Search Through Grants for Music Education in the U.S.

American Electric Power Foundation

The AEP Foundation focuses on improving lives through education from early childhood through higher education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and by providing support to help meet basic needs such as emergency shelter, affordable housing and eliminating hunger.

The Foundation also supports organizations whose mission and/or programming is committed to positive social justice outcomes. Other Foundation support may be offered to protect the environment, promote healthcare and safety, and enrich life through art, music and cultural heritage.

Focus Areas

The following focus areas will be eligible for consideration by the Foundation:

• Improving lives through education from early childhood through higher education, with an emphasis in the areas of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
• Providing basic human services in the areas of hunger and housing to assure that people have the necessities to build successful lives.
• Embracing change and equity through sustainable programs that move social justice forward.

Focus Areas

Entergy’s Open Grants Program focuses on improving communities as a whole. We look for giving opportunities in the areas of arts and culture, education and workforce development, poverty solutions and social services, healthy families, and community improvement.

Arts and Culture

The arts are expressions of ourselves – our heritage, feelings and ideas. To cultivate that, we support a diverse range of locally based visual arts, theater, dance and music institutions. Our long-term goal is to increase the access to contemporary art for a wider public, including children and the financially disadvantaged.

Community Improvement/EnrichmentEntergy supports community-based projects that focus community enrichment and improvement. A few examples include civic affairs, blighted housing improvements, and neighborhood safety. By giving to communities in this way, we actually help them become more self-sufficient.Healthy FamiliesChildren need a good start to grow into healthy, well-adjusted adults. With that in mind, we give to programs that have a direct impact on children educationally and emotionally. We’re also interested in family programs, like those that better prepare parents to balance the demands of work and home. The amount and nature of an organization’s request will determine which type of grant the organization would need to apply for.In considering requests for grants, priority is placed on programs in specific counties/parishes. 

Foundation's Purpose

The Enterprise Holdings Foundation was established by founder Jack C. Taylor to give back to the communities in which our partners and employees live and work. The Foundation provides charitable support to worthwhile, non-profit initiatives that are actively supported by Enterprise Holdings employees and their spouses/domestic partners. Contributions are made to thousands of local communities across the globe where the organization operates. 

The Foundation’s philanthropic and community relations mission is to ensure that we maintain our leadership position as a valued and responsible corporate citizen by enhancing the quality of life in our communities consistent with the organization’s business goals and objectives. The Foundation supports relief projects or causes that Enterprise Holdings deems important as they arise, such as natural disasters that affect our employees and partners. 

Enterprise Mobility™ Philanthropic Giving

At Enterprise Mobility, we’re focused on strengthening communities one neighborhood at a time. We do this by fostering a culture of community engagement as well as funding programs that protect the environment, drive social progress and empower the places where we live and work.  By leveraging our presence in thousands of communities, we are responding to natural disasters and helping address challenges such as hunger and social inequity through partnerships, grant programs, volunteerism and employee giving.

 Who can submit a grant application for funding? Only Enterprise Mobility team members and their spouse or domestic partner who regularly volunteer or serve on a Board or committee can apply for a grant on behalf of the community nonprofit organization that they are actively involved with that meet our Giving Guidelines.  If you are a team member trying to apply, the application link is located on the SharePoint site and look for “Grant Applications” on the right hand side. This is accessible only to team members. 

Gibson Gives

“MAKING MUSIC MATTER … TO MORE PEOPLE… IN MORE WAYS… ONE GUITAR AT A TIME.”

Founded in 2002, the Gibson Foundation, now Gibson Gives, a 501©(3), is committed to to introduce, inspire, and amplify the power of music through guitars across all generations, genres, and genders. That is our mission!

We are making the world a better place through music by supporting non-profit organizations and developing programs in our efforts to advance musicians through music education, and music health and wellness initiatives worldwide.

Through product donations and meaningful giving, Gibson continues to shape the sound of generations of musicians across the globe.

Our Mission

The Gibson Gives | Gibson Foundation is a 501(c)(3) committed to introduce, inspire, and amplify the power of music through guitars across all generations, genres, and genders.

The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation promotes the advancement and perpetuation of humanistic inquiry and artistic creativity by encouraging excellence in scholarship and in the performing arts, and by supporting research libraries and other institutions which transmit our cultural heritage.

The programs of the Foundation reflect the interests and patronage of its founders, Gladys Krieble Delmas and Jean Paul Delmas.

Humanities Program

The Foundation intends to further the humanities along a broad front, supporting projects which address the concerns of the historical studia humanitatis: a humanistic education rooted in the great traditions of the past; the formation of human beings according to cultural, moral, and aesthetic ideals derived from that past; and the ongoing debate over how these ideals may best be conceived and realized.

Programs in the following areas are eligible: history; archaeology; literature; languages, both classical and modern; philosophy; ethics; comparative religion; the history, criticism, and theory of the arts; and those aspects of the social sciences which share the content and methods of humanistic disciplines. The Foundation welcomes projects that cross the boundaries between humanistic disciplines and explore the connection between the humanities and other areas of scholarship. Programs of institutions in Venice relating to the humanities are eligible in this category. The geographical concentration is primarily but not exclusively directed toward European and American history and letters, broadly defined.

The Humanities Program is primarily directed to institutions of higher education and humanistic enterprises such as learned societies, museums, and major editorial projects. The program may also consider, on a selective basis, projects that increase the exposure of those outside these institutions to the humanistic experience or that strengthen preparation for the humanistic disciplines. The prime criterion remains that of Gladys and Jean Delmas: a commitment to excellence, whether proven or promised.

Performing Arts Program

Each year, the Foundation supports a limited number of not-for-profit performing arts institutions based in New York City that provide performances in music, dance and theatre. Only established performing or producing entities with a history of appearing at preeminent venues and such venues themselves are eligible. Applicants must be publicly supported organizations described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; the Foundation does not make grants to fiscal agents. Special initiatives of other institutions, start-up projects, emerging organizations, development campaigns, and building projects are ineligible. Proposals for pre-professional programs and opera are only accepted from past grantees. The Foundation receives many more requests for support than it could ever fund, and for that reason most first-time grant applications are not successful.

