New York City’s world-leading arts sector plays a critical role in the city’s life, enriching its spirit, attracting emerging and established artists from around the world, and creating significant economic activity and benefits. The Foundation funds a broad variety of professional performing arts organizations, as well as a limited number of visual arts groups. Its primary criteria are excellence, innovation, and intellectual relevance. Within those criteria, it values creative diversity without cultural boundaries. The Foundation seeks to support generative artistry—the composers, playwrights, and choreographers creating new work and the musicians, actors, dancers, and artist-driven companies that bring their work to life. The Core Fund Arts Program supports a wide range of organizations from small groups focused on the work of a single artist, to larger producing entities and museums, as well as groups providing the infrastructure to sustain the creative life, which is the focus of the project-based Rosin Fund Arts Program.
Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater
The Foundation emphasizes the provision of general operating support, believing that strong artistic leaders are empowered with flexible funding.
Current Grantees
Current Core and Rosin Fund grantees can submit their interim and final reports as well as renewal proposals through the online portal.
Core Fund: New Requests
New requests for support from the Scherman Foundation’s Core Fund must be made by first submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI) through the Foundation’s online application system. We encourage you to thoroughly review the funding guidelines and submission time frames for each program area, as well as our current list of grantees before submitting your request. To review our LOI form before creating an account, please follow this link.
1. Letters of Intent
The Foundation will accept new LOIs on a rolling basis throughout the year via the online application system. Select applicants will then be invited to submit a full proposal online (see below for proposal description) to be considered at one of the Foundation’s quarterly (March, June, September, and November) Board of Directors meetings.
Instructions for LOI Submission
You may begin the online application process for either fund by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page labeled “Apply.” You will be redirected to a site where you will create an account using a valid email address and password. You will receive an email confirming that you created an account. Please keep a record of your login information, as you will need it to access your account in the future.
Please note when submitting a new Letter of Intent:
- You must answer all questions highlighted with an asterisk. You will be unable to submit your LOI if you do not answer these questions.
- You can save and continue your LOI at any time, by clicking the button labeled “SAVE AS DRAFT.”
- Once you have completed your application, click the “SUBMIT FORM” button to submit the LOI to the Foundation.
LOIs for the Core Fund should be no more than three pages and include the following information:
- Description of the organization’s mission and work
- A brief yet compelling summary of the purpose of the request and activities to be supported
Please attach the following documents to complete the LOI:
- The current annual organizational budget; if applicable, a total project budget
- Present sources of support including the amounts and whether received, committed, or projected/pending
- Current Board of Directors list with names, board positions, and affiliations
- Biographies of senior leadership or key personnel
- IRS 501(c)(3) Tax Determination Letter
All LOIs will receive an automatic verification of submission via email. Applicants will generally be advised within eight weeks if an LOI has been declined or invited to submit a full proposal for consideration.
2. Full Proposals
If invited to apply, your organization will be sent an electronic invitation to submit a full proposal with specific instructions for the Core Fund.
If the Foundation invites the submission of a full proposal for the Core Fund, the proposal narrative should be no more than 10 pages and should include the following information:
- Executive Summary of Proposal
- Background of the organization, including accomplishments and qualifications, and an explanation of why the organization is the right one to do proposed work
- Description of your organizational or project goals
- Strategies to be used to meet those goals with critical 1-year milestones (if a multi-year grant is requested)
- A plan for evaluating the work (including criteria for success)
Financial information will include:
- If appropriate, a project budget for each fiscal year for which support is requested
- An organizational budget for the current fiscal year for which support is requested
- The most recent audited financial statement with the auditor’s management letter, if one was provided.
- If a gap, between audited statement and current fiscal year, an actual organizational income and expenses for gap year
- If applicable, an actual project income and expenses for the past two years
- Percentage of Board giving and policy on involvement
APPLY
Rosin Fund: New Requests
New requests for support from the Scherman Foundation’s Rosin Fund must be made by first submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI) through the Foundation’s online application system. We encourage you to thoroughly review the funding guidelines and submission time frames for each program area, as well as our current list of grantees before submitting your request.
1. Letters of Intent
The Rosin Fund is currently accepting letters of intent from a limited number of innovative and high-impact projects in the areas of Arts and Strengthening New York Communities for multi-year funding in 2019. Please visit this page to view submission deadlines and continue below for guidelines.
Instructions for LOI Submission
You may begin the online application process for either fund by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page labeled “Apply.” You will be redirected to a site where you will create an account using a valid email address and password. You will receive an email confirming that you created an account. Please keep a record of your login information, as you will need it to access your account in the future.
Please note when submitting a new Letter of Intent:
- You must answer all questions highlighted with an asterisk. You will be unable to submit your LOI if you do not answer these questions.
- You can save and continue your LOI at any time, by clicking the button labeled “SAVE AS DRAFT.”
- Once you have completed your application, click the “SUBMIT FORM” button to submit the LOI to the Foundation.
LOIs for the Rosin Fund should be no more than three pages and include the following information:
- Description of the organization’s mission and work
- A brief yet compelling summary of the purpose of the request and activities to be supported
Please attach the following documents to complete the LOI:
- The current annual organizational budget; if applicable, a total project budget
- Present sources of support including the amounts and whether received, committed or projected/pending
- Current Board of Directors list with names, board positions, and affiliations
- Biographies of senior leadership or key personnel
- IRS 501(c)(3) Tax Determination Letter
All LOIs will receive an automatic verification of submission via email.
2. Full Proposals
If the Foundation invites the submission of a full proposal for the Rosin Fund, the proposal narrative should be no more than 10-15 pages and should include the following information:
- Executive Summary of Proposal
- Description of your project goals
- Strategies to be used to meet those goals with critical 1-year milestones
- A plan for evaluating the work, including criteria for success
- Background of the organization, including accomplishments and qualifications, and an explanation of why the organization is the right one to do proposed work
Financial information will include:
- If appropriate, a project budget for each fiscal year for which support is requested
- An organizational budget for the current fiscal year for which support is requested
- The most recent audited financial statement with the auditor’s management letter, if one was provided
- If a gap between audited statement and current fiscal year, an actual organizational income and expenses for gap year
- If applicable, an actual project income and expenses for the past two years
- Percentage of Board giving and policy on involvement of applying organization
Please note the Foundation recognizes that some of proposal elements described above may not apply to organizations seeking funding. The proposal description above is a generalized overview to offer applicants insight into proposal process. However, the programs within each fund may have unique questions and requirements.
APPLY
http://scherman.org/how-to-apply-for-a-grant/
212-832-3086
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