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GRANTS

Grants--both public and private--have traditionally formed the major source of unearned income for media organizations. Some of the sources for grants include: large private foundations, community foundations, small private family foundations, government agencies (national, regional, state and local), and occasionally other nonprofits.

Upside:


  • Government and private foundation grants are very easy to research. Most have specific guidelines (often available on a website), and all must--by law--make public all the information about their prior grant activities.
  • There are more private foundations active today than ever before.
  • The Government provides numerous nooks and crannies for support of arts projects from agencies not normally associated with the arts (e.g. Education, Forestry, Science).
  • The 1990s witnessed an explosion in the size of foundation endowments and in the numbers in their ranks.
  • Foundations with a variety of interests can be found throughout the U.S.
  • Grants are almost always in the thousands of dollars.
  • Government agencies that reject you must provide you with feedback on your application, if requested.
  • Some private foundations are willing to take great risks and fund very controversial projects.
  • Family Foundations are particularly open to creative proposals, and are generally much more personal in their approach.


Downside:


  • It takes a long time to finally see a dollar from a foundation (six to eighteen months is not unusual), and often years of work setting the stage for the first "ask."
  • Some foundations meet only once or twice a year, so it is important to be very mindful of deadlines.
  • Paperwork is usually extensive (introductory letter, full grant proposal, follow-up reports, and accounting).
  • Competition for grant support is always very stiff, and increases when the economy is in a slump.
  • Government funders are very dependent on the current state of the economy,
  • Government funders can be risk-averse because of political oversight and tend to shy away from projects that are likely to cause controversy.
  • Private foundations tend to prefer one-time project grants (as opposed to general operating support) and rarely like to fund an organization over a long period of time.


SOME STORIES:


SPY HOP PRODUCTIONS (SALT LAKE CITY, UT)
As told by Jennifer Cho, Development Director

 

SAN FRANCISCO CINEMATHEQUE (SAN FRANCISCO, CA)
As told by Steven Jenkins, Executive Director.