Search Through Grants for the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the U.S.

Who We Are

The Foundation, created by Albert M. Greenfield in 1953, reflected his personal ideals of service, the dignity of mankind, and the preservation of individual and civil liberties. Emphasizing grants in arts and culture, education, human services, and civic initiatives, Mr. Greenfield’s original ideals have been continuously reaffirmed and updated for contemporary relevance by succeeding generations of Foundation trustees. The Foundation’s primary goal is to strengthen the fabric of community life in the City of Philadelphia.

Grants

The Foundation works to perpetuate Mr. Greenfield’s work and creative energy by helping to improve and enhance the lives of individuals, especially youth and those with special needs.

The Greenfield Foundation gives priority consideration to organizations that identify innovative approaches to entrenched problems. Rather than play a passive grant-making role, the Foundation prefers to serve as a partner with grantees, collaborating with them and monitoring their progress.

Although he was an idealist and visionary, Mr. Greenfield was also a hardheaded pragmatist. In that spirit, the Foundation will fund only discrete programs with clear objectives that achieve measurable results.

Organizations receiving funding typically have strong track records, a Board-approved strategic plan, and exceptional volunteer and staff leadership. 

History

The Charlotte Cushman Foundation was created in 1999 by the Board of Managers of the Charlotte Cushman Club of Philadelphia.

The Club had been organized in 1907 by Lydia Elliot Morris in response to a need for safe, respectable lodgings for actresses appearing at local theaters. Inspired by the great American actress Charlotte Cushman (1816-1876), who often lamented the hardships of touring, funds were raised to set up a comfortable boarding house.

Many famous performers visited the Club, attending post curtain parties with members and offering their support. In different buildings over the years, the Club eventually became not only a residence but also a social center for the theater community, with a large collection of plays, books and memorabilia.

In 1957 the Board initiated a Lifetime Achievement award presented in person at the Club to such stars as Helen Hayes, Henry Fonda, Angela Lansbury, Richard Burton, Katharine Hepburn and Zoe Caldwell. Between 1972 and 2002 special event funding allowed the Club to offer scholarships to promising young performers.

Beginning in 1995 the Club sponsored the Charlotte Cushman Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play, presented at Philadelphia’s annual Barrymore Awards.

In 1999 the Board of Managers determined that the Club had “outlived its original residential and educational purposes” and chose to redefine its mission. The Club records were given to the library of the University of Pennsylvania and the clubhouse and its contents were sold. Proceeds from the sale were added to the existing endowment to fund the Foundation.

That year the Charlotte Cushman Board Room and exhibit were established at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts. Since 2001 the Charlotte Cushman Foundation has provided grants to over sixty local theater companies in support of actors’ salaries.

Who We Are

The Creag Foundation is a private grant making foundation established in 2009 in Woodinville, Washington.

The founders of the Creag Foundation believe that meaningful change can only be achieved through hard work, creativity and passion. They also understand the practical mechanisms that allow charitable organizations to succeed and grow. As a group, Creag Foundation principals are dedicated to helping today’s most innovative programs improve the human condition in a wide variety of ways.

Our Focus

The broad purpose of the Foundation is to support the efforts of nonprofit organizations who are innovators in the field of human services. Our particular focus is on smaller organizations that are starting out or established organizations that are looking for funding to take their organization in a new direction.

What We Fund

/ What We Fund

The Creag Foundation is focused on innovation in the industry. We will consider proposals from 501(c)(3) organizations that are finding new ways to address societal issues facing the nonprofit community. Applicants must have held 501(c)(3) status for one year before submitting. If your organization has held 501(c)(3) status for over a year, and your believe that your organization has a new approach to an existing social problem or is addressing a previously unaddressed social issue, you are welcome to contact us and request that we consider your organization for a funding opportunity.

​Our Mission

The Horner Foundation supports not for profit organizations in our four regions to foster positive youth development through out of school time (OST) and experiential learning opportunities. We typically support organizations working with middle and high school youth.  

Our Vision

• All youth will be empowered to realize their full potential and become active participants in their communities.
• All youth will have ample opportunities both inside and outside the classroom to experience a diversity of quality learning styles and frameworks.
• All youth will be healthy, strong and well-prepared for the 21st Century.

Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia, PA: 2019-2021 Funding Stream 

Out of School Time: Mid to Large Size Organizations

• Total Expenditure: $600,000 USD over two year grant cycle
• Target Grant: $100,000 USD over two years

Strategy: In Philadelphia, The Horner Foundation has committed to supporting Out of School Time programs in the City of Philadelphia working directly with underserved youth aged 10-19.

For our 2019 funding cycle, we will continue our focus on OST, with an increased emphasis on larger multifaceted OST organizations. If you match the criteria listed below, we encourage you to complete our short 2-page Letter of Intent.