Subject to the above requirements, the program supports:

• Dance presenters who make ballet and modern dance available to the public and otherwise provide support to the dance field, as well as a limited number of ballet and modern dance companies.
• Theatre companies and presenters that have demonstrated a commitment to include the classics in their regular offerings.
• Music groups and concert presenters committed to making early music or contemporary repertory available to New York City audiences.

Research Libraries Program

The Research Libraries Program concentrates primarily in those areas of its founders’ interests and aims to be fully complementary to the Foundation’s other program areas (i.e., humanities scholarship, performing arts, and Venetian history and culture).

The overall objective of the Research Libraries Program is to improve the ability of research libraries to serve the needs of scholarship in the humanities and the performing arts, and to help make their resources more widely accessible to scholars and the general public. Wherever possible, grants to libraries seek to promote cooperative cataloging projects, with an emphasis on access to archival, manuscript, and other unique sources; some elements of interpretation and exhibition; scholarly library publications; bibliographical and publishing projects of interest to research libraries; and collection-level preservation/conservation work and research.

Small-scale digitizing is eligible for support when the process is part of a clearly defined and timely scholarly project that incorporates recognized standards for metadata production, for preservation, and for distribution. The Foundation does not support massive digitizing projects of a general nature.

Indigo Oak Fund

The Indigo Oak Fund is a Colorado-based private foundation focused on education, the arts, women and children’s issues, and ensuring equal justice under the law. Our Mission is to recognize and advance individual potential and support effective programs which contribute to that purpose.

The Fund supports selected programs and initiatives which promote personal empowerment and achievement and which qualify as related to the above-named issues. We seek to contribute to a better world by recognizing and respecting the value of each individual, funding programs which have the potential to improve lives, fostering lifelong learning, and ensuring access to equal opportunity for all.

Our Focus

• Fostering Lifelong Learning
• Ensuring access to equal opportunity for all
• Improving the quality of lives
• Recognizing and advancing individual potential

Fostering Creative Expression - The Arts

Our foundation is committed to supporting the arts in a variety of forms and expressions and for every member of our community. We support programming for both youth and adults, amateurs and professionals. Past grants have supported funding for classes and camps, community theaters, internship programs, and one-time events in the fields of visual arts, music, writing, graphic design, and drama.

About the Foundation

The Johnson Ohana Foundation is a non-profit public charity founded in 2008 by musician Jack Johnson, and his wife Kim, to promote positive and lasting change within communities by supporting organizations that focus on environmental, art, and music education.

Grant Program

The Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation supports organizations with strong community involvement. We are most interested in funding organizations that work creatively toward solution-based approaches to environmental or societal problems, with a commitment to long-term and lasting change. The Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation primarily supports smaller organizations working on issues relevant to their own local communities.

We fund groups that focus on one of three central themes: 

• Environmental Education
• Arts Education for Youth
• Music Education for Youth

The Johnson Ohana Foundation seeks out innovative non-profits that actively engage youth and/or volunteers in projects that provide measurable benefit to the environment and/or the community.

A majority of our grants are awarded for a single year but we do on occasion award multi-year grants for up to a 3-year period. Multi-year grants are usually awarded to non-profits with which we have built a strong relationship and are generally associated with projects focusing on the current funding theme.

Fields of Interest

The Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation regularly supports organizations that work in the following fields of interest and in addition, chooses a specific funding theme that varies periodically:

Environmental Education 

• Oceans/ Rivers/ Watersheds
• Plastic Free Initiatives
• Renewable Energy
• Sustainable Living
• Sustainable Local Food Systems
• Farm to School Programs
• Tree Planting/Restoration
• Conservation Programs (energy, waste, water)

Current Funding Theme

• Sustainable Local Food Systems

Grant Size

The Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation awards grants ranging from $2500 to $20,000. Grants can be directed to specific programs or to general operating expenses.

Grant Review Process

Environmental Education grants are reviewed in the spring.

Why Education?

We have chosen education because we believe that it is the best means to empower people to get better jobs, to become more independent and to participate more fully in our society.

Our Grantmaking Strategy

JSF makes grants to organizations that help people overcome barriers to education and employment. Addressing these barriers enables them to graduate and find good jobs, thereby contributing to and enriching their communities.

JSF assists people indirectly by making grants to schools, universities, and non-profits, and funds initiatives such as scholarships, mentoring, tutoring and internships. Grants are focused on three areas: individuals with disabilities, individuals with financial need, and Indigenous peoples.

Economically Disadvantaged Students

Our purpose is to help economically disadvantaged students pursue and achieve success in education so that they can obtain meaningful employment. Our programs to serve that purpose are focused on scholarships.

The Foundation has developed a broad spectrum of scholarship programs. Most of them are leveraged by matching funds (sometimes as much as 4 to 1) and, where available, government grants. Some programs seek to reach students in middle or high school on the theory that preparation and mentoring are necessary if these students are to succeed at the post -secondary level. Others are straight scholarship programs at the university level.

The Foundation’s university and college scholarships to students in financial need are offered at Berklee College of Music, Palm Beach Atlantic University, South Florida University, University of Florida, and University of West Florida. The Foundation also provides scholarship for dependents of UPS employees who attend college or university in Florida.

The Foundation has funded scholarships and endowment building at Florida's state (community) college level and has recently entered into an innovative project with the University of Central Florida and 4 state colleges in the DirectConnect partnership, which allows graduates from those state colleges to go directly to UCF and obtain scholarship support.

Examples of programs that seek to reach middle or high school students are the Johnson Take Stock program in the School District of Palm Beach County, Florida, and Providence St. Mel School in Chicago, Illinois. Both of these seek to engage disadvantaged students with a mentoring and scholarship program aimed at helping them to graduate from high school and attend postsecondary institutions.

