Artist Resources, Grants for Artists, Creative Projects, Making Money for Artists

When you think about your biggest supporters, who comes to mind? It’s probably not the foundation that gave you a grant, and it’s probably not members of your online community who have given you donations in the past. While you’re absolutely grateful to all of them, they aren’t who you think of as your biggest supporters. The faces you conjure up are most likely going to be members of your family and your closest friends. The reasons are obvious: they believe in you! They’ve got your back! They’ll do anything to support your passion. So it begs the question: why haven’t you asked your biggest supporters for donations?

If you’ve been to a concert recently, you probably sacrificed your first born to get a spot in the nosebleeds and STILL had a great time. Concerts generally offer different levels of experience to accommodate different people and price points — general admission in the back, closer to the stage if you paid a little more, maybe a VIP option that came with a drink ticket and a better view, and then somewhere behind a velvet rope, the kind of access most of us only dream about. Same show. Same artist. But a whole spectrum of ways to feel connected to it.

The emotional side of fundraising is a lot like a video game. Not the fun kind where you're exploring a lush, bountiful world at your own pace — more like the kind where you round a corner and suddenly there are five seemingly unbeatable monsters standing between you and the distant, glowing treasure chest. Your instinct is to either swing wildly and hope for the best (chaos) or close the laptop entirely (also chaos, just quieter and more painful). But here's the thing: you don't have to fight them all at once. Every emotional challenge that comes up around fundraising is its own level, with its own logic, its own weak points. Clear one, then move to the next. That's how you get to the treasure chest (without losing your mind along the way).

Whether you’re new to the big wide world of arts funding or an (understandably) jaded expert, it can be hard to understand why grants exist, who funds them, what you can use them for, where to find them, and how to (hopefully) win one. It breaks our hearts when artists come to us feeling confused, lost, or misled when it comes to grant funding. Let this article be a snarky, shining lighthouse in these unnecessarily murky waters.

Imagine a scientist working on a new, cutting-edge technology. When you picture her, she’s probably working in a research lab or at a university, right? Despite all the shows and movies that suggest otherwise, scientists don’t work in their basements — they work within institutions, because it opens up funding avenues for their projects. It might shock you to hear that similar, tax-exempt funding avenues exist for artists. If a project you’re working on 1) is artistic and 2) has a public benefit, you could use fiscal sponsorship to apply for funding from corporations and foundations, collect tax-deductible donations, and access nonprofit discounts. Let’s get into it.

Whether you’re an individual artist or budding young arts collective, googling “artist grants” will only get you so far, friend. Most of us are aware that grants and other funding opportunities exist, but don’t know where to find them or how to cultivate a sustainable research routine. It takes quite a bit of open-minded foraging, disciplined hunting, and genuine community building to keep your application plate full of real, feasible opportunities, rather than expensive busy work. Like a grizzly bear posting up at a bend in the river in anticipation of salmon season, or filter-feeding barnacles that grab tasty stuff as it floats by, there are plenty of different tools and strategies to choose from when you’re developing your own, personal approach to discovering new funding opportunities.

The best thank you note I got this year was a 16-word email. But before we unpack what made it special, we need to talk…

Funding your project takes a multitude of methods, one of which is applying for grants. Artists apply for grant funding constantly, and it takes great effort to get through the application process. Narratives need to be well-written and concise, budgets must tell a comprehensive financial story of your project, and you’re probably applying for more than one grant application at a time. Given the challenges, it can be tough when you don’t see the results – whether it’s because you haven’t been successful yet or you had one big win but haven’t been able to replicate it. It’s really tough and honestly, it’s probably not your fault.

Every month, Fractured Atlas provides a list of upcoming grants and opportunities for artists and arts-based projects so that you can discover more opportunities to get financial support and other resources for your work. As a fiscal sponsor of over 3,500 artistic projects, we provide access to grants for artists in every discipline.

When you’re fundraising, you’re trying to accomplish something. You might be trying to pay your theater’s rent for the upcoming year, cover pre-production costs on your documentary, or get enough money coming in regularly that you can count on paying your bills through recurring donations. These are all different kinds of goals that you can make for your fundraising campaigns.