Grants in the Performing Arts

Where do grants come from?

While individual donations are a big part of nonprofit fundraising, many contributions come from institutions or organizations. Grant funders generally belong to one of a few categories:

• private or family foundations
• corporations and business
• local, state, and national government agencies

Each type will have somewhat different procedures and policies, but all are important potential funding sources. The links and resources on this page give you some places to begin searching for grant opportunities, but you may also want to consider some other approaches:

• Look at the websites, listservs, and publications of your professional organizations and trades to see if they list grant opportunities.
• Look at the websites, programs, and annual reports of similar organizations to yours. What funders have they relied on?
• Google search for grants with keywords related to your project or organization.