IBMA Foundation Project Grants

IBMA Foundation Project Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: The Ibma Foundation Inc
Amount: US $1,000 - US $2,500
Last Updated: March 23, 2026

Summary

Overview

NOTE: All materials requested must be submitted by December 2 to be considered for a Project Grant in the following year. Our Story The IBMA Foundation was created by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2007 with a bequest from the Richard Barnhart estate. Mr. Barnhart was a musician from northern Virginia who loved bluegrass and wanted to support educational programs for children. Since the beginning, our goal has been to support bluegrass-music-related educational, literary, artistic and historic preservation activities. In our early years we produced Discover Bluegrass, an educational video that has been used in thousands of classrooms and libraries around the world. We have hosted dozens of teacher workshops and artist trainings. We created a bluegrass lesson plan competition and provided a network for leaders of after-school bluegrass programs. Our project grants, which now total $25,000 a year, support bluegrass-related initiatives throughout the world. We also fund Bluegrass in the Schools Mini-grants ($7,000/year) which help schools to hire bluegrass bands for school programs. The Rosenberg Bluegrass Scholar Award recognizes excellence in academic research. Six college scholarships are granted for students working in various areas of the bluegrass music industry. The Arnold Shultz Fund supports increased participation of people of color in bluegrass music with grants that total $30,000/ year. Fletcher Bright Memorial Grants for Young Musicians (age 18 and younger) help young people go to bluegrass music camps and workshops, take lessons, and purchase educational materials. IBMA  Foundation Project Grants The IBMA Foundation awards project grants each year, usually in amounts between $1,000 and $2,500. The deadline to apply is December 2, 2024. Projects must align with the Foundation’s mission in one of the following areas Arts & cultureEducationLiterary or academic programsHistory preservation

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. The IBMA Foundation generally makes project grants to nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status or qualified governmental agencies such as public schools and colleges.

Ineligibility

Projects which do not primarily involve bluegrass musicAnnual fundraisingOrganization endowment fundsDeficit financing, grants to be paid directly to individualsgrants to religious activities of religious organizationsfunds for general support of festivalsAn entity can only receive one grant per calendar yearFoundation does not usually repeat a project grant to the same applicant two years in a row.Foundation does not generally award multi-year grants.