Providing grants and programs to children, youth and women to enhance their health, safety, and well being and provide development opportunities in the areas of education, art, literature and music to improve their quality of life.

Our Mission

Started in 2006, the Karen Colina Wilson Foundation has as its mission statement “Making a positive difference in the lives of woman and children.” Programs to enhance the health, welfare, safety and well-being of children, youth and women and for development opportunities of women and children in areas of education, art, literature and music are the primary focuses of this foundation. The geographic area of preference is the Southern and Western Wayne County (Michigan) area, with additional support in communities where trustees live. Typical grant amounts range from $500.00 – $10,000.00. We often offer matching grants, thereby encouraging groups to broaden their scope of funding.

Vision

To make a positive difference in the lives of children, youth and women.

Sparkplug provides grants to start-up organizations and new projects of established non-profits in the following three areas:

Education

Sparkplug funds projects to educate or support communities, including but not limited to school-age students, that move beyond traditional classroom instruction. In keeping with our justice-oriented framework, we fund education projects that engage excluded students in new ways, projects that restore knowledge that has been marginalized through racism or colonialism, and projects that rebuild community and collective problem-solving.

We're especially interested in supporting critical and investigative thinking, and projects that address race, gender, and class disparities in education. We do fund community-based education and social justice curriculum development, For example, we have funded the development and sharing of curriculum that explores connections between Palestine and the US/Mexico border region to teach students to think critically about the impact of militarized border zones on youth, families and the environment.

Some examples of education projects that we have funded in the past include:

• A program using digital tools to educate consumers on how they can support farmworkers rights.
• A youth-led education campaign exposing and opposing militarization in their community.
• A digital platform to preserve the archives of a local black community.
• A year-long program bringing together social and environmental justice organizers to train new organizers and develop joint community projects.

Community Organizing

Sparkplug funds work by members of a community for their community -- work that aims to create justice by making systemic change and/or shifting power. Or in other words, we fund projects that are created, run by, and meet the needs of people with shared lived experience who face the same types of oppression, discrimination, violence, or barriers, who live in the same area, or who have a shared vision and aspirations for the future.

For example, We DO fund projects created and led by LGBTQ youth to change policies that affect them.

Some other examples of community organizing that we have funded in the past include:

• A farmworker-led campaign against deportations and for access to drivers licenses for undocumented people.
• Training community members as housing organizers as part of a campaign to build their leadership capacity and win local housing justice.
• Support to frontline communities in energy democracy organizing.
• A COVID-19 related mutual aid and advocacy project by and for people experiencing homelessness.

Music

Recognizing the critical importance of music in bringing communities together and building collective creativity, Sparkplug supports emerging musicians in developing new work, sharing existing work with a wider community through events or media, bringing together musicians to collaborate on creating or performing pieces, or facilitating new workshops that bring music to oppressed communities. Applicants for music grants will be asked to submit a sample of their music with their Letter of Intent form.

Some examples of music projects that we have funded in the past include:

• A music and other media production of a multi-ethnic Ottoman world, drawing on the stories and songs of Sephardic women.
• Commissioned compositions and the production of CDs in selected genres.
• The development of a musical program, using historical materials, memorializing the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911.
• A multi-media, semi-staged performance based on the life and poetry of the celebrated Italian Renaissance poet, Torquato Tasso.

GRAMMY Museum Grants Program

With funding generously provided by The Recording Academy, the GRAMMY Museum Grants Program awards grants each year to organizations and individuals to support efforts that advance the archiving and preservation of the music and recorded sound heritage of North America, and research projects related to the impact of music on the human condition.

Grant funds have been utilized to preserve private collections as well as materials at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian and numerous colleges and universities. Research projects have studied the links between music and early childhood education, treatments for illnesses and injuries common to musicians, and the impact of music therapy on populations from infants to the elderly.

Scientific Research Projects

Each year, the GRAMMY Museum Grant Program awards grants to organizations and individuals to support research on the impact of music on the human condition. Examples might include the study of the effects of music on mood, cognition and healing, as well as the medical and occupational well-being of music professionals, and the creative process underlying music. 

Funding

Pre-College Education Grant

The United States-Japan Foundation supports innovative education projects that help young Americans and Japanese learn about each other’s society, culture, and country as well as learn to work together on issues of common concern. The Foundation focuses on K-12 education and throughout its history has been at the forefront of supporting teacher professional development projects that train US teachers to teach about Japan and Japanese teachers to teach about the United States. In addition, the Foundation funds projects that work directly with students, that develop top quality curriculum materials on America or Japan for educational audiences in the other country, that connect schools and classrooms in the US and Japan, and that develop and improve instruction in Japanese language.

The Foundation seeks to respond to needs at the pre-college level as identified by experts in US-Japan education and practitioners in the field. We are open to diverse methodologies for engaging teachers and students in the study of Japan and the United States that range from history, art, and music to science and society. The Foundation also proactively leads efforts to develop educational programs and projects when a significant need is discerned.

USJF seeks to support programs that: 

• Build human networks among teachers on both sides of the Pacific with a mutual interest in teaching and learning about Japan, the US, and US-Japan relations, particularly in the fields of social studies, science, and Japanese language instruction (support for language instruction is currently limited to Japanese-language programs in the United States)
• Invest in programs in regions in both countries that have been underserved in terms of exposure to and resources for learning about the other country
• Take advantage of new technology to bring Japanese and American teachers and students together
• Enlist the expertise residing at institutions of higher learning and other NGOs in support of US-Japan studies programs at the elementary, middle and high school levels in both countries
• Present the products of research and policy studies and media programs on US-Japan issues to an audience of pre-college students and their teachers, with the aim of fostering mutual learning and understanding among the young people who will be the future leaders in both countries, forced to come to terms with making policy and responding to the changing nature of the US-Japan relationship
• Enhance, expand and preserve the study of the Japanese language at the pre-college level in the United States through teacher professional development opportunities, national standards, and performance assessments
• Develop curricula and other products focused on Japan and/or the United States that area immediately relevant to and useful in meeting the demands faced by teachers at the pre-college level
• Continue to support and enhance the US-Japan knowledge of the vast network of teachers and students who have been exposed to US-Japan studies over the years through USJF-sponsored programs

Proposed projects should seek to incorporate one or more of these elements in a way that is particularly suited to the need(s) in pre-college education they seek to address. 

