NOTE: Preliminary applications are reviewed on a rolling basis with deadlines correlating to Foundation board meetings held twice each year. Once a preliminary application is submitted online, organizations can expect to hear a response regarding the status of their application within three (3) weeks and may receive a request for submission of a full proposal and supplemental materials.

For two decades, Bader Philanthropies has brought together partners from across the state and around the world to support families with compassion, creativity and the latest knowledge. Together, we have helped make Wisconsin a national leader in how we view growing older.

Our partners are committed to helping older adults remain safe in order to age in place; to creating opportunities for older adults to learn and use technology in order to stay connected with family and friends; and to providing caregivers, professionals and students with educational opportunities. Our current Alzheimer’s & Healthy Aging strategies include:

• Independence, Wellness and Risk-Reduction;
• Technology and Applied Research for Program Development;
• Education/Training for Caregivers, Professionals, and Students.

Here are some examples of the metrics we use to measure success in Alzheimer’s & Healthy Aging:

• Older adults served;
• Older adults capable of staying in their homes;
• Enhanced feelings of well-being.

NOTE:

• Applicants are strongly encouraged to plan their application and proposal submission process for the April or July meetings (December and April deadlines), since most grant funds will be distributed at those times.
• Letters of inquiry should be submitted at least six to eight weeks prior to the proposal deadline for a given grant cycle. Program officers will respond in a timely manner and advance all grant proposals expeditiously.
• Applicants should anticipate the application process to take approximately four to six months from the initial submission of the letter of inquiry to the receipt of funding.

Journalism Grants

The brief description below explains our approaches to supporting journalism and the types of projects we seek to fund as part of our current strategy.

Our Approach

The Joyce Foundation’s Journalism Program seeks to deepen the impact of Foundation programs’ investment in policy by supporting journalism that shines a light on conditions we hope to improve, issues related to the Foundation’s core strategies, and success stories that illuminate solutions. We support high-quality investigative, public affairs journalism in the Great Lakes region, including local, state and national media, primarily nonprofit. We also support public affairs journalism training for early career journalists, particularly journalists of color.

What does this program do?

This program is designed to provide technical assistance and training for small rural businesses. Small means that the business has fewer than 50 new workers and less than $1 million in gross revenue.

What kind of funding is available?

There is no maximum grant amount; however, smaller requests are given higher priority. There is no cost sharing requirement. Opportunity grants are limited to up to 10 percent of the total Rural Business Development Grant annual funding.

How may funds be used?

Enterprise grants must be used on projects to benefit small and emerging businesses in rural areas as specified in the grant application. Uses may include:

• Training and technical assistance, such as project planning, business counseling and training, market research, feasibility studies, professional or/technical reports or producer service improvements.
• Acquisition or development of land, easements, or rights of way; construction, conversion, renovation of buildings; plants, machinery, equipment, access for streets and roads; parking areas and utilities.
• Pollution control and abatement.
• The capitalization of revolving loan funds, including funds that will make loans for start-ups and working capital.
• Distance adult learning for job training and advancement.
• Rural transportation improvement.
• Community economic development.
• Technology-based economic development.
• Feasibility studies and business plans.
• Leadership and entrepreneur training.
• Rural business incubators.
• Long-term business strategic planning.

Opportunity grants can be used for:

• Community economic development.
• Technology-based economic development.
• Feasibility studies and business plans.
• Leadership and entrepreneur training.
• Rural business incubators.
• Long-term business strategic planning.

NOTE: All JEM applications must be submitted at least 90 days prior to the first day of advertising that will be paid using JEM funds.

About Us

Wisconsin’s smallest cabinet agency makes a tremendous impact. At one half of one percent of the state budget and one half of one percent of the state workforce, the Department of Tourism markets Wisconsin as one of America’s premier travel destinations under the brand name Travel Wisconsin, supporting an industry that makes up more than 7 percent of the state’s gross domestic product.

The team at Travel Wisconsin is honored to be joined by the Wisconsin Council on Tourism, our committee members and our industry partners to maintain tourism’s ranking as a top Wisconsin industry.

Joint Effort Marketing (JEM) Grant Program

The Joint Effort Marketing (JEM) Grant Program offers funding to make a promotion or event come to fruition. The grant reimburses Wisconsin nonprofit organizations for qualified promotional costs. There are five categories of JEM grants.

