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Grants for organizations

These are grants available to nonprofit and fiscally sponsored organizations operating in Minnesota.

Not a nonprofit organization? To learn more about fiscal sponsorship, read about our Incubator program.

Springboard Staff

Artist Resources Director

State agencies

Minnesota State Arts Board – A state agency that stimulates and encourages the creation, performance, and appreciation of the arts in the state. Current grant programs, offered in the fiscal year 2024 grant cycle:

Accessible Arts—People with disabilities face significant barriers to the arts as creators, participants, and attendees. This pilot program will offer project grants to increase the capacity of the arts sector to make arts experiences more accessible. Funds will be used for investments that will have a longer-term impact on the applicant, such as professional development related to accessibility (i.e., staff or volunteer training, etc.), hiring accessibility consultants to conduct accessibility audits and/or develop accessibility plans, etc. Funds may also be used for small physical or equipment investments (costing less than $5,000) that will make programming more accessible (i.e. assisted listening, captioning equipment, grab bars, etc.).

Arts Education—Project grants to help Minnesotans develop personal relationships with an art form(s) by supporting learning experiences for individuals of all ages and abilities. Project grant funds may be used for age-appropriate classes, workshops, camps, after-school programs, online education programs, community arts education, school residences or partnerships, etc.

Arts Experiences—Project grants to support individuals and organizations in providing meaningful arts experiences for Minnesotans within their communities. Funds may be used for a variety of arts programming such as creating and/or presenting concerts, plays, tours, exhibitions, arts festivals, public art, or other kinds of activities that provide Minnesotans opportunities to engage in arts activities that are instilled into community or public life.

Cultural Expression—Project grants to support activities that share, explore, pass on, express, or celebrate culture through the arts. Culture may be defined by a common ethnicity, tribal affiliation, geographic or regional identity, occupation, language, or recreation. Traditional and contemporary forms of cultural expression may be funded in this program. Funds could be used to support practicing a cultural art form; presenting cultural festivals, community celebrations, performances, media or exhibitions; offering demonstrations, etc. Funds could also be used to deepen or pass on cultural traditions through apprenticeships or documentation.

Operating Support—This program provides general operating support to high quality, established arts organizations that produce, present, or exhibit works of art; to organizations that provide a broad range of services to artists; and to community arts schools and conservatories that make arts learning available to Minnesotans of all ages and abilities.

Regional Arts Councils - Minnesota's unique, decentralized system of eleven regional arts councils.

The RACs disseminate state and other funding for local arts projects, arts in education residencies, general operating support for organizations and other local arts activities in each region of the state. Check the map for your region.

NWMAC (Region 1) - Application deadlines are in August, November, February, monthly, and on an ongoing basis for five grant categories. Serving Kittson, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, and Roseau counties.

Region 2 - Grant deadlines in five categories, August through April. Serving Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Lake of the Woods, and Mahnomen counties

Arrowhead Regional Arts Council (Region 3) - Serving Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, and Saint Louis counties. Grant deadlines for five categories in October, January, April, and July, as well as rolling deadlines.

Lake Regions Arts Council (Region 4) - Grant deadlines in four categories, September through March. Serving Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Otter Tail, Pope, Stevens, Traverse, and Wilkin counties.

Five Wings Arts Council (Region 5) - Grant deadlines in six categories on January 15th, April 15th, July 15th, October 15th, monthly, and on an ongoing basis. Serving Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd, and Wadena counties.

Southwest Minnesota Arts Council (Regions 6&8) - Seven grant categories. Serving Big Stone, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lincoln, Lac qui Parle, Lyon, McLeod, Meeker, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, Rock, Swift, and Yellow Medicine counties.

East Central Arts Council (Region 7E) - Four grant categories. Serving Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, and Pine counties.

Central Minnesota Arts Board (Region 7W) - Seven grant categories. Serving Benton, Sherburne, Stearns, and Wright counties.

Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council (Region 9) - All deadlines July through February. Four grant categories. Serving Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, LeSueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca, and Watonwan counties.

Southeast Minnesota Arts Council (Region 10) - Most grant deadlines October 1st and April 1st, in six categories. Serving Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, Olmsted, Mower, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, and Winona counties.

Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (Region 11) - The Flexible Support grant provides funding to help organizations/groups create and sustain Minnesotans’ access to the arts. Eligible projects include operations, and/or organizational capacity, and/or arts programming.

Private, corporate and community foundations

Minnesota Grants Directory - A publication produced by the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN), designed to help grantseekers by providing an overview of the state's most active foundations and giving programs. The directory includes basic information on over 100 community foundations, corporate giving programs and private foundations. Copies can be purchased from MCN's website for $80 for nonmembers, and $40 for members.

Foundation Directory Online by Candid – A subscription-based resource with information about philanthropic opportunities worldwide. The directory is accessible onsite at partner locations (including most public libraries) through IP recognition, which means you may be able to gain access to the link above without log-in credentials. Search here for the nearest location, or check with your local library branch for more information.

GrantSpace – A subscription-based resource from Candid providing "easy-to-use, self-service tools and resources to help nonprofits worldwide become more viable grant applicants and build strong, sustainable organizations." This resource has free access at many locations across the country.

You can access Candid resources for free during regular hours at these locations in Minnesota:

Central Minnesota Community Foundation, St. Cloud (call ahead to reserve time and a brief orientation for new users)

Duluth Public Library - Main Branch

Hennepin County Libraries - Any of HCL's 41 branches

Rochester Public Library

St. Paul Public Library - George Latimer Central Library, Workforce and Innovation Center (3rd floor)

West Central Initiative, Fergus Falls (call ahead for an appointment)

Willmar Area Community Foundation (call ahead to reserve time and a brief orientation for new users)

Crowdfunding

See this FAQ to learn more about crowdfunding platforms, including GoFundMeIndieGoGoKickstarter and Patreon