Arts Impact for Groups in Minnesota

The Arts Impact for Groups grant provides up to $10,000 in funding to help groups create and sustain Minnesotans’ access to the arts.

Donor Name: Metropolitan Regional Arts Council

State: Minnesota

County: Selected Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 11/21/2022

Size of the Grant: up to $10,000

Grant Duration: 1 year

Details:

Groups must be Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC); and/or disabled people/people with disabilities; and/or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual/Agender, Two-Spirit (LGBTQIA2+) led. Groups’ primary addresses must also 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.

Grant proposal may include:

Arts Programming activities, whether a single event (like a theater production) or a series (like a season of painting classes).
Organizational Capacity activities, meaning a coordinated management effort that bolsters the organization’s ability to do its work (like rebranding, building a website, or overhauling financial tracking systems). Organizational Capacity projects could also be the purchase of equipment, or making facilities improvements.
Operations activities that support the ongoing operations of a group (such as paying staff salaries or rent on a space) to provide arts access.

Eligible Funding Period: May 31, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

Eligibility Criteria

Groups/organizations must be located in Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, or Washington county.
Secondly, groups leadership must be comprised of at least 51% Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC); and/or disabled people/people with disabilities; and/or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual/Agender, Two-Spirit (LGBTQIA2+).
Lastly, for all 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations including fiscal sponsors, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) must have approved and confirmed the 501(c)(3) status by the deadline. MRAC staff may request a copy of the status determination letter and/or reinstatement letter from the IRS.
Groups must also be one of the following:
- Arts groups and organizations: Federally recognized tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organizations with annual operating expenses of $400,000 or less.
- Cultural groups and organizations: Federally recognized tax-exempt 501(c)(3) cultural nonprofit organizations that provide arts and non-arts programming with annual arts programming expenses of $400,000 or less. Cultural nonprofit organizations must isolate their arts programming expenses from non-arts financial activity.
- Fiscally sponsored groups with arts projects: Groups not registered as a federally recognized tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization must apply with an eligible fiscal sponsor. Fiscally sponsored groups must consist of at least 3 people who are on the Leadership team and have annual operating expenses of $400,000 or less. A fiscal sponsor is a federally tax-exempt nonprofit organization that receives MRAC grant monies and manages the financial aspects of the project on behalf of a group that does not have tax-exempt status.
- Non-arts and non-cultural nonprofit organizations: Federally recognized tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations with annual arts programming expenses of $400,000 or less. Non-arts and non-cultural nonprofit organizations must isolate their arts programming expenses from non-arts and non-cultural financial activity.
- Public Entities: A public entity such as a unit of state, local, or tribal government with annual arts expenses of $400,000 or less. The public entity must isolate their arts programming expenses from non-arts and non-cultural financial activity.
- Community Education Units: Community education units of a school district with annual arts budgets of any size. Community education units must isolate their arts programming expenses from non-arts and non-cultural financial activity.