History

Classics for Kids Foundation (CFKF) was formed in 1998 in response to the decline of music performance education programs for young people. Our mission is to support young people and the programs that serve them by offering matching grants for fine stringed instruments. Our focus is on at-risk and rural youth, with the premise that learning a complex musical instrument brings with it a host of lifelong benefits including better self-discipline and academic performance, the confidence that comes from doing something well, better coordination, positive peer groups, and immersion in the beauty of music.

CFKF has a grant-making presence in all 50 states of America; at this writing, we’ve supported well over 300 string programs with over $2 million in beautiful new stringed instruments that inspire young people to participate and remain in their programs.

Funding

If your school or non-profit organization believes in the role of fine instruments in your program, and can show evidence of need and commitment to raising matching funds, you are a strong candidate for the Classics for Kids matching grant program.

Instruments needed can be: 

• Violins
• Violas
• Cellos
• Double Basses
• Ukuleles
• Guitars

Our Story

Serving our communities has always been an important piece of GPD Group’s culture. From volunteer relationships with local organizations around our offices to holiday giving programs, we have always believed that it is our responsibility to give back to the communities that have given us so much.

In 2014, GPD Group took our desire to give back to the next level and created “The GPD Employees’ Foundation,” a 501©(3) that focused on bettering the lives of children in our communities. Our Foundation awards grants to K-12 public schools that enrich the educational experience of all students and to local non-profit organizations that support children who are at-risk or who live with special and medical needs.

We believe that by focusing our efforts on improving the lives of children, we are, in turn, making a long-term commitment to the future of the communities we serve.

Due to our strong family values, we place a high value involving ourselves within the communities we live in and serve.

Mission

To encourage the enrichment of the public education experience for K-12 students and to support at-risk children or those with medical and special needs in the communities we serve.

Background

We are constantly inspired by the sheer number of great organizations and hard-working educators out there working hard to make a difference. While we wish we could give to everyone, it is important that we allocate our money to causes and people who align with our mission and who match the interests of our employees. Additionally, we know that our applicants are busy, and we don’t want anyone to waste time applying for a grant that does not align. 

Types of Programs We Fund

• Learning technology
• Special needs day camps
• STEAM programs
• Literacy programs
• Animal assisted therapy
• Hospital therapy programs
• Classroom supplies
• Art programs
• At-risk youth programs
• Field trips
• Foster care support
• Robotics
• Hygiene closets
• ADA assistance
• Music therapy
• Food programs
• Life skills programs
• …and more!

Mission Statement

The Les Paul Foundation inspires innovative and creative thinking by sharing the legacy of Les Paul through support of music education, recording, innovation, exhibits about Les Paul  and medical research related to hearing.

Les Paul Foundation Grant

Organizations must be located and operating programs in the United States and classified by the Internal Revenue Service as public charities and tax- exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The foundation does not support religious, political, labor or business organizations. No grants are awarded to individuals.

Funding consideration is given to programs and projects that encourage innovation in music production and/or performance and to innovative STEM or STEAM programs for students and others in challenging situations. Proposals for medical research related to curing tinnitus and other hearing impairment issues are considered. Other types of funding is by invitation only. All applicants must describe how Les Paul’s story will be shared.

Mockingbird Foundation Grants

The Mockingbird Foundation provides funding for music education for children, through competitive grants, emergency-related grants, and tour-related grants – more than a million dollars, and counting. Competitive grants are awarded through a two-tiered grant application process that is among the most competitive: We are currently able to fund fewer than 1% of inquiries received (e.g. $40K on $1.4M in inquiries). That’s in part because the need is so widespread, and in part because we are unique in what we fund, differing from other players in this funding area in important ways:

Music itself matters – Music is powerful not only culturally and emotionally, but for skills, health, and general well-being. However, we have never funded a grantee solely on the basis of such tangential benefits (such as for music therapy), and tend to favor applicants who recognize the importance of music education for its own sake. While a laudable enterprise, music therapy is just not what we do.

Direct experience is best – Each grantee works to bring the power of music into the lives of a particular group of children. Several grantees have also utilized funds to expose students to music, also a laudable effort. But the Mockingbird board has historically been more interested in programs that engage students directly with music, rather than in funding musical performances for students who would only observe others experiencing music.

Underserved niches are great – Like Save the Music and Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, we’ve given support to high school bands. But we’re especially proud of support we’ve given to economically, culturally, and musically distinct efforts. Many of our grantees serve children with special needs and/or underserved populations, and some have been internal efforts by dwindling indigenous peoples. Additionally, we are interested in supporting unconventional forms of instruction, and instruction in unconventional forms; and we are not focused on traditional performance skills, but are also interested in composition, vocalization, and musical improvisation.

Unconventional outlets are interesting – Our funding guidelines define music education for children broadly and somewhat unconventionally. For example, while we have funded many schools – rural and urban, public and private, kindergarten through university – we are especially interested in efforts outside of schools, including hospitals, shelters, foster homes, prisons, churches, camps, and community centers.

Outcomes may not be assessable – Nearly all relevant advocacy efforts have focused on putting instruments in public schools, promoting music education as a tool within broader education, and measuring outcomes in terms of assessable skills. Contrarily, the Mockingbird Foundation looks beyond public schools, and is interested in some areas for which skills may be less assessable (or even irrelevant).

