Give for Greatness Grants

The Give for Greatness grant provides $2,000 capacity building grants to micro and small nonprofit arts and cultural organizations located in the New York State counties of Erie, Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, and Niagara, and the Native nations that share this geography.

What is Capacity Building?

Capacity Building is an investment in the effectiveness and sustainability of a nonprofit. It strengthens a nonprofit’s ability to fulfill its mission by creating balance and alignment among its programs, management, governance, finances, and other structures, and enhances their ability to have a positive impact on their community.

The goal of this fund is to strengthen established arts organizations and support their efforts to grow, expand, or improve their work.

Thanks to our sponsors and supporters, we have a total of $30,000 to award in 2024.

Give for Greatness supporters

Fund for the Arts
Lawyers for the Arts
The Marilyn Gohr McTaggart Reveal Fund at the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo

Visit our Sponsorships page to learn how you can contribute to greatness!

Submission Deadlines

Applications Open	Monday, September 16, 2024
Deadline for Applications	Friday, November 15, 2024 at 11:59 PM
Funding Announcements	Mid-December 2024

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ELIGIBILITY

The Give for Greatness grants provide $2,000 in capacity building support to micro and small arts or culture focused nonprofit organizations across Western New York.

Eligibility Criteria

Has arts or cultural activity and programming as primary purpose and mission;
Has 501c3 or NYS CHAR 500 status;
Is located in the New York State counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, or Niagara, or the Native nations that share this geography; and
Has a current operating budget of under $300,000.

Examples of eligible requests

Hiring consultants or temporary staff for specific activities, such as strategic planning, board development, fund development, etc.
Updating your organization’s legal documents or required annual filings
Training for your board or staff
Updating or purchasing new software or programs
Updating your website or promotional materials
Purchasing new computers or other equipment
and more.

Ineligible Requests

General operating support
Programmatic, event, or project support
Projects that are social service focused, recreational, rehabilitative, or therapeutic in nature.
Fundraising events
Capital projects
Startup or contingency funds, or increasing profits
Paying off debt or filling a deficit

Descargue las pautas de subvención y elegibilidad en español haciendo clic en el botón a continuación.

Pautas y Elegibilidad

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Applicants are asked to tell us how they will use the funding to make their day to day operations easier and more effective for long term sustainability. We want to help strengthen your internal operations, so you can do more mission-driven work for the community.

In addition to a brief organization overview, this application will ask three (3) primary questions.

Application Narrative Questions

List your organization’s mission, vision, and programs
Briefly describe the primary community or audience you serve
Explain how you will use these funds to build your capacity

We include two optional sections to upload attachments that support your request. This can be current strategic or business plans, annual reports, marketing materials. photos of your work, price quotes, or more. You should provide detailed price quotes or tentative agreements whenever possible to show that you did research on the cost of whatever task you are requesting funding to support.

All applications are to be completed through our online grants portal.

The button below allows you to preview the application, set up an account in the grants portal, and complete the application.

Preview or Complete the Application