Grant Amounts, Cost Share, and Matching Funds

Grants range from $10,000 to $100,000.

Designated local arts agencies eligible to subgrant may request from $30,000 to $150,000 for subgranting in the Local Arts Agencies discipline. Additional eligibility, documentation, and reporting requirements for subgranting applications are detailed in the Local Arts Agencies section of the guidelines.

Our grants cannot exceed 50% of the total cost of the project. All grants require a nonfederal cost share/match of at least 1 to 1. For example, if an organization receives a $10,000 grant, the total eligible project costs must be at least $20,000 and the organization must provide at least $10,000 toward the project from nonfederal sources.

In developing an application, we urge all applicants to consider the level of recent awards and to request a realistic grant amount. Applicants should review the lists of grants on our website to see recent grant award levels and project types. In the past few years, a majority of the agency's grants have been for amounts less than $25,000.

Applicants whose grants are recommended for less than the amount that is requested will have the opportunity to revise the project budget to reflect any necessary changes to the project, based on the recommended funding amount.

We reserve the right to limit support of a project to a particular portion(s) or cost(s).

Period of Performance

Our support of a project (i.e., “Earliest Start Date for Proposed Project”) can begin no sooner than:

• January 1, 2024 (for applicants at the February 9 deadline), or
• June 1, 2024 (for applicants at the July 6 deadline).

Grants awarded under these guidelines generally may cover a period of performance of up to two years. The two-year period is intended to allow an applicant time to plan, execute, and close out its project, not to repeat a one-year project for a second year.

Any planning costs that are included as part of the project must be incurred during the established period of performance. No pre-award costs are allowable in the Project Budget.

Project costs that are incurred before the "Earliest Start Date for Proposed Project" will be removed from the Project Budget.

A grantee may not receive more than one NEA grant for the same activities during the same period of performance.