Out of School Time (OST): STEM & Arts/Culture

• Total Expenditure: $300,000 USD over 2 year grant cycle
• Targeted Grant: $30,000 to $40,000 USD over 2 years

Strategy: Since 2013, The Horner Foundation has committed to supporting Out of School Time programs in the City of Philadelphia working directly with underserved youth aged 10-19. For our 2019 funding cycle, we will continue our focus on OST, with an increased emphasis on STEM and arts/cultural programs. If you match the criteria listed below, we encourage you to complete our short 2-page Letter of Intent.

Two Funding Streams:

• 1. Arts/Culture
• The program’s focus is on hands-on skill development in music, arts or drama
• Incorporates positive relationship building between youth and adult mentors or peers to develop a sense of confidence and courage
• The program should culminate with a “5 Star” public event presented to an audience
• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math)
• The program may include coding, robotics and other STEM-related OST programming aimed at equipping youth with the tools necessary to thrive in a tech-driven society.
• This stream also includes programs that encourage leadership training and career preparation for young tech leaders, especially in underrepresented groups including women, people of color and/or LGBT
• The intention of this stream is to inspire all members of the next generation to pursue careers in the tech sector in inclusive learning environments

Mission

The mission of the Independence Foundation is to build leadership, provide services, and encourage systems and cultural change through the support of organizations in the fields of healthcare, human services, legal aid, and the arts. The Foundation invests in people and programs that protect, improve and enrich the life experiences of residents of the Philadelphia and its surrounding Pennsylvania counties, with a focus on the vulnerable and excluded. Its work is based on the belief that a region that promotes physical well-being, provides equal access to justice and services, and appreciates the value of the arts will thrive for generations to come.

Independence Foundation primarily provides unrestricted funding to nonprofits to best help them achieve their missions. Our general operating support offers flexibility to our grantees by allowing funds to be used when and where they’re most needed. 

Funding Initiatives

Arts And Culture

Independence Foundation believes in bolstering the well-being of the region by supporting a variety of opportunities for involvement and participation in the arts. The arts can bind people through shared experience and understanding. Art plays a transformative role in society, one that enriches community and connects people. The Foundation supports programs in the arts that enhance the common artistic spirit through creation or performance. 

Programs which connect the arts with non-traditional participants and increase both access to and awareness of the arts, are of special interest. The Foundation awards general operating grants aimed at strengthening organizations by supporting creative work and administrative capacity, based on community involvement, artistic merit, and leadership in the field. With the exception of organizations currently funded, we do not give grants to dance, music, media arts or broadcasting, museums or historical societies, though we do continue to fund individual artists in some of these disciplines through our Fellowships in the Arts.

Health Care

Independence Foundation believes that high quality, comprehensive primary care and related services result in better health, improved quality of life, reduction in health disparities, and lower costs to the health care system. 

Funding within the health care initiative focuses on the following: 

• Existing nurse-managed health care centers undertaking capacity building projects to expand and/or improve the provision of primary care and related services
• Programs that support health policies and/or infrastructure for nurse-managed and other safety net providers
• Projects designed to inform health care-related planning
• Clinical, community, and/or educational programs designed to improve the health of older adults 

Human Services

Independence Foundation believes that the health of a community can only be as strong as the well-being of its citizens. Our region faces many challenges and continually changing demographics have contributed to increased demand for services, while local and federal funding for these services has declined. Community-based organizations fill in the gaps by providing much needed outreach and support.

The Foundation supports organizations that provide direct services to people who do not ordinarily have access to them for the most basic of needs. The current Human Services funding agenda focuses primarily on programs that address the following areas:

• adequate food and food distribution
• affordable housing and access to shelter by homeless persons
• services which support independence for people living with disabilities

Legal Aid

The Independence Foundation is committed to the support of free legal services for the underserved of the Philadelphia region. Grants provide core operating support to strengthen the administrative capacity and the direct service programs of those agencies that deliver critical legal services.

Agencies funded under the Public Interest Legal Aid Initiative address civil legal issues confronting individuals from diverse populations who do not traditionally have adequate access to legal representation, including the indigent, the elderly, the disabled, and the homeless.

Reentry, Recidivism & Restorative Justice 

The Foundation funds community-based organizations doing the following - either by directly assisting individuals, or working to change systems that cause or contribute to the harm addressed:  

• Providing supports to families and individuals involved with and affected by the criminal justice system
• Working to reduce the number of people who imminently face incarceration or a return to prison
• Providing resources to formerly incarcerated individuals that help them become integrated and contributing members once they are released back into society
• Working to reduce harm to families and neighborhoods caused by incarceration

Capacity Building Grants

The Center offers two types of Capacity Building grants to assist its Creative Project and Evolving Futures applicants:

• Research and Travel grants ranging from $2,500–$7,500 to help organizations develop and deepen their professional and programmatic capacities in contemporary art and public history. Grants will be made to support exploratory phases of curatorial work that may lead to future Center funding, as well as travel to consult with potential collaborators

Capacity Building funds are available in 2025 for applicants. These funds are intended to help with travel, research, or technical assistance related to preparing your grant proposal. 

