The City of Boulder is excited to announce the General Operating Support Grants
Donor Name: City of Boulder
State: Colorado
City: Boulder
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/13/2026
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
- Operating grants maintain the autonomy of grantees, allowing them to allocate the dollars to their most pressing needs.
- Operating grants tend to be more predictable over time, which helps organizations maintain continuity of services to their communities.
- Because Operating grants are flexible, grantees can use the funds in more opportunistic or entrepreneurial ways than project-restricted funds often allow.
- Operating grants come with stringent accountability and management requirements that incentivize and perpetuate good business practices among arts organizations.
- Because the grantee—not the grant maker—ultimately defines the activities for which operating grants are used, this funding mechanism can reduce “mission drift” among grantees and can help to curtail the proliferation of programs designed solely to appeal to funders.
Funding Information
- Total funds: $1,580,000
- Awards: In 2026 there will be one tier based on community impact (Bedrock Operating Support) and five tiers based on the size of the organization’s budget (General Operating Support):
- Bedrock Organizations: $80,000 with a cap at 50% of the organization’s annual budget
- Extra Large Orgs (1M or more) grants of $60,000
- Large Orgs (500k – 999k) grants equal to 4% of their budget ($22,000 min -$40,000)
- Mid-sized Orgs (300k – 499k) grants equal to 5% of their budget ($15,000 – $22,000 cap)
- Small Orgs (100k – 299k) grants equal to 5% of their budget ($10,000 – $15,000)
- Extra Small Orgs (under 100k) grants of $10,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- Contractual age: All applicants must be of legal contractual age as defined by the state of Colorado (18 years). They encourage those younger than 18 years of age to collaborate with an eligible artist or organization in order to apply. Contact the Office of Arts and Culture to learn more.
- City of Boulder Conflict of Interest policy: City employees are not eligible to receive grant funding.
- Good standing: Applicants must be in good standing with the Boulder Arts Commission having met agreed-upon deadlines for any previous Boulder Arts Commission-sponsored project, and/or can demonstrate good faith efforts to comply with Boulder Arts Commission requests regarding previous projects. Awardee organizations must be active at the time of award.
- Compliance with law and policy. All applicants, organizations, and the content of all projects must comply with the ordinances and policies of the City of Boulder.
- Service area. The product (performance, piece of art, etc.) funded in whole or in part by the Boulder Arts Commission must be provided for and accessible to the Boulder community. Any product that receives other funding may be held in another municipality or area, provided that at least one performance is provided within Boulder Valley, as defined in the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, and is for the direct benefit of the Boulder community. As a shorthand, office staff use addresses with the zip code starting with 803— to determine if it is in the acceptable area.
- Civil Rights Act compliance. All applicants must comply with Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to the end that no person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, physical or mental handicap, sex or religion, be excluded.
- Exclusions. Funds will not be provided for: projects that have occurred before the grant funding decisions have been made, the purchase of alcohol or marijuana, debt reduction, creating or building endowments, political activity, programming that promotes a single religion over others, re-granting of the funds, or for capital construction or acquisition of real estate unless exceptionally approved by the Boulder Arts Commission with a showing of a significant public purpose (i.e. ADA or green energy improvements).
For more information, visit City of Boulder.
