Puffin Foundation: Annual Artist Grant Program - Even Year Focus

The Puffin Foundation's Annual Artist Grant Program focuses on supporting artists and organizations that are often marginalized. In even years, proposals are accepted in fine arts, music, and photography. With a maximum grant size of $3,500, it aims to empower individuals and groups with limited resources to flourish creatively. This initiative reflects the Foundation's commitment to ensuring diverse artistic expressions thrive in society. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or residents, and only one proposal is permitted per year.

NOTE: This grant is only for the Even Year's Focus Area.
Pre-Proposal - This deadline represents when an applicant needs to request access to the online portal as well as fill out a brief online questionnaire. Please note that we do not accept any completed request forms for portal access by email. If you are not in the US or for other reasons can’t easily receive or send letters by mail, we suggest that you ask a friend, colleague, or family member in the US to submit the request on your behalf.Full Proposal - This represents the deadline for online submissions of project proposals.
The Puffin Foundation, Ltd. seeks to open the doors of artistic expression by providing grants to artists and art organizations who are often excluded from mainstream opportunities due to their identities or social philosophies.
Funding Focus
This year,  we will be funding proposals in the genres of:

• fine arts
• music
• photography

Applications in other disciplines will not be considered. Please note that the primary focus of your proposal must be one of these genres.
Our genres rotate in 2 year cycles, meaning that each genre is open for project proposals every other year.
Funding
The maximum grant size is $3,500. While some projects will receive full funding, a typical grant is about half that amount.

Eligibility

Grantees can be individual artists as well as also be non-profit organizations or utilize a fiscal sponsor.The Foundation has a special tax status that allows us to grant money to individuals (not just nonprofits), and anyone applying for a grant as an individual is asked to provide an SSN. If an award is given, we generate a 1099 because the money is considered as “gift income” for tax purposes and we require an SSN for our records.These tax identification or Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) are only requested of applicants who are applying as a nonprofit organization or using a fiscal sponsor to receive and administer any grant received.Our tax status only allows us to grant money to citizens and permanent residents of the United States with a social security number (SSN). We will also accept proposals from current DACA recipients with SSNs. While we do, on rare occasions, fund citizens/permanent residents for projects taking place outside of the United States, we recommend that you include some information regarding the accessibility of the project to people residing in the United States.We give an extra close look to projects with budgets over $100,000. In general, the larger the budget, the less critical our funding is likely to be to the realization of the project. By focusing on organizations and individuals with smaller budgets, we can prioritize applicants with fewer financial resources and maximize the impact of our support.One of Puffin’s funding goals is to reach as many grantees as possible. Therefore, each applicant is limited to one proposal in any given year.If your project is funded, we ask that you “skip” the next year, and wait until the following year before applying again.

Ineligibility

What is not eligible for Puffin funding:Education-related expenses:The Foundation does not have the resources to offer financial assistance for scholarships or for any projects or expenses related to education or professional development. If the project as a whole or in part counts toward any of your coursework or your degree, no part of it is eligible for funding. Likewise, if you are a professor, projects related to the coursework you offer are not eligible for funding.Travel, conference fees, related expenses such as food and lodging:Puffin does not fund travel or conference fees, or related expenses such as food and lodging, even when they are an integral or unavoidable part of a project. If travel-related expenses or conference fees are a part of your project, they should be reflected in your budget, but excluded from your funding request.Projects that involve the use of artificial intelligence (AI):We do not fund any projects with AI components. Projects which consist of or utilize, in whole or in part, content generated by artificial intelligence are ineligible for funding by The Puffin Foundation. This includes works that comment upon or critique actual AI-generated material (regardless of origin). Literary and written word projects, dance projects (formerly supported by The Puffin Foundation):The Foundation has limited resources, and has made the painful but necessary choice to discontinue funding for projects in certain genres. Literary and other written word projects, including developmental writing for theater, video, film, and radio projects, are no longer eligible for Puffin funding. Likewise, the Foundation does not fund dance-related proposals.Exceptions can be made for projects whose main focus is environmental artistic activism.The Foundation does not offer grants in the Annual Artist Grant Program to organizations whose annual budget is $250,000 or more, nor do we fund projects whose overall (total) budget is greater than this amount.