good entry point for organizations that are new to applying for federal funding.
Projects
Challenge America supports arts projects in all artistic disciplines, including Artist Communities, Arts Education, Dance, Design, Folk & Traditional Arts, Literary Arts, Local Arts Agencies, Media Arts, Museums, Music, Musical Theater, Opera, Presenting & Multidisciplinary Arts, Theater, and Visual Arts.
Funding Information
- All grants are for $10,000.
- Grants cannot exceed 50% of the total cost of the project. All grants require a nonfederal cost share/match of at least 1 to 1. For example, if an organization receives a $10,000 grant, the total eligible project costs must be at least $20,000 and the organization must provide at least $10,000 toward the project from nonfederal sources.
- Grants awarded under these guidelines generally may cover a period of performance of up to two years.
Eligibility Criteria
If an organization applies to the Challenge America category, it may not also apply to the Grants for Arts Projects category during the same calendar year.
The following are eligible to apply:
- Nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3), U.S. organizations;
- Units of state or local government; or
- Federally recognized tribal communities or tribes.
Applicants fitting the above eligibility requirements may be arts organizations, local arts agencies, arts service organizations, local education agencies (school districts), or other organizations that can help advance the goals of the NEA.
To be eligible, the applicant organization must:
- Be a first-time applicant to the NEA or
- Be a previous NEA applicant that was not recommended for funding in any of the three most recent Fiscal Years (FYs 2021, 2022, or 2023) in any of the following grant programs:
- Grants for Arts Projects (application deadlines in February and July 2020, 2021, and 2022);
- Research Grants in the Arts (application deadlines in October 2020, October 2021, and April 2022); or
- Their Town (application deadlines in August 2020, 2021, and 2022).
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
