The Philadelphia Cultural Fund

Grants to fund meaningful cultural and arts experiences for youth.

2012 GUIDELINES 

Overview
The Philadelphia Cultural Fund (PCF) Youth Arts Enrichment project grants support specific programs that use the arts to enrich the lives of young people, aged 5 to 18, in and out of school. A total of $100,000 will be used to make grants up to $25,000. The money for these grants came out of PCF’s 2012 general budget allocation.

The goals of the Youth Arts Enrichments Grants are:

1. To provide high quality arts instruction, training, and participatory experiences which serve those young people most in need, unlikely to be able to access cultural enrichment in their lives in other ways. This includes programs that are working in our most underserved, impoverished communities.
2. To provide consistent arts programming that directly addresses the priorities of reducing youth violence, reducing truancy and drop out rates and increasing the percentage of School District graduation rates and graduates going on to college.
3. To encourage arts and cultural programming as an alternative activity for youth, in after-school, weekend and summer programs.

Special consideration will be given to:

• Programs with a demonstrated track record of previous operation or experience delivering successful similar projects.
• Programs that can demonstrate measurable results from the past and/or have a clear plan for tracking outcomes for the proposed activity.

Eligibility
If you received a grant from PCF in 2011/2012 (this most recent grant cycle) and if you have a track-record of providing good quality arts programs for youth, then you may apply. If you did not receive a grant from PCF in 2011/2012, then you cannot apply. If you received a grant in the New and Emerging category, use a fiscal sponsor, or if your total operating budget is under $50,000 then you cannot apply.

Grants
The total pool of funds is $100,000. Grants will range up to $25,000. The program you are applying for must occur between June 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013. Grant funds may be used for any program expense such as staffing, reasonable overhead (no more than 10%), artistic expenses, materials, etc. Grant funds may not be used for capital expenditures, permanent fixtures, or equipment not directly related to the delivery of the program (ex. a potter’s wheel is eligible for a pottery program but a photocopier is not). There is no matching requirement for this grant. However, you may not get the whole amount you apply for, you may only get partial funding.

Process
A special grant panel will review the applications. PCF will evaluate the applications, but may also use the information from your 2011/2012 general operating grant application. Your standing with PCF will be taken into consideration as part of this application review process.

The application for the Youth Arts Enrichment Grants must be submitted online.    

Timeline and Application Deadline

• February 14, 2012 – Guidelines available
• March 16, 2012 – Applications Due
• April, 2012 – Panel meets
• May 1, 2012 – Grant Awards made