Site Impact Fund (SIF)
The Site Impact Fund was created in 2019 in an effort to bolster the mission of Global Water Dances (GWD): to inspire action and international collaboration for water issues through the universal language of dance. SIF is indeed all about collaboration. Upon the acceptance of a successful application, GWD site leaders receive a mini grant, which will specifically support their collaboration with an education or environmental partner organization or individual, whose mission is aligned with that of GWD. Priority of funding will be given to those applicants of Indigenous Communities, in the Global South, or in need of financial/technical support.
Applications for the Site Impact Fund of 2025 are open! Please read the Call for Proposals: Site Impact Fund (SIF) 2025.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected]
Grants
When looking for funding from grants it is often useful to be Fiscally Sponsored:
Fiscal Sponsorship is when a non-profit organization offers their legal and tax-exempt status to groups or projects engaged in activities related to their organization’s mission. It typically involves a fee-based contractual arrangement between a project and an established non-profit. These fees can be monthly, yearly or based on a percentage of the income they help you bring in.
Fiscal Sponsorship is important because it allows projects or smaller organizations, either LLCs or sole proprietorships, access to grants and other tax deductible funds they would not otherwise be able to apply for or receive.
United States National Fiscal Sponsors:
The Field – https://thefield.org/
Fractured Atlas – https://www.fracturedatlas.org/
Local Fiscal Sponsors:
These can include your local state arts council or a performance venue willing to extend their 501c3 status to you. United States of America examples are:
New York Live Arts – https://newyorklivearts.org/
New York Foundation for the Arts – https://www.nyfa.org/
California Arts Council – http://www.cac.ca.gov/
Texas Commission on the Arts – http://www.arts.texas.gov/
Look at both your local, state and country’s Art Councils. You can also look at The Foundation Center https://foundationcenter.org/ or the Creative Capital journal https://creative-capital.org/journal/ to research residencies, small family foundation and emergency grant opportunities. Your Fiscal Sponsor or Arts Council may have access to an account with them to search their database. There may also be directories of grantors for your area available through arts councils or community groups. Your Fiscal Sponsor may also have a database of potential grants for you to apply to.
Additionally, CMAs (Certified Movement Analysts) site leaders in Europe can contact for European grant options. Email [email protected] for further information.
Residencies
You can also apply for residencies to supplement the production of your work.
http://www.resartis.org/en/ is an international database of residency programs. This website is currently in English, but you can set it to different languages for ease.
Other grant opportunities
Awesome Foundation
Ongoing application process
www.awesomefoundation.org
Open Meadows Foundation
Funds projects led by and benefitting women and girls.
https://sites.google.com/site/openmeadowsfoundation
The Pollination Project
Provides small grants to support projects with a social change vision.
www.thepollinationproject.org
Walmart Community Giving
Funding Amount: $250 – $2,500
http://giving.walmart.com/walmart-foundation/community-grant-program
Algalita and Wayfinder
https://algalita.org/wayfinder-society/educator-mini-grants/
3Arts advocates for and awards funds to women artists, artists of color, and artists with disabilities working in the performing, teaching, and visual arts.
American for the Arts’ funding resources including Federal Guides and AFTA resources such as the pARTnership Movement that provides toolkits to reach business leaders with the message that partnering with the arts can build their competitive advantage.
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation funds a number of initiatives to further understanding of the forces of nature and society with the goal of affecting a better world. It does so by supporting work in Basic Research, education initiatives, digital technologies, economic and quality of life research, and others that cut across a number of fields.
The American Council of Learned Societies provides a number of grants and fellowships. Though focused on inquiry primarily through Humanistic and Social Scientific lenses, ACLS is particularly interested in collaborative and innovative approaches that cut across discipline.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supports grantees within five defined program areas: Higher Education and Scholarship; Scholarly Communications and Information Technology; Art History, Conservation and Museums; Performing Arts; and Conservation and the Environment.
The Emergent Fund focuses on grassroots organizing and power building in Black, Indigenous and people of color communities who are facing injustice based on racial, ethnic, religious and other forms of discrimination.
The Green Foundation primarily focuses on the arts, education, medical and scientific research, and human services.
The Harpo Foundation supports artists who are under recognized by the field. The foundation seeks to stimulate creative inquiry to encourage new modes of thinking about art.
The Henry Luce Foundation seeks to bring important ideas to the center of American life, strengthen international understanding, and foster innovation and leadership in academic, policy, religious, and art communities. This foundation supports a number of programs and offers responsive grants and dissertation awards.
The Kresge Foundation supports cities through eight focus areas including art and culture, social investment practice, and environment.
National Endowment for the Arts Our Town creative placemaking grants program and Grants for Arts Projects program.
The nonprofit Hub provides guidance on how to recruit new donors.
The Rita Allen Foundation supports universities and foundations for science and social innovation and civic engagement.
The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation actively supports the intersections of the Arts with social justice, philanthropy, and innovation.
The Surdna Foundation seeks to foster just and sustainable communities in the United States—communities guided by principles of social justice and distinguished by healthy environments, strong local economies, and thriving cultures. The Thriving Cultures program is based on a belief that communities with robust arts and culture are more cohesive and prosperous, and benefit from the diversity of their residents.
(Compilation by: University of Colorado – Boulder)