Program Areas

The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc. (“Mockingbird”) offers competitive grants to schools and nonprofit organizations that effect improvements in areas of importance to the Phish fan community. Our programmatic focus is music education for children, defined as follows:

Music: We recognize broad and basic needs within conventional instruction, though are particularly interested in projects that foster creative expression (whether in instrumentation, vocalization, composition, or improvisation) and encourage applications associated with diverse or unusual musical styles, genres, forms, and philosophies.

Education: Education may include the provision of instruments, texts, office materials, or equipment; the support of learning, practice, and/or performance spaces; and the provision of instructors or instruction. We appreciate the fostering of self-esteem and free expression, but have never funded music therapy separate from education nor music appreciation which does not include participation.

Children: We primarily fund programs serving children eighteen years of age or younger, but will consider projects which benefit college students, teachers, instructors, or adult students. We are particularly (though not exclusively) interested in programs which benefit disenfranchised groups, including those with low skill levels, income, or education; with disabilities or terminal illnesses; and in foster homes, shelters, hospitals, prisons, or other remote or isolated situations.

Background

McGraw Foundation, headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, makes annual grants to not-for-profit organizations.  The Foundation’s areas of interest involve the fields of conservation, educational programs at all levels, and human services. Occasionally, grants are made in other areas such as health, medical research and cultural.

Grant requests are suggested to be within a range of $2,000 to $10,000. Grant recipients and amounts will be determined by several criteria. Naturally, availability of funds is a key factor.

The Foundation will occasionally make large grants ($25,000 or more) to support unusually promising efforts in any of its areas of interest. Innovative research, special education, and/or other activities will be considered if the Foundation’s support would assist an effort or a project in making a significant impact.

Areas of Focus

Education: Higher

The Foundation has been a pioneer in support of environmental education at the highest level by establishing three chaired professorships. 

Education: Elementary & Special

McGraw Foundation supports a wide array of organizations that focus on assisting the education and advancement of children as well as adults. McGraw Foundation also makes grants to elementary schools and organizations involved in all areas of special needs education. Funding in this arena has encompassed many organizations that provide services such as after-school tutoring, special education, and adult literacy.

In addition to F.A.I.T.H., McGraw Foundation also makes grants to elementary schools and organizations involved in all areas of special needs education. Funding in this arena has encompassed many organizations that provide services such as after-school tutoring, special education, and adult literacy.

Human Services

Since 1949, McGraw Foundation has been concerned with helping people in need. While the emphasis is on organizations serving children, funding also extends to people of all ages.

Children's issues such as these have been supported throughout the years:

• child welfare
• foster care and adoption
• family counseling
• enriching summer camps
• crisis intervention

Funding for quality-of-life issues for people of all ages has included:

• developmental disabilities
• health clinics
• domestic violence
• housing and homelessness
• job training and continued support
• seniors needs

Health & Medical 

Since its inception, McGraw Foundation has made grants in the health and medical fields.  Health and medical funding has included:

• specific medical research
• rehabilitation
• support programs for patients and their families
• medical attention for people without health insurance
• palliative care and hospice organizations

Civic & Cultural

Complimenting it's main focus on education and the environment, McGraw Foundation has supported some of Chicago's distinctive cultural and arts organizations.

Areas of interest include zoological societies' animal conservation, public communication, musical organizations, and civic organizations' promotion of science and the general welfare of society.

ROSS MERRILL AWARD

The Ross Merrill Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Preservation and Care of Collections honors institutions in North America that have shown an exemplary and sustained commitment to conservation and collections care through interpretation, research, scholarship, education, and/or public outreach.

Criteria

• Nominators should provide evidence of the nominee’s sustained and exemplary commitment to the preservation and care of its collections through description of its conservation and preservation activities, special programs and involvement of conservation professionals in decision-making processes. Providing evidence of how the organization has broadened its community’s understanding of the goals of conservation and the importance of preserving cultural property through its conservation activities can strengthen a nomination.

• Nominators can be any individual within or outside the organization, although when the nomination comes from outside it is useful if the nomination package includes a letter from the institution's director. Letters of support are welcome, and are most appropriate when they come from outside the organization and from individuals knowledgeable about conservation.

Guidelines

• Nominations should show evidence of involvement of senior conservation professionals who are recognized by their peers, such as Fellows or Professional Associates of the American Institute for Conservation. Nominators should demonstrate this by including a brief (one page or less) summary of the professional credentials of key conservation professionals and describe the role they have played at the institution.
• Nominations should show evidence of a systematic approach to long-term planning for collections care. Nominators can demonstrate this by descriptions of maintenance plans, condition surveys, future treatment priorities, staffing plans, disaster preparedness guidelines, or storage redesign and upgrades.
• Nominations should show evidence of community impact and involvement. Nominators can demonstrate this by fundraising efforts, volunteer programs, or educational activities with community groups and schools.
• Nominations should show evidence of outreach in the form of websites, radio and television coverage, or local newspaper articles.
• Nominations should show evidence of attempts to recruit support from multiple financial and or personnel resources.
• Nominations should show evidence of exemplary work and achievements. This award seeks to recognize organizations and programs that can be held up as models for others to emulate.

Many successful applicants submitted for several award cycles. Re-submissions, particularly with updated information, are always welcome.

Award

This award does not come with any monetary compensation.

Mission

The mission of the Tri-M Foundation is to cultivate and promote the production and presentation of regional performing and media arts, through grants and gifts to new and established arts organizations and educational institutions, and through our own salons and publications.

We focus on traditional theatre, music, dance, and motion pictures, as well as new and innovative works in new and experimental forms of media.  We are interested in the development and production of new works and individual emerging artists; bringing performance and discussion to regional communities; and the study, research, and publication of information about these art forms.  Although we recognize the important work of artists in the traditional cultural centers of the country, we also believe that vital work is developed and performed in other regions, and seek to encourage artists and audiences in those areas.

In 2025 – 2026, we are awarding grants in the disciplines of Theatre (plays) and Dance.

