Arts & Culture – Small Arts Grants- For Fiscally Sponsored Organizations

The Fleishhacker Foundation offers Small Arts Grants to support small and mid-sized arts organizations in the Bay Area. These grants are designed for fiscally sponsored organizations, allowing them to access funding without traditional nonprofit status. Eligible applicants must meet specific budgetary requirements and demonstrate alignment with the foundation's mission. The program emphasizes support for historically marginalized artists and communities, ensuring that diverse artistic voices are represented in the cultural landscape.

The Fleishhacker Foundation’s Small Arts Grants program provides general, unrestricted support to small and mid-sized arts and culture organizations in San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties that produce and present new work by professional Bay Area artists in the disciplines of dance, music, theater, visual arts, interdisciplinary arts, or film.
Small Arts Grants Program supports arts and culture fiscally sponsored arts and culture organizations in these counties with annual operating expense budgets under $500,000 (film projects under $750,000).
The Foundation accepts proposals from fiscal sponsors on behalf of fiscally sponsored organizations and groups through its Small Arts Grants program to allow important creative voices working outside of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit structure to be eligible for consideration.
When using a fiscal sponsor, the fiscally sponsored organization must have entered into a written agreement with a sponsoring 501(c)(3) nonprofit that clearly delineates responsibilities for accounting, fiscal oversight, and grant reporting. A signed letter of sponsorship summarizing the specific nature of this agreement must accompany the application.
All grant communication will be sent to the fiscal sponsor, and it is responsible for informing the sponsored organization of the status of the grant proposal, promptly forwarding any funds awarded, and ensuring that final grant reports are filed by the deadline provided. In the event of a positive decision, the fiscal sponsor will be the Foundation’s grantee.

Eligibility

To be eligible for a grant, the sponsoring nonprofit’s mission and ongoing programming must be consistent with those of the sponsored group.In addition, the sponsoring nonprofit’s annual operating budget must be greater than $100,000, but there is no upper limit on its size. Fiscally sponsored applicants will also need to provide contact information for their fiscal sponsor as well as the total amount of the fiscal sponsor’s annual operating budget for its current fiscal year. If the sponsored group has an advisory board, a listing of its members should also be provided.

Ineligibility

Individual artists are not eligible for grants through this program.Organizations may not apply to the Fleishhacker Foundation more than once each year, except for fiscal sponsors applying on behalf of multiple groups. If your organization applied for consideration during the Foundation’s spring 2025 review cycle, it is not eligible to apply again until the spring 2026 cycle, even if it did not receive a gran