Destination Marketing

• Projects must include a partnership of at least three municipalities or communities who all benefit from increasing visitor expenditures.
• There are two facets within this grant: a development option and marketing option.
  • The Development Option provides financial resources to commission or purchase research.
    • Qualifying research includes:
      • Discovering a region’s differentiation qualities in order to define a brand and focus a marketing strategy.
      • Securing data to measure the impact of the visitor on the local economy.
  • The Marketing Option funds efforts that apply previous research.
    • The campaign time frame should occur during the off-season or when the region needs tourism business. 

Why You Should Apply

• A JEM grant is often a catalyst for communities, giving them the means to make an impact on their economy and create jobs for its residents.
• It could be just the thing to bring an idea to life.

Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Grant

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

Our Mission

The DRA, through its gaming and entertainment facilities provides for social, economic and community betterment and lessens the burden of Dubuque city and area government, while contributing to the growth and viability of Dubuque area tourism.

Core Grant

• Focus on People Attraction: Population growth, retention, and tourism
• Coaching opportunities provided by the DRA and community partners throughout the grant cycle

Focus for Grant Applications

Applications should tie to the mission of People Attraction: Population Growth, Retention and Tourism. This aligns with the DRA’s mission of providing social, economic and community betterment and lessening the burden of Dubuque city and area government, as well as our vision of being a dynamic community resource, acting as a catalyst to enhance the quality of life and financial well-being of the tri-state community. 

Capacity Building vs Material Purchases

Historically, the DRA has funded mostly material items, in 2022 we shifted this model and funding preference will be given to applications with capacity building alongside of material purchases.

What is Capacity Building?

Capacity building is the process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, processes and resources that organizations and communities need to survive, adapt and thrive in a fast-changing world.

Examples of capacity building activities and potential projects:

• Planning Activities: Organizational assessments, strategic planning, creating a development plan/strategy.
• Donor Development: Marketing/communications, online donor portals, improvements to the donor experience.
• Strategic Relationships: Strengthening relationships with professional advisors and/or nonprofit partners.
• Internal Operations: Improvements to donor database/financial management system, volunteer management, organization website.
• Professional Development: Staff, contractor, or affiliate volunteer(s) attendance at regional/national conferences, local or online trainings.
• Financial Audits: First time audits which can open additional funding opportunities for the organization.
• Organization Marketing: Website creation/design, marketing materials, materials to help promote the organization externally.

NOTE: Organizations that have never applied to the Creation and Presentation Grant Program previously must notify the Arts Board staff of their intent to apply (See letter of inquiry deadline above). Notification should be in the form of an email to [email protected].

Wisconsin Art Board

Mission Statement

The Wisconsin Arts Board is the state agency which nurtures creativity, cultivates expression, promotes the arts, supports the arts in education, stimulates community and economic development and serves as a resource for people of every culture and heritage. 

Values

The Wisconsin Arts Board values:

• ​imagination
• creativity
• curiosity
• freedom of expression
• respect and appreciation for all cultures and people
• artistic quality
• a broad definition of the arts
• audience and patron development
• community engagement

Creation and Presentation Grants

The arts play an important role in the lives of every person in Wisconsin. All communities benefit from participating, experiencing, sharing and learning through the arts. Funding from this program supports organizations that provide essential arts programming to their communities and are integral to their communities’ cultural legacies. Through direct financial support of ongoing programming by arts organizations, the Arts Board sustains the vitality of Wisconsin culturally, educationally and economically.

Creation and Presentation grants provide artistic program and operational support to established nonprofit arts organizations that have art at the core of their mission, that create or present ongoing arts programming that makes a significant local, regional, or statewide impact on the cultural life of Wisconsin, and that further the Arts Board’s community development and arts education goals (see Goals 1 and 2 in the Arts Board’s strategic plan found here).

This is a multi-year grant program wherein applicants will submit a Full Year application in their designated year, and submit Interim Year applications in the other three years of the cycle. This allows us to collect information needed for accountability, but in a way that reduces the amount of work required of the applicant, and spreads that work over a four-year period. The Full Year application takes organizational size and capacity into account, even while it continues to be a rigorous tool upon which applicants can draw for applications to other funders. The Interim Year application provides an artistic and organizational health “check-in.” In both Full and Interim Years, the application form and narrative continue to be based on past performance rather than future projections.