Performing Arts Grant Program

The purpose of the Program is to support the development and presentation of innovative, high-quality performing arts projects by regional non-profit arts organizations.

Grant Program Priorities: What We're Looking for in a Proposal

Proposed projects must comply with the applicant’s established mission and vision, be a featured project in the organization’s season, and demonstrate detailed planning. We want to see projects that encourage artists to produce their best work, enthrall audiences, and provoke important discussions. Ideal projects for this grant take a unique regional perspective and address a location's culture, history, aesthetic, or character.

We invite organizations to submit proposals for projects that address sensitive topics, controversial politics, and uncomfortable subjects.  Grantees must make their programs open and accessible to all members of the public, regardless of sex, race, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual preference, or gender expression.

Award Information

Award Range: $3,000 – $10,000.

Project Periods: Maximum of 12 months following the award; at this time, the Program does NOT fund multi-year projects.

Anticipated Number of Awards: 5 - 7 awards per year.

About Us

The Puffin Foundation, Ltd. seeks to open the doors of artistic expression by providing grants to artists and art organizations who are often excluded from mainstream opportunities due to their identities or social philosophies.

Why the Puffin?

The Puffin, once endangered in the northeastern United States, was returned to its native habitats through the efforts of a concerned citizenry. Our name is a metaphor for how we perceive our mission in the arts: to join with other concerned groups and individuals to ensure that the arts not merely survive, but flourish at all levels of our society.

Environmental Artistic Activism Grant Program

We will be accepting application request forms for environmental artistic activism projects in all of our eligible genres:

• film/video, fine arts, music, photography, theater.

This category is for projects focusing on solutions to environmental issues and the climate crisis in any artistic genre or discipline that Puffin funds. Please note that the project methodology and materials should also take into account environmental concerns. If your project involves, for example, plane travel, or utilizes a lot of raw material, or in other ways seems to be contributing to rather than addressing the existential issues of human-caused climate change, our reviewers will take this into account.

Theater includes any type of live dramatic performance, including plays, performance art, storytelling, poetry slams, and staged readings. Film and video includes traditional media meant for a theater or television broadcast as well as radio shows, podcasts, on demand and streaming productions. Traditional radio shows, podcasts, and web-streamed content (in both audio-only as well as video format) are eligible for Foundation funding under our film/video genre. Content may be documentary, theatrical or in the general public interest. We’re interested in art that educates the public on topical issues.

Funding

The maximum grant size is $3,500. While some projects will receive full funding, a typical grant is about half that amount.

About Us

The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture - AFAC was founded in 2007 through the initiative of Arab cultural activists as an independent foundation to support individual artists, writers, researchers, intellectuals, as well as organizations from the Arab region working in the field of arts and culture. Since its launch, AFAC’s programs have steadily expanded to cover cinema, photography, visual and performing arts, creative and critical writings, music, documentary film, in addition to funding research, trainings and cultural events. Based in Beirut, AFAC works with artists and organizations all over the Arab region and the rest of the world.

Performing Arts

The Performing Arts grant is open to classical, folk, and experimental theatre for all age groups including children and youth; dance performances, including but not restricted to contemporary dance; public intervention performances, street art, live art, interactive and site-specific format, documentary theatre, and festivals. It also supports playwriting, acting, directing, dancing, and choreography workshops.

The program provides annual grants ranging from a few thousand U.S. dollars up to a maximum of 25,000 U.S. dollars for individuals and teams and 35,000 U.S dollars for institutions and collectives.

Mission

The Alvah H. and Wyline P. Chapman Foundation was created in 1967 to honor and memorialize Alvah H. and Wyline P. Chapman and to perpetuate their charity and concern for others. The Foundation's primary stated objectives are to support religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes in areas where the descendants of Alvah H. and Wyline P. Chapman now reside or have interests. The Foundation currently makes grants in support of not-for-profit organizations where directors and members live and are involved in the community.

Focus Areas

The Foundation will consider requests for support from organizations that have developed successful, innovative and creative programs that support the following:

• Children and families, especially those at risk
  • Non-profit organizations and programs that support children and families.
  • Programs and initiatives that provide resources for parents and kids, effectively improving resources for safety and health.
  • Not-for-profit organizations and programs that promote community engagement, public awareness.
• Education at all levels
  • Non-profit organizations and programs that facilitate learning, knowledge and skills.
  • The Foundation provides support for school facilities and supplies, scholarships, student assistance projects, classroom enrichment, cultural  programs such as dance, music, theater, visual arts, literary arts.
• Multicultural understanding and Multiethnic harmony
  • Greater cultural awareness and harmony builds a strong and resilient community.
  • The Foundation supports non-profit organizations and programs that provide resources for multicultural awareness and understanding.
  • Programs that foster trust and respect for intercultural communication and cross cultural understanding are eligible for grant awards.
• Substance abuse prevention
  • Grants have previously been awarded to non-profit organizations and programs that support the prevention, treatment, recovery from alcohol and drug abuse.
  • The Foundation supports programs that provide paths to sobriety, school-based or community-lead prevention programs.
• Programs serving the homeless
  • Grants have previously been awarded to not-for-profit organizations and programs that seek to empower and serve the needs of the homeless.
  • The Foundation supports comprehensive and solutions-focused rehabilitation services for the homeless including shelters, medical, psychiatric care, education, workforce training, young adult workshops, childcare, playgrounds, facilities.
• Natural & Historical Conservation
  • The Foundation supports community outdoor programs, urban renewal and restoration projects that enhance the natural environment and landscape. 
  • Historic preservation endeavors that seek to conserve and protect buildings of significant heritage are eligible for grant awards.

Funding

The Foundation rarely makes awards over $15,000.00.

