Apply for Arts Grants Fund – Canada

Deadline: 17-Sep-21

The Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation is seeking applications for its Arts Grants Fund to assist small to medium sized arts organizations and collectives as they responded to the increased costs and/or revenue loss due to the pandemic.

KWCF made the decision to continue an arts-focused grants stream based on earlier indicators of the impact of this fund, the ongoing challenges that local arts organizations face linked to the pandemic, and overall needs of the sector.

This fund will once again reinforce KWCF’s approach to encouraging self-led activities. A volunteer committee, comprised of people from the arts community across Waterloo Region, have developed the granting guidelines and application, and will be reviewing applications and recommending funding allocations.

Funding Information

KWCF’s Arts Grants Fund will provide $220,000 to artists and arts organizations in Waterloo Region.

$220,000 in grant dollars available includes $75,000 in funding provided by the City of Kitchener, that is partnering on this initiative to support small and mid-sized arts organizations and collectives across Waterloo Region recover from the impacts of COVID-19
$15,000 of the granting dollars available have already been allocated by the Arts Grants Committee to Pat the Dog Theatre Creation to be distributed as part of their Microgrant Program for individual artists across Waterloo Region. This initiative is in collaboration with the City of Waterloo who have granted $20,000 for the 2021 Microgrants, ensuring a total allocation of $35,000 is available for the 2021 program from which Waterloo Region artists from all artistic disciplines may apply.

Eligibility Criteria

Small or medium sized arts organizations or collectives. For purposes of this funding:
- For organizations formed prior to 2020, the total annual revenue of your organization financial year that concluded in 2019 did not exceed $500,000.
- For organizations formed in in 2020 or later, your budget did not exceed $500,000 in 2020.
Your organization/collective is based in Waterloo Region, and has been providing services and/or programming to people in Waterloo Region (Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot, Woolwich, North Dumfries)
Due to the amount of funding available, only one application per organization will be considered, and partial funding may be granted.
Your organization is:
- A registered charity or qualified done
- Partnering with one of those so they can provide them with a grant on your behalf. If you plan to partner with another organization to receive funding, they would be your organization or collective’s “fiscal sponsor” for this grant. If you want more information about how this works – contact them, they can help. Or you can find information about qualified donees, fiscal sponsors and/or download the fiscal sponsor.
They will give priority to funding organizations/collectives that value and embody the concept “nothing about them, without them” within your organizational structure and programming. ( For example: how are the people you are seeking to serve or provide programming for included in decision making, delivery and/or measurement of your initiatives?)
Preference will be given to applications that can demonstrate the impact of the funds that will be received. Things to consider are:
- How will their community benefit from this funding
- How many people will it support and how will they be supported?
- How will this funding help your organization recover or continue your activities that were impacted by COVID-19?