The General Operating Support Grant Program (GOS) offers general operating support to non-profit arts, humanities, and arts education organizations whose primary mission focus is in one or more arts or humanities disciplines referenced in Guide to Grants. The mission, as submitted on the organization’s most-recent IRS Form 990, should include the word(s) arts, humanities, and/or arts or humanities discipline. More than 51% of both the organization’s previous year’s cash expenses and programming/services must be devoted to the arts and humanities and/or arts education.

GOS applicants must demonstrate the ways in which their ongoing programming aligns with the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) goal to encourage diverse artistic expressions and learning opportunities, so that all District of Columbia residents and visitors may experience the rich culture of the city. Successful GOS applications must clearly detail their organization’s outstanding leadership and vision, history of arts/humanities programming and strong track record of broad and inclusive community engagement.

GOS applications are reviewed in two (2) categories. Applicants have the opportunity to choose a category when they initiate an online application. Organizations who identify as Service Organizations should consult the GOS: Service Organizations RFA.

NOTE: The cutoff date for receipt of any questions is one week prior to the application deadline.

The Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) solicits grant applications from eligible entities. The goal of this Request for Applications (RFA) is to enhance the benefits that Stormwater Retention Credit (SRC)-generating green infrastructure (GI) practices provide to District of Columbia (District) property owners, residents, and other nearby stakeholders (“Community”).

DOEE seeks applications that will enhance the ability of District Communities to work constructively with SRC-generating businesses ("SRC aggregators"). Together, SRC aggregators and the Community would increase the benefits provided by SRC-generating GI. DOEE anticipates funding no more than six projects, for a combined total of $100,000.

Purpose

The purpose of these grants is to fund projects that implement a participatory planning and design process to identify community-identified green infrastructure benefits in addition to stormwater runoff reduction, and develop best practices for future engagement with communities towards identifying their desired green infrastructure benefits. These grants may also fund installation of additional green infrastructure elements to existing or planned Stormwater Retention Credit-generating green infrastructure to provide community-identified green infrastructure benefits. Each grant will focus on increasing green infrastructure benefits for District Communities that experience historical or current environmental injustices and historical socioeconomic, educational, political, and cultural marginalization (“target communities”). The results from these grants will be used to inform and develop best practices for increasing the benefits that the District’s SRC-generating GI provides to the Community.

Each Applicant may submit more than one application with different projects. If an Applicant responds with more than one project, it must do so in a separate proposal and submit all corresponding required documents.

Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) Program

The Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) program provides small and mid-sized museums with partial funding toward a general conservation assessment. The assessment is a study of all of the institution's collections, buildings, and building systems, as well as its policies and procedures relating to collections care. Participants who complete the program receive an assessment report with prioritized recommendations to improve collections care. CAP is often a first step for small institutions that wish to improve the condition of their collections.

Museums of all kinds may apply for a CAP assessment. These include:

• Aquariums*
• Arboretums*
• Art museums
• Botanical gardens*
• Children’s/Youth museums
• General museums (those having two or more significant disciplines, such as a museum of art and natural history)
• Historic houses/sites
• History museums (including those housed in historic buildings)
• Natural history/anthropology museums
• Nature centers
• Planetariums
• Science/Technology museums
• Specialized museums (limited to a single distinct subject, such as a maritime museum)
• Zoological parks*

* Botanical gardens and arboretums may use CAP to assess the preservation needs of both their living and non-living collections. Institutions with fully surveyed living animal collections (such as those accredited by the AZA) may use CAP to assess the needs of their non-living collections and the animals’ physical conditions and habitats. 

Benefits

A CAP assessment may assist your institution by:

• Providing recommendations and priorities for collections care that are specific to your collections
• Facilitating the development of a long-range preservation plan
• Serving as a fundraising tool for future collections projects

Every CAP report will contain an Executive Summary that provides a prioritized list of recommendations for improving your institution’s collections care. Though you may be aware of many of these issues already, the assessment can help you decide where to invest limited resources. It may be valuable in drawing the attention of your board or leadership to collections care concerns. If you are interested in seeking grant funding or private support for conservation or preservation activities, a CAP report can provide a professional argument for the need for such work. 

