General Operating Support (GOS) Grant

The General Operating Support Grant Program offers essential funding to non-profit organizations focused on arts and humanities. Applicants must demonstrate a commitment to diverse artistic expressions and community engagement, aligning with the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities' goals. The program reviews applications based on three categories: Generalists, Service Organizations, and Capacity Building, ensuring that a significant portion of resources is dedicated to arts and humanities initiatives.

General Overview
The General Operating Support Grant Program (GOS) offers general operating support to non-profit arts, humanities, and arts education organizations whose primary mission focus is in one or more arts or humanities disciplines referenced in Guide to Grants. The mission, as submitted on the organization’s most-recent IRS Form 990, should include the word(s) arts, humanities, and/or arts or humanities discipline. More than 51% of both the organization’s previous year’s cash expenses and programming/services must be devoted to the arts and humanities and/or arts education.
GOS applicants must demonstrate the ways in which their ongoing programming aligns with the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) goal to encourage diverse artistic expressions and learning opportunities, so that all District of Columbia residents and visitors may experience the rich culture of the city. Successful GOS applications must clearly detail their organization’s outstanding leadership and vision, history of arts/humanities programming and strong track record of broad and inclusive community engagement.
GOS applications are reviewed in three (3) categories:

• Generalists, Service Organizations, and Capacity Building.
• Applicants have the opportunity to choose a category when they initiate an online application.