About Us

Guided by the vision of our founders, Stanley and Edna Tuttleman, the Tuttleman Foundation strives to be a source of enduring benefit to the populations we serve. Stanley and Edna practiced a model of engaged philanthropy, committing their time, skills and experience to numerous organizations. Stanley served on boards including the Franklin Institute, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Temple Adath Israel. Edna served as chairman of both the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and on the board of Temple University.

The Tuttleman Foundation was formed in Philadelphia, PA in 2003, to create a family philanthropic vehicle to continue the family’s work, and to include future generations.The Tuttleman Foundation generally provides grants to 501c3 organizations in the following areas:

• Education
• Community Building
• Health Care
•  Arts and Museums
• Basic Human Services 
• Spirituality

Grant Range

The Tuttleman Foundation typically awards grants ranging from $1,000 to $250,000. In setting grant levels, consideration will be given to the organization’s budget size, the amount of funds needed to effectively meet program goals, and resources available at the foundation

About Our Grants

Impact100 Philadelphia provides high-impact grants that support a nonprofit organization’s core mission. Our goal is to address unmet needs in the Philadelphia region and raise the profile of smaller nonprofit organizations. Impact100 grant funds may be spent on necessary infrastructure, staff salaries, primary programs or services, or other expenses that strengthen an organization and enhance its ability to do its core work. 

A central question in our application is Why now? We ask applicants why this juncture in particular is the time that a $100,000 grant will have a large impact on the organization.

Our Focus Areas are Arts & Culture, Education, Environment, Family, and Health & Wellness.

Arts and Culture:

Promote, develop, and enhance artistic expression and creative thinking through culturally diverse art or art education, utilizing varied media and art forms such as exhibitions, performances, or some other method.

Education:

Teach, inform and educate individuals or specific groups, addressing equitable access to create or advance future opportunities for children and/or adults on a wide range of issues and causes.

Environment:

Improve, preserve, and protect community public spaces or natural resources providing equitable access while promoting a just, safe, healthy and sustainable world.

Family:

Strengthen and enhance the lives of children, older adults, and all families to achieve a better life and a healthy, secure future.

Health & Wellness:

Empower wellness as a way to strengthen and improve the mental and physical well-being of communities and people of all ages.

Welcome

Originally established in 1951 as The Bulletin Contributionship for charitable, educational and scientific purposes, the Contributionship became The McLean Contributionship on May 1, 1980 as the association of the McLean family with the Bulletin ended.

The McLean Contributionship currently focuses its grant-making activities in the greater Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area in the Arts, Culture and Humanities, Education, Environment and Animal Welfare, Health and Human Services.

Operating Philosophy

Most grants by the Contributionship have been made in the Greater Philadelphia area because of the 100 year business and personal associations of the McLean family.

The Trustees believe the resources of The Contributionship can be used most effectively by making a relatively limited number of grants for projects of long-term benefit–rather than by underwriting continuing operating expenses. The Trustees focus on capital projects: bricks and mortar, endowment for purposes outlined below. Capital is considered to be a physical item with at least a three to five year life span. The Trustees may make grants in ways to encourage the successful funding of projects.

Purposes

The Contributionship favors projects in the Greater Philadelphia area when they enhance the lives of those living there. The Trustees consider the Greater Philadelphia area to be Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia and Lower Bucks Counties. The Trustees are most likely to respond positively when the project:

• stimulates a better understanding of the natural environment, and encourages the preservation of its important features;
• promotes strategies and actions that help create more diverse and inclusive communities and that seek to close disparities in racial equity and justice where they exist;
• encourages more compassionate, inclusive and cost-effective care for the ill and aging, in an atmosphere of dignity and self-respect; or
• promotes education, or medical, scientific, or on occasion, cultural developments enhancing the quality of life.

In addition, the Trustees from time to time support projects which:

• motivate promising young people to assess and develop their talents despite social and economic obstacles; or
• build infrastructure to promote enhanced delivery of services and community engagement, partnerships or collaboration;or
• encourage those in newspaper and related fields to become more effective and responsible in helping people understand better how, events in their communities and around the world affect them.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania awards a number of four-week fellowships for research in its collections during each academic year.

Fellowship Details

Historically, the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania have offered many opportunities for support in the form of one-month fellowships for advanced research in residence in either or both institutions. For this year, the two programs will be administered separately. As part of its continued commitment to supporting researchers, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania will award a number of fellowships for research in its collections during the academic year. 

The Collection ​

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of America and the Atlantic world, as well as mid-Atlantic regional history, from the 17th through the 20th centuries. HSP collections are strong in local newspapers and printed ephemera, prints and photographs of the Philadelphia region, and graphics by local artists. They possess extraordinary strength in the history of women and African Americans, popular literature, business and banking, popular medicine, philanthropy and reform, education, natural sciences, technology, art, architecture, German Americana, American Judaica, and a host of other subjects. 

