These days, you can fund your creative work in a variety of ways—crowdfunding, sustaining donors, grants, and more. But it can be overwhelming to know where to start and which options are the best for your unique needs and goals. One tool that artists can use to maximize the benefit of grants and individual fundraising is matching grants. Our teams work with artists to help you learn more about grants, find grants to apply to, and then apply with greater confidence. Matching grants combine traditional grants and individual fundraising into one funding opportunity that is greater than the sum of its parts. They help organizations who are giving grants make their money go further, and give recipients access to more money than with just a grant or individual fundraising alone. But, they require additional fundraising efforts from the grantee to secure that funding. Let's take a look at how matching grant opportunities work for artists, and how you can determine if they might be right for you.

Singer and songwriter Morgan James recently released Memphis Magnetic, a new soul album and Fractured Atlas fiscally-sponsored project. Although Morgan is based in New York City, Memphis Magnetic was produced exclusively with musicians and studios in Memphis, Tennessee. Morgan has been a member of Fractured Atlas for about a year and shares how she successfully fundraised for and produced her new project.

This is the second of four posts. Each tackles a piece of the elephant that is the recent Fractured Atlas move to a four-person “Chiefs Executive.”

We know that artists are not always budgetarily-inclined. Some try to avoid the whole process and others protest that budgeting inhibits the creative process. But failing to set a budget can lead to your project falling short of the masterpiece you're capable of.

You’ve just signed up for membership to Fractured Atlas and now have questions. Maybe you’re a fiscally-sponsored project who needs our credentials to receive a nonprofit rate discount on a venue ASAP. You quickly submit your request to our support email address and wait for a reply. The rest of the day goes by: you’re wondering if your message was received and if a solution will be provided in enough time. Alas, on the next business day, you receive an email from a Fractured Atlas Program Associate. If you’re wondering what happens from the time you hit ‘send’ and our first response, here’s a quick breakdown of your email’s journey!

This is the first of four posts: post #4 is co-authored with our Board Chair, Russell Willis Taylor. Each tackles a piece of the elephant that is the recent Fractured Atlas move to a four-person “Chiefs Executive.”

Cole Bankston is the creator of "Donnie from Death Row," an autobiographical short film project designed to change the way Americans view prisoners and the prison industrial complex. Cole is a designer and multimedia artist based in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a very new member of Fractured Atlas, having joined this year. His recently launched campaign on Fundraising by Fractured Atlas seeks to raise the funds needed to bring his film to life. Cole shared with us some of his story, inspiration, and the impact that he hopes his project will have on its viewers.

Every month, Fractured Atlas provides a list of upcoming grant opportunities for artists and arts-based projects. As a fiscal sponsor of 4000+ artistic projects, we provide access to grants for artists in every discipline. Are you new to grant-seeking? You should check out our grants webinar. If you're ready to apply (and you aren't already fiscally-sponsored), learn more about our fiscal sponsorship program here. If you are fiscally-sponsored, be sure to review our grant application process. Here are the upcoming opportunities for February 2020.

Theresa Koon is the creator of “Mother of Exiles,” a choral project committed to motivating people to discuss and address the complexities of immigration in America. Theresa is based in Portland, Oregon and became a member of Fractured Atlas last year in her efforts to raise the funding necessary to bring her project to life. She hopes that “Mother of Exiles” will ultimately be performed by choirs around the world and used as an anthem for organizations and campaigns that seek to support asylum seekers.

Andrew Purchin is the founder of The Curious Project, a series of visual art installations designed to confront and explore individuals' political and ideological differences. The project has taken place at various locations and events across the country, including the 2016 Republican and Democratic National Conventions. In 2018 it was installed during the 2020 Santa Cruz County elections and will be in five swing states in the months leading up to this year's presidential election. Andrew is based in Santa Cruz, California and has been a member of Fractured Atlas for four years.