Power of Culture Blog
Ensuring Accessibility to the Cultural Facilities Fund
This technical change to the statute seeks to ensure CFF can invest in the state of good repair of all eligible municipal, nonprofit, and tribal cultural facilities
Sara Glidden, Program Manager
Mass Cultural Council believes that creativity is a vital part of a thriving society, and that cultural organizations are a key component of a vibrant creative sector. We are proud to announce our FY26 application cycle of Operating Grants for Organizations. This program offers multi-year, unrestricted operating grants to nonprofit cultural organizations and cultural affiliates that enrich cultural life across the Commonwealth.
Through Operating Grants for Organizations, we aim to support cultural organizations that celebrate, preserve, and inspire creativity, and use the arts, humanities, and/or interpretive sciences to support transformational change and strengthen communities.
Mass Cultural Council anticipates the minimum grant amount in FY26 will be $6,000. Final awards will be determined after applications have been submitted and are dependent upon the amount of funding available, based on the Agency’s FY26 state budget appropriation, the governing Council’s approved FY26 spending plan, and the number of applicants received. Grants will be awarded for one year and are renewable annually for up to four years.
Operating Grants for Organizations is our primary funding program to support cultural organizations. It incorporates aspects of past Mass Cultural Council programs for organizations, including the Cultural Investment Portfolio, which is being phased out. The program was designed following an evaluation of our funding for cultural organizations, and in response to the Agency’s Racial Equity Plan, and is strongly linked to the Agency’s values expressed in our FY24-26 strategic plan.
The application deadline is April 17, 2025 at 11:59pm (ET). Program guidelines and FAQs are now available.
Register for an information session on February 25, 2025. Recordings of this session will be available online in English and in Spanish.
Office hours will be posted in late February and will run through March.