Now enriched by the holdings of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, HSP holds more than 19 million personal, organizational, and business manuscripts, as well 560,000 printed items and 312,000 graphic images concerning national and regional political, social, and family history. The Balch Institute collections bring the HSP added strength in documenting ethnic and immigrant history, with significant holdings of ethnic newspapers, records of benevolent societies and other local and national ethnic organizations, and personal papers of prominent leaders in ethnic and immigrant communities across the nation. Explore HSP’s library catalog. 

Fellows are also encouraged to use the collections of the Library Company of Philadelphia, located next-door to HSP in Philadelphia’s Center City. The two independent research libraries have complementary collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of the United States in its Atlantic world context from the 17th through the 19th centuries, as well as Mid-Atlantic regional history to the present. 

Albert M. Greenfield Fellowship

Each year the Historical Society of Pennsylvania awards one Albert M. Greenfield Fellowship for research in 20th-century history. The fellowship supports one month of residency in Philadelphia for advanced, postdoctoral, and dissertation research.

Funding

The stipend is $2,000. 

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania awards a number of four-week fellowships for research in its collections during each academic year.

Fellowship Details

Historically, the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania have offered many opportunities for support in the form of one-month fellowships for advanced research in residence in either or both institutions. For this year, the two programs will be administered separately. As part of its continued commitment to supporting researchers, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania will award a number of fellowships for research in its collections during the academic year. 

The Collection ​

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of America and the Atlantic world, as well as mid-Atlantic regional history, from the 17th through the 20th centuries. HSP collections are strong in local newspapers and printed ephemera, prints and photographs of the Philadelphia region, and graphics by local artists. They possess extraordinary strength in the history of women and African Americans, popular literature, business and banking, popular medicine, philanthropy and reform, education, natural sciences, technology, art, architecture, German Americana, American Judaica, and a host of other subjects. 

Now enriched by the holdings of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, HSP holds more than 19 million personal, organizational, and business manuscripts, as well 560,000 printed items and 312,000 graphic images concerning national and regional political, social, and family history. The Balch Institute collections bring the HSP added strength in documenting ethnic and immigrant history, with significant holdings of ethnic newspapers, records of benevolent societies and other local and national ethnic organizations, and personal papers of prominent leaders in ethnic and immigrant communities across the nation. Explore HSP’s library catalog. 

Fellows are also encouraged to use the collections of the Library Company of Philadelphia, located next-door to HSP in Philadelphia’s Center City. The two independent research libraries have complementary collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of the United States in its Atlantic world context from the 17th through the 19th centuries, as well as Mid-Atlantic regional history to the present. 

Balch Fellowship

Prior to its merger with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies maintained an active fellowship program. This legacy of support for scholarship in ethnic and immigrant studies has been continued at HSP with the Balch Institute Fellowships. Each year, two or three fellows are awarded a stipend to support one month of residency in Philadelphia to enable them to research on topics related to the ethnic and immigrant experience in the United States and/or American cultural, social, political, or economic history post-1875. Past Balch fellows have done research on immigrant children, Italian American fascism, German Americans in the Civil War, Pan-Americanism, African American women's political activism, and much more.

Funding

The stipend is $2,500. 

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania awards a number of four-week fellowships for research in its collections during each academic year.

Fellowship Details

Historically, the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania have offered many opportunities for support in the form of one-month fellowships for advanced research in residence in either or both institutions. For this year, the two programs will be administered separately. As part of its continued commitment to supporting researchers, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania will award a number of fellowships for research in its collections during the academic year. 

The Collection ​

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of America and the Atlantic world, as well as mid-Atlantic regional history, from the 17th through the 20th centuries. HSP collections are strong in local newspapers and printed ephemera, prints and photographs of the Philadelphia region, and graphics by local artists. They possess extraordinary strength in the history of women and African Americans, popular literature, business and banking, popular medicine, philanthropy and reform, education, natural sciences, technology, art, architecture, German Americana, American Judaica, and a host of other subjects. 

Now enriched by the holdings of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, HSP holds more than 19 million personal, organizational, and business manuscripts, as well 560,000 printed items and 312,000 graphic images concerning national and regional political, social, and family history. The Balch Institute collections bring the HSP added strength in documenting ethnic and immigrant history, with significant holdings of ethnic newspapers, records of benevolent societies and other local and national ethnic organizations, and personal papers of prominent leaders in ethnic and immigrant communities across the nation. Explore HSP’s library catalog. 

Fellows are also encouraged to use the collections of the Library Company of Philadelphia, located next-door to HSP in Philadelphia’s Center City. The two independent research libraries have complementary collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of the United States in its Atlantic world context from the 17th through the 19th centuries, as well as Mid-Atlantic regional history to the present. 

