Community Fund Grants: Arts & Culture

The Akron Community Foundation offers Community Fund Grants focused on Arts & Culture, aimed at enriching the community's quality of life. These grants support diverse artistic and cultural initiatives that foster inclusiveness and systemic change in Summit County. Eligible applicants include approved 501(c)(3) organizations dedicated to addressing community needs through effective and sustainable programs. However, grants do not cover endowments, scholarships, or direct financial support to individuals.

NOTE: Akron Community Foundation requests all first-time grant applicants to please complete the Tell Us About Your Program form and contact the director of community investment before submitting your grant application.
Background
Akron Community Foundation funds four carefully chosen and equally vital issues through our quarterly competitive grantmaking program. Community Fund grants do more than simply meet residents’ immediate needs; they address the root cause of a problem to create lasting and systemic change for future generations.
Each quarter, our board requests applications to meet the community's most pressing needs in Arts & Culture, Civic Affairs, Health & Human Services, and Education. Then we study, vet and award grants to the nonprofits best equipped to tackle these important issues in Summit County. Funding for these key areas comes from board discretionary and field-of-interest funds, as well as donors who give specifically to the Community Fund.
The artistic and cultural offerings Akron Community Foundation supports appeal to diverse audiences throughout Summit County. Examples include performing and visual arts programs, historical societies and museums, and multimedia storytelling.
What We Fund
It is the unique responsibility of a community foundation to fund a range of quality-of-life programs throughout a geographic location.
​Thus, Akron Community Foundation’s grants are as diverse as Summit County itself. While unique in their programming, all Akron Community Foundation grantees have things in common:

• Organizational strength

We support efficient and effective nonprofit organizations with the capacity to significantly improve the community. We value organizations that demonstrate sustainability, honesty and transparency, and those that remain true to their mission.
Accountability
We serve as stewards of our donors’ community investments. As a result, we hold ourselves and our grantees to the highest standards of ethics, integrity, service and fiduciary responsibility.
Strengthened capacity of the nonprofit sector
We support efforts that build governance, management, financial and organizational capacities of nonprofit agencies and the sector as a whole. We also strive to create partnerships that reduce duplicative and ineffective programs.
Inclusiveness
We honor the diverse strengths, needs, voices and backgrounds within our community, and we support organizations whose missions promote equality and inclusiveness.

Eligibility

Approved 501(c)(3) organization serving Summit county.

Ineligibility

We do not make grants for:EndowmentsScholarshipsDirect financial support to individualsReligious organizations for religious purposesPrivate non-operating foundationsGiving circles for grantmaking purposesIn accordance with our grant-making priorities, we generally do not fund:Newly established nonprofit organizations that duplicate existing servicesCurriculum for schoolsDisease-specific programsEconomic development initiatives already being addressed by the Fund for Our Economic FuturePrograms at parochial schools that benefit only their studentsMulti-year grants