The Mark Duke Biddle Foundation Arts Grant Program

Deadline: 15-Jun-21

The Mark Duke Biddle Foundation is seeking applications for its Arts Grant Program to support arts organizations, artists, and K-12 education in the Triangle region of North Carolina.

The foundation focuses on projects in which their modest grants can make a significant difference. In addition, MDBF supports Duke University, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and three churches, all institutions important to her family.

The arts are essential to strong, vibrant communities. A dynamic cultural sector is a catalyst for growth, attracting and retaining businesses and visitors.

They strengthen neighborhoods and communities by preserving the culture and memories of specific places and have a positive impact on health and well-being.

The arts provide spaces to allow people from different backgrounds to engage with one another and opportunities to build community. Perhaps most importantly, they offer personal enjoyment to individuals, groups, and families, and give voice to the human condition.

Funding Goals

support cultural organizations that demonstrate artistic excellence and elevate the profile of the Triangle’s arts scenes, both locally and nationally;
support new, emerging, or grassroots cultural organizations that document, preserve, and/or present the values, spirit, and diversity of the Triangle’s cultural community; AND/OR
support arts-focused organizations that work directly with artists to nurture the current and next generations of artists, deepen and expand talent, develop professional and business skills, create new works.

Funding Information

About 57% of MDBF Arts grants go to organizations with budgets less than $300,000 and 26% go to organizations with operating budgets between $300,000-$1,000,000, while about 17% organizations with operating budgets greater than $1,000,000.

Eligibility Criteria

Beginning in 2021, MDBF is shifting most of its grantmaking from project-based support to operating support for organizations that align with their Arts Grant Program funding goals. MDBF offers two grant types described below that are awarded through an open and competitive grant process. There are separate and distinct eligibility and application processes for these grants.
- Operating Support Grant
  - They offer a two-year grant of $10,000 each year for a total grant of $20,000. These grants will be made to organizations with which MDBF has an existing funding relationship, defined as having had at least one grant between 2011-2020. They anticipate making 10 two-year grants.
  - Eligibility for 2-year Operating Support grants
    - Grants are made to arts organizations. Arts education programs are funded under the K-12 Education grant program.
    - Applicant must have a current 501c3 status or have a fiscal sponsor.
    - The applying organization must be located in and primary programming must take place in Chatham, Durham, Orange, or Wake Counties, North Carolina.
    - Organization’s mission, goals, and programming directly relate to MDBF’s funding goals.
    - Organizations must have annual operating expenses less than $5 million (fiscal sponsors are exempt from this stipulation). Schools, units, and departments within larger organizations, such as universities, are not eligible even if their budgets are less than $5 million.
    - Organizations with smaller operating budgets are eligible. Have evidence of impact or success of primary programming/mission
    - Organizations may have only one active MDBF grant at a time.
    - Individual artists’ projects are not eligible for support. Fiscal sponsorships of individual projects are not accepted.
  - Evaluation criteria for 2-year Grants
    - Alignment of the organization’s arts mission and programming with MDBF’s funding program goals
    - Organization’s track record of delivering programming that aligns with funding program goals
    - Impact and benefit of programming to one or more counties in the Triangle
    - A demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion—including accessibility—in its governance, staffing/artists, audiences, and programming
    - A demonstrated commitment to collaborate with other organizations
    - Organization has the capacity to achieve their goals: staffing levels and experiences (including volunteers), board governance, and financial resources
- Opportunity Grant
  - They offer a one-year $5,000 Opportunity Grant targeted to organizations that have never received a grant from MDBF or to those that haven’t received a grant since 2010. This grant provides an opportunity for MDBF to get to know new organizations. They anticipate making 5 one-year grants.
  - Eligibility for 1-year Opportunity Grants:
    - Grants are made to arts organizations.
    - Applicant must have a current 501c3 status or have a fiscal sponsor.
    - The applying organization must be located in and primary programming must take place in Chatham, Durham, Orange, or Wake Counties, North Carolina.
    - Organization’s mission, goals, and programming directly relate to MDBF’s funding goals.
    - These grants will be made to organizations that have never received a grant from MDBF or have not received a grant in the previous 10 years.
    - Preference given to organizations with operating budgets under $300,000.
    - Organizations must have annual operating expenses under $1 million (fiscal sponsors are exempt from this stipulation).
    - MDBF has a history of supporting start-up nonprofits and those that are relatively early in their life cycles. They are eligible to apply.
    - Individual artists’ projects are not eligible for support. Fiscal sponsorships of individual projects are not accepted.
  - Evaluation criteria for 1-year Grants
    - Alignment of the organization’s arts mission and programming with MDBF’s funding program goals
    - Impact and benefit of programming to one or more counties in the Triangle
    - A demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion—including accessibility—in its governance, staffing/artists, audiences, and programming
    - Organization’s capacity to achieve their goals: staffing levels and experiences (including volunteers), board governance, and financial resources