Goals of the Creation and Presentation Grants Program:

• to promote and sustain art of the highest artistic quality;
• to promote and sustain organizational and financial stability;
• to ensure artistic relevance and effective arts organizations through appropriate organizational planning, ongoing assessment and evaluation, community input, and sound promotion;
• to increase local, regional, and statewide leadership among arts organizations in Wisconsin;
• to increase audience participation in, and appreciation of, programs created and presented by Wisconsin arts organizations;
• to help arts organizations articulate the value of the work that they do – and the impact of that work on community and economic development – to their local and state officials and to the people in their community;
• to encourage arts organizations to work to enhance arts education efforts in their community.

These goals are essential to the long-term vitality of arts organizations, and the communities that they serve

About the Illinois Arts Council Agency

The Illinois Arts Council Agency was created as a state agency by the Illinois General Assembly in 1965 through legislation sponsored by Senators Paul Simon, Thomas McGloon, and Alan Dixon. The agency is governed by up to twenty-one private citizens chosen for their demonstrated commitment to the arts and appointed by the Governor. Council members serve in a voluntary, non-paid capacity and are charged with developing the state’s public arts policy, fostering quality culturally diverse programs, and approving grants expenditures. A small professional staff with in-depth knowledge of the arts develops and administers the agency’s programs, provides technical assistance, and ensures the responsible and impactful distribution of all funds. Resources to support the Illinois Arts Council Agency are provided by the Governor and General Assembly of Illinois and the National Endowment for the Arts.

About GIG Fund

The GIG Fund provides flexible grants for nonprofit organizations to support programs and activities featuring professional artists. GIG Fund grants help cover fees for touring or local artists. Funds may also be used for project costs such as accessibility accommodations and marketing. We work with a panel to help us review applications and distribute grants annually.Sample activities include:

• A rural community hosting a short artist residency at a local school.
• An artist hosting a creative writing program with justice-impacted citizens.
• An artist talkback or meet & greet in an exhibition featuring the work of LGBTQ+ photographers.
• Presenting a concert series focused on the music of BIPOC composers.
• Initiating a new partnership to provide art classes with people with disabilities.

Wisconsin Art Board

Mission Statement

The Wisconsin Arts Board is the state agency which nurtures creativity, cultivates expression, promotes the arts, supports the arts in education, stimulates community and economic development and serves as a resource for people of every culture and heritage. 

Values

The Wisconsin Arts Board values:

• ​imagination
• creativity
• curiosity
• freedom of expression
• respect and appreciation for all cultures and people
• artistic quality
• a broad definition of the arts
• audience and patron development
• community engagement

Woodland Indian Arts Initiative

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The Woodland Indian Arts Initiative (WIAI) is designed to promote and develop a foundation of cultural and economic support for traditional and contemporary Native American arts in Wisconsin. As part of this work, the Arts Board annually distributes funds from Gaming Compact monies to support artistic activities among Wisconsin's tribes, bands and urban Indian communities, including:

• Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
• Brothertown Indian Nation
• Forest County Potawatomi Community
• Ho-Chunk Nation
• Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
• Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
• Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
• Oneida Nation of Wisconsin
• Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
• Sokaogon Chippewa Community
• St. Croix Chippewa Community
• Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians
• Urban Indian populations in Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, La Crosse and other urban centers

Types of Activities Funded​​​

Funding priority goes to activities that work to build a long-term structure of support for Native arts in Wisconsin. These include but are not limited to:

• Professional arts administration positions in support of Native arts,
• Documentation of arts activities and cultural knowledge in Wisconsin’s Native communities,
• Technical assistance and professional development to Native artists and arts organizations,
• Presentation and promotion of Wisconsin’s Native artists through festivals, markets, exhibitions, various media and other forms of presentation, and
• Planning grants in preparation for any of the above.
• New, expanded or existing projects are eligible. 

Traditional and contemporary art forms are welcome.

For additional information on the grant program and reports on needs articulated by Wisconsin Native artists, can be found on this page.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications to the WIAI grant program will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• The degree to which the proposed activity will serve a need or interest in one or more of the identified Native American communities in Wisconsin.
• Quality of the proposed art form,
• The feasibility of the proposed activity,
• The feasibility of the proposed budget,
• And the degree to which the proposed activity will develop a foundation of cultural and economic support for Native arts in Wisconsin.