Mass Cultural Council is seeking applications for its YouthReach, multi-year grants are awarded to creative youth development programs that integrate substantive out-of-school arts, humanities, and science opportunities into a collaborative community response to the needs of youth.
Donor Name: Mass Cultural Council
State: Massachusetts
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy):12/16/2021
Size of the Grant: $22,000
Grant Duration: 3 years
Details:
For more than 25 years, YouthReach has promoted the integration of substantive out-of-school arts, humanities, and science opportunities into a collaborative response to the needs of young people and communities. YouthReach programs work best when they are youth-driven and when young people are offered opportunities to both widen and deepen their skills in creativity, self-discovery, collaboration, belonging, leadership and advocacy for change. We also support creative youth development programs in holding space to address systemic inequities while working with young people to be creative forces for positive change in their own lives and in their communities.
Grant Categories
In 2019, YouthReach was redesigned through a three-day Kaizen process that involved current grantees, teaching staff, and alums of YouthReach programs. As a result of that redesign, Mass Cultural Council is accepting YouthReach applications in three different categories. All grantees receive the same award amount but have differing application requirements:
- New
- (Applicants or programs that were not funded through YouthReach or SerHacer in FY22.)
- Application Requirements: Full application, logic model, and interview or site visit.
- Reporting Requirements: Final report due in July of each year.
- Returning
- (Programs that have been funded between three and nine consecutive years.)
- Application Requirements: Full application, logic model, and interview or site visit.
- Reporting Requirements: Final report due in July of each year.
- Partners
- (Programs that have been funded for nine or more years.)
- Application Requirements: Application is not required so long as programs have not had a significant change to program design and staffing. Off-cycle, non-evaluative site visits.
- Reporting Requirements: Final report due in July of each year.
Award Amount and Funding Period
Grant amounts will be determined by the money available, and the number of projects recommended for funding. In FY22 the grants were $22,000. All grantees receive the same grant amount.
Successful applicants are eligible to receive funding for a three-year period:
- Year 1: Funding period July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023
- Year 2: Funding period July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024
- Year 3: Funding period July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025
All awards are contingent upon Mass Cultural Council’s allocation and receipt of sufficient funds from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and National Endowment for the Arts. The award amount may increase or decrease during each of the three years depending on those funding levels.
Program Eligibility
What makes a program eligible or ineligible?
- The proposed youth programming must be primarily arts, humanities, or interpretive sciences.
Proposed programs must take place after-school or out-of-school, except ensemble-based music programs, which can occur during school hours. - K-12 school applicants may only submit applications for ensemble-based music programs. No other disciplines or programs are eligible from K-12 schools.
- Programs should see themselves in this definition: creative youth development (CYD) is a commitment to supporting young people’s stories, ideas, and dreams through creative expression and honoring their lived experiences. In order to create environments that promote creative youth development, these three concepts must be present: racial equity and social justice, youth voices, and collective action.
Rules Pertaining to Multiple Proposals: In any single Mass Cultural Council fiscal year (July 1 – June 30), an organization may be the primary applicant for only one YouthReach grant application and a fiscal sponsor for only one YouthReach application. However, an organization may be the primary applicant on one project and collaborate on others. YouthReach funding does not preclude organizations from applying to other Mass Cultural Council programs for which they meet eligibility requirements.
Applicants Eligibility
- Massachusetts non-profit 501(c)3 organizations.
- Massachusetts K-12 schools with ensemble-based music programs.
- Programs of state or federal government in Massachusetts.
- Massachusetts public colleges/universities.
- Applicants using a fiscal agent: Massachusetts-based unincorporated group/association with a non-profit objective, or a Massachusetts-based corporation in the process of obtaining a 501(c)3 designation.
- A fiscal agent can either be a municipal entity, a non-profit entity incorporated in Massachusetts, or registered as a foreign corporation doing business in Massachusetts. If you are considering using a fiscal agent, you are encouraged to talk with Mass Cultural Council staff before you submit an application.
- FY22 SerHacer program grant recipients.
Review Criteria
YouthReach proposals will be reviewed using the following criteria:
- Community Need and Participation.
- Youth Voice and Community Engagement.
- Quality of Program Design.
- Program Evaluation.
- Fiscal Management.
For more information, visit YouthReach.