Allocation and Matching Requirement

Upon acceptance into the CAP program, participants are allocated a set amount of funding toward the cost of their assessment. Allocation amounts range from $3,500 to $3,900 per assessor based on the annual operating budget of the institution. Most institutions will have two assessors (a collections assessor and a building assessor).

• Annual Budget of the Institution = Less than $250,000 , Allocation per Assessor = $3,900
• Annual Budget of the Institution = $250,000 - $750,000 , Allocation per Assessor = $3,700
• Annual Budget of the Institution = More than $750,000 , Allocation per Assessor = $3,500

The cost of a conservation assessment is determined between each assessor and institution, but the fees always include two components: 1) the professional fee and 2) reimbursable expenses. In other words: Assessment contract amount = Professional fee + Reimbursable expenses 

• Professional fee : There is no standard professional fee charged by assessors. Each assessor’s fee schedule will vary based on location, experience, etc. 
• Reimbursable expenses :The assessor’s reimbursable expenses include fees such as the cost of travel to the site, hotel costs, meals, and other on-site expenses. 

Please note that CAP is not a grant. Allocation funds will not be sent to institutions; FAIC will send payment in the allocated amount directly to the assessor.  

1:1 Match Requirement

Participating institutions are required to meet or exceed a 1:1 match of the allocated funds. This match can be reached through any combination of:

• cash expenses to meet the total fees charged by the assessors
• the value of staff, volunteer, and board time committed to the CAP project
• inkind contributions toward the project
• overhead expenses

About

The DC Oral History Collaborative (DCOHC) documents, preserves, and celebrates the lived experiences of all Washington, DC residents and communities through oral history. The Collaborative accomplishes this by providing training, mentorship, resources, programs, and funding to current and aspiring oral historians.

Grant Opportunity

Help us create exciting public humanities programs for the people of Washington, DC! This grant opportunity funds the creation of innovative interpretations of humanities scholarship for public audiences. Applicants are encouraged to think creatively about how they engage the public. Potential projects can include, but are not limited to documentary films, planning or executing an event or performance, publications and curricula, tours and exhibits, websites and other digital humanities projects; and archives.

This opportunity is part of the Humanities Grant Program supported with funding from the District of Columbia Government through the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Funding Scope

Visions – Projects & Events funds innovative interpretations of the humanities for public audiences. This includes support for ongoing programs or limited-time activities. All projects must incorporate relevant humanities scholarship into the stories that they tell and have an advisor or partner who is knowledgeable about the relevant field or subject matter.

Prospective projects must:

• be informed by one or more of the humanities disciplines;
• have an advisor or team member who is knowledgeable about the proposed subject matter;
• demonstrate a connection to Washington, DC;
• be innovative, unique, and of strong educational interest to a wide public audience; and
• be publicly accessible.

Project examples include:

• Neighborhood organizations partnering with local experts to create walking tours that explore the various layers of a community;
• Conferences focusing on the connection between national issues and their impacts on DC residents;
• Humanities organizations holding space for dialogue around civic engagement;
• Educational organizations creating an exhibition with a humanities theme as it relates to DC residents;
• Documentary films that tell a humanities story about Washington, DC;
  • Documentary films will be showcased in a HumanitiesDC sponsored film festival and be made available for non-commercial, educational use.
• Planning or execution of an event, conference, festival, or other gathering;
  • Events, conferences, festivals, or other gatherings should promote DC-focused humanities topics for the public.
  • They should create networking opportunities for humanities professionals, a platform for scholars and local experts, and/or a space for people wanting to explore a humanities-based topic or area of interest.
  • Additionally, they must be open to the public and include some portion of free or affordable programming.
• Development of humanities-focused publications and curricula;
• The development or enhancement of archives, websites and other digital humanities projects.

Background

Mid Atlantic Tours brings the best of the performing arts to communities across the mid-Atlantic region. Presenters select from a curated roster of artists that changes annually but maintains a programmatic commitment to a diversity of performance genres, regional artist representation, and engaging with communities underserved by the arts. 

Grant Information

Presenters located in the mid-Atlantic region who engage a Mid Atlantic Tours Roster Artist during the project period receive up to 50% subsidy for the Roster Artist’s compensation (including artistic compensation, housing, per diem and travel) as well as a presenter capacity support. Presenters work directly with the Roster Artist’s Tour Manager to negotiate terms, including engagement dates and compensation. 

