If you’ve already begun an application, you may access My Saved Application.

We have a two-part application process. Part 1 consists of a data-entry component, a narrative and attachments.

After providing basic information about your organization, you’ll be asked to prepare a narrative describing your grant request. You’ll need to create your own document and submit that narrative as an attachment via our online application system.

In addition you’ll be asked to upload several other documents.

If the activity you describe fits one or more of our strategic priorities and our budget, we’ll request additional information. This will constitute Part 2 of the application process. 

Once you start your application, you will have 120 days to complete it.

Select the name of the grant opportunity to begin:

Facility Investments and Building Reserves
Arts and Community Building or Artists' Skills and Resources

Information You’ll Need

When you’re ready to create an online application account, you’ll need your tax identification number. 

In addition to basic information about your organization, you’ll be asked to prepare a narrative. What follows is a description of what applicants will be asked to include in the narritives for each of our open grant opportunities.

Facility Investments and Building Reserves

In no more than five pages, please write a narrative that responds directly to each numbered request:

1. Your mission and the primary programs supporting that mission. 
2. The ways your organization and programs advance the Kresge Foundation's Arts & Culture Program values of community impact, creating opportunity and enhancing access, innovation and institutional transformation.
3. Your organization’s strategic direction, business drivers and overall capitalization strategy, addressing: your approach to operating funds (i.e., ratio of earned and contributed to total budget), working capital, operating reserves, building reserves, and endowment. In addition, please outline your future goals for each of these funds, explain how these goals were determined and describe the plan and timeline for reaching these goals. For definitions and more information, please see Kresge's Capitalization Philosophy and Terms and Guide to Building Reserves.
4. Your plan for resolving any negative unrestricted net assets as demonstrated by the Unrestricted Net Assets Tool, if appropriate, in the context of your overall capitalization strategy. 
5. The type of grant you are requesting (Facilities Investment and Building Reserves or Building Reserves alone), the amount, the way that amount was determined, and whether you are seeking single or multi-year support. Please describe the project, how the grant will be used.
6. Reasons the project is the appropriate next step in assisting your organization fulfill its mission and capitalization strategy, the impact will it have on your organization, its operating budget and facility costs (both overall costs and costs per square foot).
7. Plans for additional fundraising for this project, if applicable, including an overview of your fund-raising campaign and ways the plan supports the long-term financial sustainability of the project.

 In addition, applicants for Facility Investments and Building Reserves will be asked to attach:

• Annual operating budget for your current fiscal year and for any additional years covered by your requested grant period.
• Demographic data sheet – Click to display, then save locally. Complete the entries on the locally saved document, and then upload the final version.
• Current Audit: An audit for your most recently completed fiscal year prepared and certified by a certified public accountant in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or Government Accounting Standards.
• A completed Unrestricted Net Assets Tool for your most recently completed audited fiscal year. (See the Instructions for the Unrestricted Net Assets Tool.)
• A completed Facilities Budget and Campaign Sheet, for organizations applying for a Facility Investments grant.
• Cultural Data Project Report: Applicants based in California, Illinois, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania must submit a copy of a Kresge Foundation Funder Report from the Cultural Data Project. For more information, visit www.culturaldata.org. 

Arts and Community Building and
Artists' Skills and Resources

1. How does your organization and project advance Kresge’s Arts and Culture Program values of community impact, creating opportunity and enhancing access, innovation and institutional transformation.
2. Please summarize your request.
3. Which of the Arts and Culture Program’s focus areas – Arts and Community Building or Artists' Skills and Resources – does your request best fit and articulate why.  

 In addition, applicants for Arts and Community Building and Artists' Skills and Resources will be asked to attach:

• Annual operating budget for your current fiscal year and for any additional years covered by your requested grant period.
• Demographic data sheet – Click to display, then save locally. Complete the entries on the locally saved document, and then upload the final version.
• Current Audit: An audit for your most recently completed fiscal year prepared and certified by a certified public accountant in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or Government Accounting Standards.
• A completed Unrestricted Net Assets Tool for your most recently completed audited fiscal year. (See the Instructions for the Unrestricted Net Assets Tool.)
• Cultural Data Project Report: Applicants based in California, Illinois, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania must submit a copy of a Kresge Foundation Funder Report from the Cultural Data Project. For more information, visit www.culturaldata.org.

File Types

Attachments must be submitted as Adobe Acrobat PDFs, or in Microsoft Word (DOC, DOCX), Microsoft Excel (XLS, XLSX) format. PDFs are preferred.

Other formats cannot be read by reviewers and cannot be accepted.

Reminders

Applications can only be considered if completed in full.

Once you press the “submit” button, you will not be able to retrieve your application to make additional changes.

Tech Specs

Our online system is compatible with industry-standard browsers including Internet Explorer 7 and newer, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 and newer, and Safari 3.2 and newer.

As part of this process, we’ll send you email to confirm receipt of your application, and a follow-up message confirming that your application is under review by a program officer.

If you use a spam filter, you could have trouble receiving these messages. They will come from the address info@kresge.org and/or the domain kresge.org.

Questions

Please contact our Grants Inquiry Coordinator by email or at 248-643-9630.

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Begin Your Application