Dennis Mangers Fund for Young Performing Artists Grant

Dennis Mangers Fund for Young Performing Artists Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Sacramento Region Community Foundation
Amount: Up to US $5,000
Last Updated: March 18, 2026

Summary

The Dennis Mangers Fund for Young Performing Artists aims to enhance access to performing arts education for underserved youth in the Sacramento area. By providing financial support for tuition and training, the fund seeks to nurture the talents of young performers aged 8 to 17 from low-income backgrounds. This initiative encourages partnerships between schools and local arts organizations to foster artistic development and ensure all youth can pursue their passions in the performing arts.

Overview

Overview & Background For many talented youth coming from low-income families, access to high quality training in the performing arts is extremely limited. The opportunity to nurture their talents and passion for the performing arts within the school structure is also extremely low due to severely underfunded arts programming in our local schools. Private training can also be out of reach for those unable to afford tuition and finding a way to nurture their emerging talents becomes a barrier to their development as artists. This was the case for civic leader and former Board Chair at the Foundation, Dennis Mangers. Dennis was raised in an environment where there was little money available for private arts instruction of any kind. When school music teachers noted his love for singing and suggested outside voice training and performance opportunities, the costs were prohibitive. With the Dennis Mangers Fund for Young Performing Artists, he would like to ensure that all students who love to perform have opportunities to pursue their passions. Fund Purpose To support access to performing arts education, training, and apprenticeship and/or internship opportunities for underserved youth in the Sacramento region (Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, and El Dorado counties only). Performing arts are defined as instrumental, vocal, theater, or dance art forms.Underserved youth are defined as low-income, or coming from communities of color that have not had affordable access to private training and education programs in the performing arts.Youth is defined as children ages 8 – 17 years old. This funds seeks to support established in-house youth training programs for arts, cultural, and/or nonprofit organizations whose mission is to advance the performing arts. Applications should address the following goals: Develop long-term, in-depth partnerships between schools, local arts organizations and local teaching artists to help identify young performing artists that are in need of financial assistance for continued instruction.Develop the artistic abilities and creativity of students through sequential, hands-on performing arts learning.Continue to provide future opportunities for low-income students to benefit from quality performing arts training. Through the Request for Proposal (RFP) process, the Foundation is seeking to support organizations that have a strong history of providing quality performing arts instruction to area youth through their in-house programming.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Organizations that apply must:Be located and serve in the 4-county region of Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, and El Dorado counties.Be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in good standing with the IRS.Be a nonprofit that includes the performing arts as a major component of its programming.Have a current profile on the region’s nonprofit database, GivingEdge. (Applicants may still apply for funding without a profile, but will be required to have an approved profile by the end of your grant term. GivingEdge will be accepting applications for new profiles beginning in mid-June.)Program Eligibility RequirementsPrograms can include any of the following elements of performing arts education and training, and are not limited to:Basic fundamental, intermediate, or advanced performing arts skills and content training for instrument, voice, theater, dance or spoken word.Experiential, practical and peer learning opportunitiesWorkshops, forums, or field trips to performing arts eventsAccess to professional artists as trainers, teachers, or mentorsOpportunities for continued learning opportunities through apprenticeships, internships, or auditions in the performing artsTypical “front of house” and “back of house” training and education about other elements in the performing arts, such as business planning, marketing, production, set design, costume design, etcGrant dollars may be used for the following:Underwrite the full or partial cost of tuition for low-income students.Fees to professional experts/staff to execute the program and provide high quality training.Direct costs associated with youth training program such as instruments, sheet music, transportation, etc.Stipend for or fees to participate in any apprenticeship or internship, if applicable.Indirect costs may only constitute up to 10% of funds requested.