 Esther Ann ​​McFarland Fellowship

Each year the Historical Society of Pennsylvania awards one Esther Ann McFarland Fellowship in memory of Judge William Lewis for research on either 17th-century Pennsylvania, with a preference for research on New Sweden or on the influence of the early Swedish settlers on the development of Pennsylvania, or on African American history. The fellowship supports one month of residency in Philadelphia for advanced, postdoctoral, and dissertation research.

Funding

The stipend is $2,500. 

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania awards a number of four-week fellowships for research in its collections during each academic year.

Fellowship Details

Historically, the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania have offered many opportunities for support in the form of one-month fellowships for advanced research in residence in either or both institutions. For this year, the two programs will be administered separately. As part of its continued commitment to supporting researchers, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania will award a number of fellowships for research in its collections during the academic year. 

The Collection ​

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of America and the Atlantic world, as well as mid-Atlantic regional history, from the 17th through the 20th centuries. HSP collections are strong in local newspapers and printed ephemera, prints and photographs of the Philadelphia region, and graphics by local artists. They possess extraordinary strength in the history of women and African Americans, popular literature, business and banking, popular medicine, philanthropy and reform, education, natural sciences, technology, art, architecture, German Americana, American Judaica, and a host of other subjects. 

Now enriched by the holdings of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, HSP holds more than 19 million personal, organizational, and business manuscripts, as well 560,000 printed items and 312,000 graphic images concerning national and regional political, social, and family history. The Balch Institute collections bring the HSP added strength in documenting ethnic and immigrant history, with significant holdings of ethnic newspapers, records of benevolent societies and other local and national ethnic organizations, and personal papers of prominent leaders in ethnic and immigrant communities across the nation. Explore HSP’s library catalog. 

Fellows are also encouraged to use the collections of the Library Company of Philadelphia, located next-door to HSP in Philadelphia’s Center City. The two independent research libraries have complementary collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of the United States in its Atlantic world context from the 17th through the 19th centuries, as well as Mid-Atlantic regional history to the present. 

Indian Rights Association Fellowship

Each year the Historical Society of Pennsylvania awards one Indian Rights Association Fellowship in the field of Native American studies. The fellowship supports one month of residency in Philadelphia for advanced, postdoctoral, and dissertation research. Though topic and time period are open, applicants must demonstrate a need to conduct research in the HSP’s Indian Rights Association Records (see finding aid). 

Funding

The stipend is $2,500. Fellowships are tenable for any one-month period between June and May.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania awards a number of four-week fellowships for research in its collections during each academic year.

Fellowship Details

Historically, the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania have offered many opportunities for support in the form of one-month fellowships for advanced research in residence in either or both institutions. For this year, the two programs will be administered separately. As part of its continued commitment to supporting researchers, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania will award a number of fellowships for research in its collections during the academic year. 

The Collection ​

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of America and the Atlantic world, as well as mid-Atlantic regional history, from the 17th through the 20th centuries. HSP collections are strong in local newspapers and printed ephemera, prints and photographs of the Philadelphia region, and graphics by local artists. They possess extraordinary strength in the history of women and African Americans, popular literature, business and banking, popular medicine, philanthropy and reform, education, natural sciences, technology, art, architecture, German Americana, American Judaica, and a host of other subjects. 

Now enriched by the holdings of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, HSP holds more than 19 million personal, organizational, and business manuscripts, as well 560,000 printed items and 312,000 graphic images concerning national and regional political, social, and family history. The Balch Institute collections bring the HSP added strength in documenting ethnic and immigrant history, with significant holdings of ethnic newspapers, records of benevolent societies and other local and national ethnic organizations, and personal papers of prominent leaders in ethnic and immigrant communities across the nation. Explore HSP’s library catalog. 

Fellows are also encouraged to use the collections of the Library Company of Philadelphia, located next-door to HSP in Philadelphia’s Center City. The two independent research libraries have complementary collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of the United States in its Atlantic world context from the 17th through the 19th centuries, as well as Mid-Atlantic regional history to the present. 

Dilworth Fellowship

Each year the Historical Society of Pennsylvania awards one Richardson Dilworth Fellowship for Law, Politics, and Reform. The fellowship supports one month of residency in Philadelphia for advanced, postdoctoral, and dissertation research on legal or political history topics, or on the history of reform movements.

Funding

The stipend is $2,500. 

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania awards a number of four-week fellowships for research in its collections during each academic year.

Fellowship Details

Historically, the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania have offered many opportunities for support in the form of one-month fellowships for advanced research in residence in either or both institutions. For this year, the two programs will be administered separately. As part of its continued commitment to supporting researchers, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania will award a number of fellowships for research in its collections during the academic year. 