Once terms are confirmed between Presenter and Tour Manager, the Presenter completes a short application to Mid Atlantic Arts. Applications are not competitive, but Presenters interested in engaging a Mid Atlantic Tours Roster Artist during the project period are encouraged to confirm terms with the Artist’s Tour Manager as soon as possible as funding is limited. Final grant award distribution is determined by Mid Atlantic Arts staff in collaboration with Tour Managers.

Roster

Visit midatlanticarts.org to review the roster.

The Mid Atlantic Tours roster is curated by Mid Atlantic Arts staff with curatorial advisement from performing arts colleagues from the mid-Atlantic region. As a final step in the curatorial process, mid-Atlantic region Presenters indicate interest in prospective Roster Artists through a presenter interest survey conducted via email.

The selection process for the Mid Atlantic Tours roster prioritizes:

• Projected touring success for Roster Artists: tour feasibility & presenter interest
• Broad representation of multiple performance genres
• Broad geographic representation from artists based in different states/jurisdictions in the mid-Atlantic region
• Artists and creators who are actively engaged with diverse communities to energize the transformative power of the arts

Mid Atlantic Arts is committed to countering structural inequities based on race, gender, disability status, sexual orientation, class, age and geography through our programs.

Touring Preparation Residency

Each Mid Atlantic Tours roster artist may work with one presenter for a Touring Preparation Residency that does not include a public performance. All other guidelines and procedures for Mid Atlantic Tours engagements must be met, including the artist fee match from the presenter to the Roster Artist. The presenter is eligible for artist fee and presenter capacity support subsidies.

Suggestions for engagement activities for the preparation residency include, but are not limited to:

• extended technical residency
• work-in-process showing
• a rehearsal or demo of a prospective community engagement activity
• working with a dramaturg
• developing marketing materials
• refining a technical rider

If you are interested in partnering with a Mid Atlantic Tours Roster Artist to host the Roster Artist’s Touring Preparation Residency, reach out to the Artist’s Tour Manager.

Grant Award Details

Presenters meeting the eligibility criteria who engage a current Mid Atlantic Tours roster Artist for at least two engagement activities during the project period are eligible to receive a grant award from Mid Atlantic Arts to support the following:

• Artist compensation subsidy up to 50% of the artist compensation agreed upon between the Presenter and the Roster Artist (including artistic salary/fees, housing, per diem and travel). Minimum request: $750.00 USD;
• Other eligible expenses up to 2,000.00 USD to support direct project expenses including program staff salary, direct technical personnel fees, audience development, marketing and promotional expenses, project-specific purchases or consulting related to increasing access for disabled artists, staff, audiences or community members, technical and equipment rental expenses for virtual or in-person engagements, artist travel/lodging expenses, and/or expenses related to public health measures for in-person engagements.

Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Grant

The Foundation will consider requests to support museums, cultural and performing arts programs; schools and hospitals; educational, skills-training and other programs for youth, seniors, and persons with disabilities; environmental and wildlife protection activities; and other community-based organizations and programs.

AHEP Program Overview

The Commission on the Arts and Humanities (“CAH” or “the Agency”) seeks applications for the FY24 Arts and Humanities Education Projects (AHEP). AHEP furthers CAH’s mission by encouraging progress in the arts and humanities in the District of Columbia by supporting non-profit arts, humanities, arts education, and service organizations who significantly contribute to the District of Columbia as a world-class cultural capital. This grant opportunity has the following program goals:

• Provide access to high-quality arts and humanities experiences that work to advance student academic achievement in the District of Columbia.
• Strengthen the value of an arts and humanities education as a critical component of a student’s broader education.
• Support activities that are consistent with local and national learning standards for arts and humanities education, including the current state standards in non-arts content areas, where appropriate.

AHEP is open for projects of all sizes that demonstrate District impact and engage District children, youth, and older adults.

Grant Project Types

The AHEP grant program provides support for the following types of projects:

In-School Projects

Defined as those that take place within the traditional school day and may include artist residencies, field trips, and arts integration opportunities. Projects must connect to curricula standards and instructional programs occurring in the schools. Assessment and evaluation criteria should emphasize an intentional and comprehensive design.

