Overview

The City of Charlotte and the Arts and Culture Advisory Board are accepting grant requests up to $50,000 from local artists and arts and culture groups to support near-term projects and initiatives.

Requests will be accepted on a rolling basis, until roughly $400,000 has been allocated, or until the advisory board evaluates the program’s progress in December — whichever comes first.

The grants made through the Opportunity Fund, which will support projects that fall outside existing grant cycles or structures and arise during the current fiscal year 2023 (July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023). The Opportunity Fund is a portion of the Infusion Fund, which is a partnership of the city, Foundation For The Carolinas and private donors to support local arts and culture for three years.

Eligibility 

Nonprofits, and artists and creative groups with a nonprofit fiscal agent or sponsor, that are located in Charlotte or Mecklenburg County can request dollars through the Opportunity Fund. Grants are restricted to projects, programs and initiatives that:

• Take place primarily in Charlotte or Mecklenburg County or benefit the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area. 
• Begin by June 30, 2023, and conclude by June 30, 2024.
• Do not require multiyear or unrestricted funding from the Infusion Fund.
• Have not received prior support through the Opportunity Fund.

An organization that receives annual operating funds from the Infusion Fund (and previously from the Arts & Science Council) is only eligible for an Opportunity Fund grant if its project is done in collaboration with local artists or creative nonprofits or groups.

Examples of eligible projects and funding needs include: 

• Artistic and cultural experiences.
• Programming and collaborations.
• Organizational and technical support.
• Facility and infrastructure costs.
• Permitting costs.
• Advertising and marketing.  
• Research and reporting.
• Personnel and training costs.
• Membership fees.

In the previous fiscal year 2022, the Opportunity Fund supported the “I Am Queen Charlotte” project and one Charlotte organization's participation in the Southern Cultural Treasures program by South Arts.

Grant Request and Evaluation Process

An applicant should complete the letter of intent form below to request funding.

Staff, led by Priya Sircar, the city’s arts and culture officer, will review letters of intent on a rolling basis. Applicants that meet the eligibility requirements and whose projects align with the guidelines of the Opportunity Fund will be invited to submit a full proposal with a project budget using a provided form. Staff will submit these proposals to a small group of advisory board members for review. That group will recommend vetted proposals to the full Arts and Culture Advisory Board. The full board will consider the recommendations and vote to award any grants.

Among the factors board members will consider when evaluating requests and making allocations are:

• Funding constraints.
• Whether a grant request is appropriate to the project’s overall budget.
• How the project might contribute to the ongoing cultural planning process and the Charlotte Arts and Culture Plan in development to that will determine how resources and funding can sustain and grow the local creative sector. 
• The project’s feasibility.
• For collaboration projects, whether collaborators — especially artists and small organizations — are compensated fairly by the lead organization or lead artist.

Grantees are not guaranteed the full amount of funding they request. Foundation For The Carolinas will administer the grants, as it does for the rest of the Infusion Fund.

At the conclusion of the project or at the end of the one-year grant period, whichever comes first, grantees will be required to submit a brief report to city staff. The report should address how the funding made the project possible, key learnings from the project and any conditions that affected it, and any future plans for the project.

In 500 words or less, describe your project, program or initiative. Please include:

• How the project aligns with the city’s guiding principles for arts and culture planning and Infusion Fund investments
• Why it is born of the moment or created in response to timely situations.
• How the project is open to the public and/or focuses on expanding the public’s access to arts and culture. 
• Why it falls outside established or existing grant structures, or why it requires the support of this funding in particular.
• Challenges and conditions the grant funding may help address.
• Whether the project requires sustained or open-ended funding via general operating or unrestricted funds.
• What other funding, or financial or in-kind resources, if any, are being leveraged for this project.
• How the project can inform the development and implementation of the Charlotte Arts and Culture Plan. (Optional)