NCAC: Project Support Grant

The NCAC Project Support Grant provides financial assistance ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 for North Carolina-based nonprofit organizations. This grant is aimed at initiatives that engage communities through artistic programs, including exhibitions, festivals, and artist residencies. Eligible applicants must demonstrate a history of producing quality programs and meet specific financial criteria. The grant encourages projects that foster engagement, creativity, and cultural enrichment across diverse artistic disciplines.

Project Support is a new grant category that replaces Spark the Arts Grants. This category is designed to help organizations that are producing and/or presenting specific arts programs that engage audiences and participants. Organizations may apply for support for exemplary programs in any artistic discipline.
Here are some examples of such programs:

• A single exhibition, performance, or two to three related events, such as a reading series
• An annually or regularly recurring event, such as a festival
• An artist residency or commission
• A literary publication
• Funding
• From $5,000 to $15,000
• Organizations with prior-year expenses between $20,000 and $50,000 are eligible to apply for $5,000, the minimum grant award.

Applicants from Tier 2 and Tier 3 counties may apply for up to two-thirds of the overall project expenses and must provide a cash match for the remaining third. For applicants from economically distressed Tier 1 counties, we will waive the matching requirement.

Eligibility

Organizations may apply for Project Support grants if they meet the North Carolina Arts Council’s general eligibility criteria:Must be a North Carolina-based nonprofit organization
Must have a track record of producing high-quality programs for at least two years
Must have prior-year organizational cash operating expenses of at least $20,000An applicant that doesn’t meet the above criteria may apply with a fiscal agent that does. Grant funds may be used for artist fees, marketing, interpretive materials, contractual fees (including contractual personnel), and other related costs. With the exceptions of colleges and universities and arts organizations that are a part of another entity (such as a municipality), organizations may use up to half of the grant amount for administrative overhead expenses, including salaries that are directly related to the project.

Ineligibility

The following are not eligible for support through this category:Organizations that receive Sustaining Support for Arts Organizations grants or Statewide Service Organizations grants
Designated and provisional county partners that receive the Grassroots Arts Program allocation for their county
Projects that focus primarily on children and/or take place in schools
Applicants whose projects emphasize this audience should refer to the guidelines for grants in the Arts-in-Education category.Projects that involve hiring student artists generally are not eligible for funding directly from the Arts Council.
Grant funds may not be used for the following expenditures unless otherwise noted in the grant guidelines:

• Deficit reductionCapital expenditures
• Contingency funds
• Food or beverages for hospitality or entertainment functions
• Fundraising events (activities designed to generate profit)
• Art sales events and auctions
• Interest on loans, fines, or litigation costs
• Lobbying expenses
• Tuition for academic study
• Indirect Costs