The Collection ​

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of America and the Atlantic world, as well as mid-Atlantic regional history, from the 17th through the 20th centuries. HSP collections are strong in local newspapers and printed ephemera, prints and photographs of the Philadelphia region, and graphics by local artists. They possess extraordinary strength in the history of women and African Americans, popular literature, business and banking, popular medicine, philanthropy and reform, education, natural sciences, technology, art, architecture, German Americana, American Judaica, and a host of other subjects. 

Now enriched by the holdings of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, HSP holds more than 19 million personal, organizational, and business manuscripts, as well 560,000 printed items and 312,000 graphic images concerning national and regional political, social, and family history. The Balch Institute collections bring the HSP added strength in documenting ethnic and immigrant history, with significant holdings of ethnic newspapers, records of benevolent societies and other local and national ethnic organizations, and personal papers of prominent leaders in ethnic and immigrant communities across the nation. Explore HSP’s library catalog. 

Fellows are also encouraged to use the collections of the Library Company of Philadelphia, located next-door to HSP in Philadelphia’s Center City. The two independent research libraries have complementary collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of the United States in its Atlantic world context from the 17th through the 19th centuries, as well as Mid-Atlantic regional history to the present. 

​​Robert L. McNeil Jr. Fellowship

​​Robert L. McNeil Jr. Fellowships will support research in early American history. Each year the Historical Society of Pennsylvania awards four Robert L. McNeil Jr. Fellowships for research in early American history. These fellowships support one month of residency in Philadelphia during the summer of the fellowship year for advanced, postdoctoral, or dissertation research.

Funding

The stipend is $2,500. The Robert L. McNeil Jr. Fellowships began in the 2012–2013 academic year and are generously endowed by a bequest from Robert L. McNeil Jr.

E. Rhodes & Leona B. Carpenter Foundation

The E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation was formed in 1975 as the E. Rhodes Carpenter Foundation by E. Rhodes Carpenter, founder of the Richmond, Virginia based company now known as Carpenter Co.

During Mr. Carpenter's lifetime, the Foundation made a few substantial gifts but for the most part had minimal assets. In accordance with Mr. Carpenter's wishes, the Foundation received significant funding following his death in 1980. His wife, Leona B. Carpenter, died a year later leaving substantial assets to the Foundation. In 1982, the name of the Foundation was changed to the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. The Foundation operates independently of and has no connection to Carpenter Co. 

Asian Art Grants

The Foundation will consider requests from museums which are public charities and have a permanent collection for the purchase, conservation and exhibition of Asian art and relating to education in Asian art. In addition, the Foundation will consider requests from such institutions to underwrite the costs of exhibitions of Western art in the Peoples Republic of China or the Republic of China (Taiwan).

About the Foundation

Ethel Sergeant Clark Smith was a prominent member of Philadelphia society. Her father, Walter Clark, held a seat on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. Her mother, Elizabeth Sergeant Clark, was a member of the Society of Colonial Dames of America. Ethel was born in 1885, graduated from the Agnes Irwin School in 1902, and was formally presented to society in 1903. She later married H. Harrison Smith, a Philadelphia attorney. While maintaining a city residence, they spent most of their time at the Smith family estate, “Timberline,” near Radnor, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

Because of her husband’s military associations, Ethel became active in the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the American Legion and held local, state, and national posts in that organization. Her love of tennis led to her establishing the United States Lawn Tennis Association Girls’ Sportsmanship Trophy and the Middle States Lawn Tennis Association Tournament. She provided for both awards in perpetuity. She also left small bequests to the 42 prior winners of these two awards at the time of her death.

Mrs. Smith died without lineal heirs. Her foundation, formed in 1977 from her estate, benefits organizations located in southeastern Pennsylvania, with a primary emphasis on serving community needs in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

Ethel Sergeant Clark Smith Memorial Fund Grant

Mission

Grants are awarded in the areas of medical, educational, cultural, arts, health and human services, and in such other areas as the trustee shall identify and determine from time to time, to be responsive to changes in the needs of Delaware County.

Program Areas

• Arts, culture, and humanities
• Education
• Health
• Human Services

Types of Support

Grants are awarded for capital projects, operating expenses, and special programs in amounts that are meaningful to the success of the individual endeavors of the organizations. However, operating expense grants are typically awarded for charities without capital requirements, and under circumstances where continuing funding is not expected.

Funding

Average grant size: $5,000 to $25,000

About the Foundation

Joseph Kennard Skilling was a kind and generous person who cared greatly about his fellow man. In 1963 while still living, Mr. Skilling made the decision to share his wealth by leaving a memorial through the creation of this trust. Although he passed away in 1974, Mr. Skilling’s generosity continues to touch the lives of those in the Philadelphia community, and will continue to do so in perpetuity.

Mission

To provide support to social welfare agencies for programs benefiting the citizens of the community of Philadelphia.

Criteria

• The overall effectiveness of the proposed program. 
• The professionalism and the ability of the organization to deliver the program with a measurable outcome.
• The ability of the organization’s management to manage the program effectively, including proper financial controls.
• The necessity rating of the program in the community.