About Decolonizing Wealth Project 

Established in 2018, Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) is committed to bringing truth, healing, and repair to our global community. Reparative Philanthropy, our signature framework, is at the heart of our work and aims to transform wealth into collective wellbeing. DWP operates through three key strategies: sector transformation, storytelling and culture, and reparative giving. Our work has radically transformed the philanthropic sector and has facilitated the distribution of nearly $1 billion for truth, healing, and reparative efforts. Liberated Capital, DWP’s fund and donor community, has directly granted over $23 million to support economic solidarity, wellbeing, and earth and climate efforts primarily led by communities most impacted. 

Youth Mental Health Fund - Anchor Grant

Background

Decolonizing Wealth Project is excited to launch a new culturally responsive care fund focused on supporting and expanding mental health care for youth in the United States, prioritizing access for LGBTQ+ youth and youth of color. The fund will redistribute a minimum of $15 million in grants over three years starting this year.

Throughout history, young people have been drivers of social change. They have led efforts from Selma to Standing Rock, inviting us all to imagine a better future. Youth today face a world of compounding challenges with the changing technology and social media, climate crises, income inequality, and deadly extremist violence in the United States and beyond. However, the burden of these challenges is not carried equally. Young people of color and queer youth are often forced to navigate a world that refuses to honor their brilliance and embrace their identities. As a result, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, or even suicide.

Suicide is the leading cause of death for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders ages 10-24, and the second leading cause of death for young Black or African Americans (CDC, 2023; NAMI, 2023; ACAMH, 2023) and nearly half of all LBGTQ youth considered suicide, and 60% of those who sought mental health support were not able to access it (The Trevor Project, 2022).

One of the most significant barriers to supporting BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth mental health is the lack of access to culturally responsive care. Youth of historically marginalized identities are in dire need of access to mental health providers who actively implement culturally responsive practices and care in affirming spaces that honor their identities. Culture also carries unique protective factors, and centering these strengths will ensure healing for both young people and society. 

The Opportunity

A Community-Aligned Fund that Centers Marginalized Youth

In collaboration with an external advisory committee composed of youth leaders and experts and practitioners in the field of adolescent mental health, DWP is launching the Youth Mental Health Fund (YMHF) – a culturally affirming initiative focused on expanding access to community-based mental health care for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth between the ages of 12-24. In addition to supporting community-based programs and partnerships, YMHF will also fund work to shift narratives around care and programs that offer culturally grounded healing experiences that center the unique needs and strengths of marginalized youth living at the intersections.

The YMHF fund will invest at least $15 million in grants over the next 3 years, for a minimum of $5 million annually. Alongside grantmaking, DWP will invest in capacity-building opportunities for grantee partners and elevate critical issues undergirding the Fund through communications and field-building efforts.

Fund Priorities: Culturally Responsive Care

Decolonizing Wealth Project seeks to nurture healing, belonging, and empowerment for youth. We will prioritize initiatives that are community-led or engage young people directly in decision-making processes and efforts. Examples of meaningful youth leadership may be in staffing, youth steering committees, youth boards, and processes that generate regular feedback from youth. An external, intergenerational Advisory Committee will review every eligible application.

Applications will be accepted across the following three priority areas:

• Community-Based Programs -
  • Increasing access to culturally responsive mental health care by providing services in places where youth live, learn, and play (e.g. in schools, churches, community centers, particularly in rural areas, etc). (Note: in the case of partnerships between community-based organizations and clinics/health care system units, grants will be awarded to the community-based nonprofit).
  • Youth-led organizations that provide programs to improve mental wellbeing outcomes, such as peer support, skill-building, and youth advocacy. These programs should create spaces where youth can connect, share experiences, and learn coping strategies, while advocating for changes in policies and practices that impact their mental well-being.
• Cultural-Based Healing -
  • Innovative culturally relevant delivery models that promote connection to belonging, culture, and improve mental health care. This may include programs that use creative expression such as: language, movement, art, music, dance, and theater as therapeutic tools to explore identity, process trauma, and build resilience.
  • Storytelling projects that amplify communal and personal stories of mental health journeys to foster solidarity and representation.
  • Heritage-based wellness programs that integrate cultural practices, rituals, and spirituality into mental health approaches for young people.
• Awareness and Advocacy Campaigns -
  • Community-based education programs tailored to equip youth, families, providers, and educators with tools to recognize and address mental health challenges.
  • Campaigns that challenge cultural and systemic stigmas around mental health care and identity, and work to expand access to services and support, as well as post-traumatic growth and joy.
  • Support for organizations working towards systemic change in mental health services and care delivery to dismantle inequities in mental health care systems impacting youth; Priority given to programs that train youth as advocates for systemic change in mental health policies and systems.

Funding

In this first year of grantmaking, we will use the following approach to grant $5 million:

• There are two grant types organizations can apply for (this grant page focuses on the Anchor Grant)
  • Anchor Grants: General operating support grants ranging from $100,000-$250,000 for youth mental health organizations or projects that have been operating for 5 years or more with organizational budgets over $2,000,000.

About Decolonizing Wealth Project 

Established in 2018, Decolonizing Wealth Project (DWP) is committed to bringing truth, healing, and repair to our global community. Reparative Philanthropy, our signature framework, is at the heart of our work and aims to transform wealth into collective wellbeing. DWP operates through three key strategies: sector transformation, storytelling and culture, and reparative giving. Our work has radically transformed the philanthropic sector and has facilitated the distribution of nearly $1 billion for truth, healing, and reparative efforts. Liberated Capital, DWP’s fund and donor community, has directly granted over $23 million to support economic solidarity, wellbeing, and earth and climate efforts primarily led by communities most impacted. 

Background

Decolonizing Wealth Project is excited to launch a new culturally responsive care fund focused on supporting and expanding mental health care for youth in the United States, prioritizing access for LGBTQ+ youth and youth of color. The fund will redistribute a minimum of $15 million in grants over three years starting this year.

Throughout history, young people have been drivers of social change. They have led efforts from Selma to Standing Rock, inviting us all to imagine a better future. Youth today face a world of compounding challenges with the changing technology and social media, climate crises, income inequality, and deadly extremist violence in the United States and beyond. However, the burden of these challenges is not carried equally. Young people of color and queer youth are often forced to navigate a world that refuses to honor their brilliance and embrace their identities. As a result, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, or even suicide.