Out-of-School-Time Projects

Defined as those that take place in the after-school, weekend, and/or summer hours. They may take place on school premises but are often facilitated by non-school arts and/or humanities providers. Priority is given to projects that engage participants multiple times throughout the year

Professional Development Projects

These include high-quality training opportunities for educators that enhance their skills in an arts discipline or in the integration of standards-based arts and/or humanities instruction with non-arts academic content. The project must target classroom educators, instructional staff, or teaching artists providing services at a DC public or public charter school. Applications may also include components of technological support to assist in the delivery of virtual arts and humanities experiences and for the purposes of data collection and analysis.

Older Adult Projects

Uses a learning framework that is culturally relevant and experiential in design to advance the engagement of older adults (50+) in the arts and humanities. Projects should take place in senior centers and/or senior residential facilities in the District. The applicant must identify an older adult population to serve, possible partners as appropriate, and a letter of project commitment from the proposed project site.

The DC Bar Foundation awards grants to DC-based 501(c)3 non-profit organizations that provide free civil legal aid to low-income DC residents. DCBF has three annual grant programs – General Support, Access to Justice, and Civil Legal Counsel Projects Program Grants.

Civil Legal Counsel Projects Program Grants

Grants are awarded exclusively to DC legal aid organizations that are providing legal representation to low income DC tenants facing eviction-related proceedings in landlord-tenant court in Washington, DC.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Civil Legal Counsel Projects Program is to fund civil legal services to DC residents who are low income or under-served facing any of the covered proceedings in DC.

Thus, funding will be provided:

• ONLY for free civil legal services;
• ONLY for services to District residents who are low income or under-served; and
• ONLY for projects that provide eviction-related proceedings.

Standards for Organizations

Funding will be provided to civil legal aid organizations that have systems in place that align with widely accepted industry standards for promoting quality, efficiency, and effectiveness in the delivery of civil legal aid, including methods for self-assessment to provide feedback regarding the extent to which those systems are achieving their desired purpose.

A strong application will demonstrate that the applying organization:

• Seeks to identify and respond to the most pressing civil legal needs of the people with low incomes it serves;
• Has systems in place to ensure appropriate supervision, training, and development of its staff, applies feedback obtained from stakeholders and clients to evaluate and improve organization effectiveness and quality;
• Integrates pro bono attorneys and others to supplement and increase the effectiveness of its representation and other services;
• Provides other services designed to increase the accessibility of legal services to DC residents with low incomes, such as assistance with self-help strategies, legal information through its website or other channels, community legal education; and
• Engages with other important stakeholders working on behalf of or serving its targeted client population, such as the judiciary, government agencies, and social services agencies.

Standards for Projects

Funding will be provided only to projects that measure and report to DCBF their performance against stated goals with respect to legal services to be delivered, pre-court intervention and collaboration, pro bono development, and any other activities to be funded under the requested grant.

A strong application will demonstrate that the project:

• Has ambitious yet realistic goals for delivering significant amounts of eviction-related legal services, as measured by the volume and type of legal services to be provided, the number of DC residents to be assisted, the number of cases to be accepted, the DC wards from which the majority of clients are anticipated, and other measures.
• Seeks to increase access to eviction-related legal services to residents in underserved areas of the District, as measured by the percentage of the total proposed legal services that will be provided in areas containing the greatest concentrations of residents who are low income.
• Has high goals for providing significant amounts of pre-court intervention and collaboration, as measured by the number of outreach efforts and/or trainings directed to tenants who are low income particularly threatened by eviction-related “covered proceedings”, the number of individuals to whom outreach will be conducted, the number of trainings to be held, the number of DC residents who will attend, the volume of materials distributed (literature, website accesses, etc.), and other relevant measures.
• Seeks to increase engagement of pro bono attorneys and law firms in the provision of legal services to DC residents who are low income or under-served, as measured by the number of pro bono attorneys recruited, the number of attorneys trained, growth in the total number of attorneys and firms participating, and other relevant measures.
• Has adequate capacity for delivering the services that are proposed, while at the same time maintaining high service quality, as indicated by experience in providing services similar to those being proposed, related current work that will be supported or enhanced by the proposed services, and other factors.
• Has a high likelihood of sustainability, taking into account such factors as potential funding sources beyond DCBF, a track record of successful fundraising, a longer-term service delivery strategy, and other factors.