Metro Atlanta arts nonprofits can apply from Oct. 1 for a share of more than $1 million in unrestricted grants
Arts Capital Atlanta, a coalition of the region's arts organizations and funders, will split its first pooled fund among every applicant found eligible. It expects awards of about $2,000 to $5,000 each, and applications close Oct. 29.
Atlanta. Nonprofit arts organizations in the 11 counties of metro Atlanta can apply from Oct. 1 to Oct. 29 for a share of more than $1 million in unrestricted grants, the first money Arts Capital Atlanta will distribute from its pooled fund. The coalition announced it in mid-September; SaportaReport reported it on Sept. 16.
Arts Capital Atlanta, a coalition of arts leaders and funders that has met since March 2023, says it works on behalf of more than 200 organizations in the region. It operates under the 501(c)(3) status of the Atlanta Intown Theatre Partnership, and its fund is held at the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia. Its funders include the Zeist Foundation, The Imlay Foundation and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.
Every eligible group gets a share
The fund is not a competition. Applications are checked only against the published requirements, with no narrative proposal and no judgment of writing or artistic merit. Staff review each one first. Questions of interpretation go to a committee of arts organizations and funders, in which arts nonprofits hold a supermajority, and it recommends the final pool of eligible applicants to the board.
Award amounts will be set once that pool is known. As many as 200 organizations may be eligible, the coalition says, and it expects unrestricted awards of about $2,000 to $5,000, which it aims to pay by the end of 2026.
Who may apply
An applicant must be an independent 501(c)(3) organization or work under an established fiscal sponsorship, have operated continuously for at least three years, have the arts as its primary mission and present arts programs to the public. It must be headquartered in and primarily serve Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry or Rockdale County, and spend between $5,000 and $15 million a year on operations. Subsidiaries of other bodies may not apply, nor may culinary, fashion, historic preservation or humanities groups, among others.
Applicants report two years of revenue and expenses and upload a financial document such as an audit, a Form 990 or year-end statements signed by the executive director and board treasurer; a group that files only the 990-N postcard must send the signed statements. Recipients agree to keep a profile current, answer an annual benchmarking survey and respond to the coalition's advocacy alerts as appropriate. A virtual open house is set for Oct. 8.
The coalition puts public arts funding in metro Atlanta at about $1.96 a person, against a national average of about $5.44, a gap it values at roughly $18 million a year. Half the region's arts nonprofits have budgets under $150,000, it says. It calls the fund a pilot that will shape later rounds.
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