Suicide is the leading cause of death for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders ages 10-24, and the second leading cause of death for young Black or African Americans (CDC, 2023; NAMI, 2023; ACAMH, 2023) and nearly half of all LBGTQ youth considered suicide, and 60% of those who sought mental health support were not able to access it (The Trevor Project, 2022).

One of the most significant barriers to supporting BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth mental health is the lack of access to culturally responsive care. Youth of historically marginalized identities are in dire need of access to mental health providers who actively implement culturally responsive practices and care in affirming spaces that honor their identities. Culture also carries unique protective factors, and centering these strengths will ensure healing for both young people and society. 

The Opportunity

A Community-Aligned Fund that Centers Marginalized Youth

In collaboration with an external advisory committee composed of youth leaders and experts and practitioners in the field of adolescent mental health, DWP is launching the Youth Mental Health Fund (YMHF) – a culturally affirming initiative focused on expanding access to community-based mental health care for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth between the ages of 12-24. In addition to supporting community-based programs and partnerships, YMHF will also fund work to shift narratives around care and programs that offer culturally grounded healing experiences that center the unique needs and strengths of marginalized youth living at the intersections.

The YMHF fund will invest at least $15 million in grants over the next 3 years, for a minimum of $5 million annually. Alongside grantmaking, DWP will invest in capacity-building opportunities for grantee partners and elevate critical issues undergirding the Fund through communications and field-building efforts.

Fund Priorities: Culturally Responsive Care

Decolonizing Wealth Project seeks to nurture healing, belonging, and empowerment for youth. We will prioritize initiatives that are community-led or engage young people directly in decision-making processes and efforts. Examples of meaningful youth leadership may be in staffing, youth steering committees, youth boards, and processes that generate regular feedback from youth. An external, intergenerational Advisory Committee will review every eligible application.

Applications will be accepted across the following three priority areas:

• Community-Based Programs -
  • Increasing access to culturally responsive mental health care by providing services in places where youth live, learn, and play (e.g. in schools, churches, community centers, particularly in rural areas, etc). (Note: in the case of partnerships between community-based organizations and clinics/health care system units, grants will be awarded to the community-based nonprofit).
  • Youth-led organizations that provide programs to improve mental wellbeing outcomes, such as peer support, skill-building, and youth advocacy. These programs should create spaces where youth can connect, share experiences, and learn coping strategies, while advocating for changes in policies and practices that impact their mental well-being.
• Cultural-Based Healing -
  • Innovative culturally relevant delivery models that promote connection to belonging, culture, and improve mental health care. This may include programs that use creative expression such as: language, movement, art, music, dance, and theater as therapeutic tools to explore identity, process trauma, and build resilience.
  • Storytelling projects that amplify communal and personal stories of mental health journeys to foster solidarity and representation.
  • Heritage-based wellness programs that integrate cultural practices, rituals, and spirituality into mental health approaches for young people.
• Awareness and Advocacy Campaigns -
  • Community-based education programs tailored to equip youth, families, providers, and educators with tools to recognize and address mental health challenges.
  • Campaigns that challenge cultural and systemic stigmas around mental health care and identity, and work to expand access to services and support, as well as post-traumatic growth and joy.
  • Support for organizations working towards systemic change in mental health services and care delivery to dismantle inequities in mental health care systems impacting youth; Priority given to programs that train youth as advocates for systemic change in mental health policies and systems.

Funding

In this first year of grantmaking, we will use the following approach to grant $5 million:

• There are two grant types organizations can apply for (this grant page focuses on the Opportunity Grant)
  • Opportunity Grants:
    • General operating support grants ranging from $30,000– $100,000 for organizations or projects that have been operating for less than 5 years; or
    • Project-specific grants for new innovative solutions, pilots, convenings, one-time special opportunities, etc.

Adolf Busch Award

The power of music in social change

The mission of the Adolf Busch Award is to recognize and honor organizations that use music to address social injustice, inequity and lack of opportunity.

The Award grants $10,000 to one organization each year. Smaller awards are often given to additional compelling applicants.

Our Outlook

Though many of us on the Board of Advisors are active in diverse fields, we are united in our passion for music as both a form of art and communication.

Music has the power to bridge divisions and bring people together. With every note, we can effectively counter cultural bias, confront educational disadvantages, and empower individuals to successfully surmount economic and cultural challenges.

We believe in the transformative power of music to create a more just and civil society.

The Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research Grant: Fall Cycle

The Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research is a division of the Institute for Music Leadership (IML) at the Eastman School of Music. The Center’s research and programming emphasizes the 21st Century evolution of the innovative ensemble, influenced by both the symphony orchestra and the chamber music traditions, with a focus on creative, artist-centered ensembles that reflect new models of artistic innovation, organizational relationships, and operational sustainability.

The Paul R. Judy Center Grant provides funding for research and innovative projects.

This grant provides funding for proposals such as:

• Research Support: Interested individuals or teams may submit a proposal to support a research project. Funding may go toward travel, lodging, or other costs in order to complete the project. Winners will submit articles/summaries to be featured in IML research.
• Innovative Projects: This category is for ensembles and is intentionally broad, encompassing a wide range of activities. A few examples of projects include educational engagement programs, concerts, and recording projects. 

Funding Priorities

The PRJC recognizes that the music profession must engage in systemic and transformational change in pursuit of a more just and equitable arts ecosystem. The time is now for all musical arts organizations to take bold and decisive actions to enact structural change. The integrity of the entire music profession – from the individual musician to the largest orchestra – is dependent upon these actions. To that end, the PRJC grant program will support innovative projects and research focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in all elements of our profession, with a prioritization of projects that advance anti-racism work in the arts. The PRJC seeks projects and research that have potential for lasting and sustainable change in our field.

Funding

$5,000-$10,000