Program areas

• Arts, culture, and humanities 
• Education
• Environment/animals
• Health
• Human services
• International/foreign affairs
• Public/society benefit
• Religion

Foundation Information

The Mary Gourlay Charitable Trust was established in Mary Gourlay's memory in 2017 under the Last Will and Testament of Charles F. Gourlay, who was Mary's son.

Mission

To provide grants to institutions that provide assistance to the blind in Pennsylvania, particularly in Philadelphia.

Program areas

• Arts, culture, and humanities
• Education
• Health
• Human services

The Edna W. Andrade Fund -- a Donor Advised Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation -- is pleased to announce the availability of grants for local or national museums or nonprofit art organizations to benefit visual fine artists from Greater Philadelphia.

The fund was established through the estate of Edna Andrade. Edna Andrade was a leading Philadelphia teacher and artist who was associated with the Op Art movement of the 1960's.

Grants will be awarded in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $25,000. 

The purpose of the fund is to benefit visual fine artists from the Greater Philadelphia area by providing funds for the following:

• For grants to local or national museums or other charitable organizations that request funding for the purchase or commission of works of art by specific artists from the Greater Philadelphia area
• For grants to local or national museums for the funding of one-person exhibitions of specific artists from the Greater Philadelphia area
  • The Greater Philadelphia area is defined as Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties in Pennsylvania and Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Mercer counties in New Jersey.
• For grants to nonprofit organizations as fiscal agents for individual artists or groups of artists from the Greater Philadelphia area who propose to start or are engaged in continuing educational, cultural, humanitarian or environmental projects.

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage (the Center) makes panel-adjudicated grants in support of the Philadelphia region’s cultural organizations and artists. At the Center, we envision Greater Philadelphia as a widely recognized hub for dynamic, distinctive, and inclusive cultural experiences.  The Center is dedicated to fostering a thriving cultural ecology. We invest in substantive work that showcases our region’s artistic vitality and enhances public life.

The projects we support grow directly out of mission and demonstrate excellence, care, and conceptual rigor. Funded projects reflect our grantees’ commitment to multiple perspectives, inclusive practices, and meaningful engagement with multicultural audiences. We also engage in a robust exchange of ideas on evolving artistic and interpretive practices with a local, national, and international network of creators and cultural leaders. These exchanges provide inspiration for cultural practice in our region and beyond and help the Center and its constituents to build new relationships and audiences.

Creative Project Grants

Creative Project Grants support artistically and programmatically excellent, distinctive, and substantive performances, exhibitions, and interpretation projects designed for diverse publics. The Center has two creative project funding areas: Performance and Exhibitions & Public Interpretation. These two areas support projects that are multi- or interdisciplinary, as well as those based in a specific discipline.

Proposals for these grants must be part of a strategic vision designed to make critical changes to your core operational/business model, resulting in demonstrably greater viability and sustainability for your organization.

Implementation

Implementation grants are designed for organizations that have already identified and committed to the critical operational challenge that exists for the organization and have completed preparatory steps and structured plans to enact the operational change.

Evolving Futures Implementation grants support actionable plans, resulting from preparatory work, to make an identified change to the core operational/business model. Readiness, exploratory research, and organization-wide commitment to change should precede your application for an Evolving Futures Implementation grant. Examples of implementation projects include but are not limited to—

• Formalized strategic alliances.
• Mergers, including with for-profit entities.
• Business evolution that commits to bold, new, more inclusive, and equitable models for the field.
• When workforce adaptation/staff restructuring is part of a proposal, the applicant should speak to new or continuing efforts around diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion and how they are important and intrinsic to achieving future sustainability.

Multi-Organization Implementation Grants

Some applicants may decide that their evolutions would be best served by co-applying. Multiple organizations may submit a single application to propose a significant strategic alliance. 

Evolving Futures Grants

The Center will again offer Evolving Futures grants to eligible organizations in an effort to acknowledge the challenges facing the cultural sector and the critical need to evolve traditional business models. These grants provide risk-capital to assist you in making major shifts to the way your organization will operate in future.

The Center's goal with Evolving Futures grants is to help you envision, re-think, research, adapt, and transform your business model for future sustainability.

Organizations applying for Evolving Futures grants will be asked to describe the "what/why/how and with whom" of the work proposed; the projected outcomes; their institutional commitment to business model change; and their own contributions of finances and staff time toward achieving stated goals.

This year, Evolving Futures grants are offered in two categories: Planning and Implementation.

• PLANNING GRANTS
  • Evolving Futures Planning grants support increasing organizational readiness to make a change to the core operational/business model through research, design, and preparatory work to identify and clarify the needed model change.
  • Such explorations include -
    • Work with qualified consultants to shape your vision for business model change.
    • Research and strategic planning focused on identifying key strategies for business model change as a path towards greater organizational viability.
    • Feasibility studies.
    • Other related steps to ready your organization for an Evolving Futures Implementation grant in a future grant cycle.

