Supporting Work at the Intersection of Arts, Education,
Healing and Social Justice
Organization Grants
We Support Philadelphia Arts Organizations
“As our relationships with our long term program partners deepen, we learn that collaboration yields consistently positive results. We are fortunate to be able to meet the diverse needs of our participants, and create long-term meaningful partnerships that have the capacity to positively change communities.”
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The Bartol Foundation makes grants to Philadelphia arts organizations and/or projects that focus on arts education programs by and for the communities they serve through:
Strong arts education teaching practices (in any art form) that provide in-depth, hands-on creative experiences and supportive spaces for your participants (of any age);
Curriculum and content that is relevant to and respectful of your participants’ cultures and identities; and,
An alignment between the demographics of the board|staff|teaching artists of your organization and the people you are engaging to ensure that you understand the needs and perspective of your community.
Plan ahead for our May 1, 2025 deadline.
The 2024 deadline has passed but you can use this information to prepare an application for May 1, 2025.
Our goal is to support equitable access to creative art-making experiences in deep, relevant and joyful ways. Bartol Foundation grants are specifically directed to support work by and for communities that have been historically under-resourced due to racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, ableism, and other systems of oppression. We see and support the wealth of arts and arts educators who live within these communities.
Note that we support programs for all people, not just young people, as long as they are actively involved in the creative and artistic process. We do not support one-time or short-term presentations, performances, exhibitions or programs. If you are unsure if your program is a fit, please email us before setting up a site visit.
In order to be considered for a Bartol Foundation grant, you must meet our eligibility requirements and request a site visit. A site visit must be completed before you submit your application.
STEP 1
Determine your Eligibility
To be eligible to apply for a grant from the Bartol Foundation, you MUST be all three of the following:
- A non-profit organization with a current 501(c)(3) status or have an affiliation with a nonprofit fiscal sponsor.
- Presenting programs focused on community-based, in-depth arts education.
- Presenting programs within the City of Philadelphia.
Unfortunately, you are not eligible if you do/are any of the following:
- Presenting programs outside of the City of Philadelphia
- Located outside of the five-county Philadelphia area
- Capital requests
- Schools (although a cultural organization may apply for a program in schools)
- Presenting programs with teaching artists who are unpaid.
- Presenting one-time events or festivals
- Have an operating budget over $1.0 million based on total organizational expenses from your last completed fiscal year. This includes only the current portion of any multi-year grants and does not include in-kind contributions or capital grants. If you are unsure if you are eligible, please get in touch with us at bfbrandt@bartol.org
- Have received grants from the Bartol Foundation for four consecutive years. If so, you must take a year off before applying again.
- Summer programs
- An individual although an individual may apply for our Teaching Artist Micro-Grants.
If you are eligible, move to step 2, Scheduling a Site Visit.
STEP 2
Schedule your Site Visit
After you have determined that you are an eligible non-profit, the next is to schedule a site visit with our Executive Director or a member of our Board, so we can see your work in action. We will be offering both in-person and virtual site visits.
We appreciate the chance to make site visits early in the year which gives us more flexibility in meeting your scheduling request. Site visits requests get busier in the spring as we approach the deadline so ask early!
Submit your request form by Thursday, April 3, 2025 and the site visit must take place by Thursday, April 24, 2025.
- Is the site visit mandatory? Yes! We want to hear how you are doing and make sure your proposal would be eligible for funding. To make these site visits easiest for you, we are offering both in-person and virtual visits. There may be limited availability for any given date for an in-person visit, so please schedule early.
- How we will use your site visit? We will use this as a check-in to help you determine if your program is eligible and could make a strong case for funding. It is also your chance to tell us more about your program and ask us questions about your application.
- How do I schedule my site visit? Schedule your site visit by completing the Request Form here.
- Is there a deadline? Yes! You must request your site visit using the Request Form by Thursday, April 3, 2025 and the visit must be completed by Thursday April 24, 2025. Again, you are encouraged to schedule as soon as you have a program for us to see!
STEP 3
Complete your Application
The Application for the May 1, 2025 deadline will be available in March 2025.
Once you have determined your eligibility and we have come for a site visit to your organization, you may submit your grant application.
Applications are accepted through an online platform called Submittable. We will only accept paper applications from organizations that do not have the capacity to submit online (See #4 below.)
Note that our application includes questions about the specific demographics of your board, staff, teaching artists and community. Make sure to view these questions early so you have time to gather your information prior to the deadline. This information is part of the grant selection process so do your best to provide this information with us, even if you need to estimate.
We strongly suggest that you log on to the online application to become familiar with the platform and the application questions as soon as it is available. Here are some tips.
- Submittable allows you to create an account and save your work as you go. You can work on the application, log off, and then log back in to continue to work. If multiple people are working on the application at the same time, make sure not to auto-save over each other’s work.
- Our application questions are designed to be suited to an online format. You can log on to see the entire application and plan your responses. As always, it is good to create your application in a word document and then paste your responses into the online application. You can download the application in Word in English here. You can download the application in Word in Spanish here.
- As you work on the application, feel free to email if something isn’t working right or if you are unclear about a question. We will do our best to fix any glitches or clarify anything that is unclear.
- If your organization does not have the capacity to complete an application online, please get in touch with us right away so we can make alternate arrangements. You must contact us by Wednesday, April 17 at the latest if you are not able to complete an online application. Your application will still be due in hard copy by May 1, 2025 at 5:00 pm.
Please don’t wait until the last minute to submit your application. You can access technical support to set up your account for Submittable at support@submittable.com. And here is an article if you are new to using Submittable.
You may complete your application in English or Spanish.
The online application will be available in March 2025.