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New Operating Grants for Organizations Available

Sara Glidden, Program Manager

Multi-year, unrestricted funding for nonprofit organizations that enrich Massachusetts’ cultural life

photo of a large miniature model of the internal, historic workings of a mill building, with young people looking in from both the left and right sides on the exhibit's case
Young people examine an exhibit at the Tsongas Industrial History Center. Photo by Meg Moore/Megpix, courtesy of Tsongas Industrial History Center.

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 Operating Grants for Organizations, which we hope will advance creativity throughout the Commonwealth.

This new program offers multi-year, unrestricted operating grants to nonprofit cultural organizations and cultural affiliates that enrich cultural life across the Commonwealth.

Through Operating Grants, 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 Operating Grants amount will be $6,000 in FY25, which begins on July 1, 2024. Final awards will be determined after applications have been submitted and are dependent upon the amount of funding available for the Operating Grants for Organizations program, based on the Agency’s FY25 state budget appropriation, the governing Council’s approved FY25 spending plan, and the number of applicants received. Grants will be awarded for one year and are renewable annually for up to five 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, and the Cultural Sector Recovery Grants for Organizations. 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 Mass Cultural Council’s values expressed in our FY24-26 strategic plan.

The application deadline is June 13, 2024 at 11:59pm (ET). Program guidelines and FAQs are now available.

Register for an information session on March 20, 2024. (A recording of this session will be available online.)

Office hours are available from late March through early June.

Read the Program Guidelines


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