Forman Family Fund Grants

The Nessa Forman, David Forman, Eleanor and Solomon Forman Family Fund -- a Designated Fund of The Philadelphia Foundation -- supports Southeastern Pennsylvania nonprofits serving young people aged 11 to 18 offering in-school or out-of-school-time programs that address one of the following areas:

• Photography
• Architectural Drawing and Architecture
• Written Arts

Up to 10 grants of no more than $40,000 each will be awarded annually. The fund was established through the estate of Nessa R. Forman, former V.P. for Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at WHYY and former Arts and Leisure Editor of the Philadelphia Bulletin. She was a passionate advocate for arts education.

Types of Projects Funded

• Direct program expenses
• Staff time
• Materials and supplies
• Indirect expenses (up to 15% to total grant amount)
• Transportation, meals and field trips for participants

Art Works

Founded in 2021 by Forman Arts Initiative and Philadelphia Foundation, Art Works is a joint $3 million grant program designed to support Philadelphia arts and cultural organizations and artists working in partnership with BIPOC and other underserved communities.

Art Works accepts applications from local cultural nonprofit (or fiscally sponsored) organizations with annual operating budgets between $250,000 and $5 million as well as individual artists with a commitment to incorporating community perspectives into their work.

• Four Philadelphia-based artists will be selected annually to receive two-year grants of $25,000 per year. Grants can be used freely by artists. Some artists may wish to use the grant to support the development of new work while others may use it to pay for living or studio expenses. Artists will be chosen based on how closely their work aligns with Art Works’ programmatic goals.
• Four community-based organizations will be selected annually to receive two-year, unrestricted grants ranging from $75,000-$150,000.  Organizations will be chosen based on how closely their work aligns with Art Works‘ programmatic goals.

In addition to the awarded funds, all grantees will have access to experiential professional development workshops and pro bono professional consulting services designed to provide strategic and tactical support on a range of topics including legal, marketing, communications, budgeting and finance, among others.

Art Works also provides grantees the opportunity to host co-operative education students from Drexel University to support programs and operations.

These placements, administered by Drexel’s Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships, are designed to provide students with meaningful work experience in the arts and culture sector. 

The Corrine and Henry Bower Memorial Foundation is a Pennsylvania-based private charitable trust with an annual giving amount around $35,000. The foundation primarily funds wellness, education (middle school electives), general support, and visual arts programs, making a few grants per year.

The foundation’s grants are administered through a Distribution Committee that pre-selects applicants to apply by directed invitation. Funding is regionally focused, serving the City of Philadelphia and selected surrounding counties in Pennsylvania, as well as some areas in Ohio, New Jersey, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC.

About the Presser Foundation

The Presser Foundation was formally established in 1939 under various deeds of trust of the late Theodore Presser. In the charter of incorporation, The Foundation’s purposes are set forth to promote primarily the cause of musical education and musical philanthropy as follows: to provide scholarships for promising students; to increase the value of music education by erecting suitable buildings; and to administer aid to worthy teachers of music in distress.

While The Foundation’s priorities have evolved over time, it has provided much needed funding to further the cause of music for over 75 years. It has been said that Theodore Presser wanted to give back to music what he had made from it. When he died in 1925, he left no children. He had been widowed twice, and the bulk of his fortune was left to The Foundation.

The small staff and Board of Trustees continue to oversee the work of The Foundation. The Foundation is fortunate to have had a founder who clearly stated the purpose which he desired to achieve. The Board of Trustees includes prominent local and national leaders in music. All Trustees share a passion for music and all are committed to carrying out the intentions of the benefactor.

Special Projects Grants

Introduction & Purpose

The Trustees of The Presser Foundation created the Special Projects Committee to consider grant requests that fall outside the Foundation’s core grantmaking programs. Grant amounts typically range from $5,000 to $25,000 annually for music organizations operating in a broad range of music traditions, genres, and styles. In 2024-25, 9% of The Presser Foundation’s distributed funds ($320,230/$3.73 million) went to Special Project grants. This fiscal year (2025-26), the Special Projects Committee will consider applications for:

• General Operating Support for newly established music organizations (up to 5 years in existence).
• Resilience Grants for small music organizations impacted by government funding or policy changes. These grant requests of up to $7,500 are for organizations with operating budgets under $150,000. Organizations seeking support for the following are encouraged to apply:
  • Artistic and/or organizational development (e.g. workforce programming) projects that have been impacted by government funding cuts;
  • Organizations seeking legal, financial, fundraising, or communications guidance to navigate government funding or policy changes;
  • Efforts to share costs and collaborate* with another nonprofit organization to maintain financial stability for the organization; and
  • Other efforts to maintain your organization’s core mission and/or financial viability in response to the changing arts funding landscape will be considered.
  • *Not intended for one-time creative collaborations.