We will accept applications from organizations that meet the following eligibility requirements.
The applicant must:
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- Be incorporated in New Jersey as a 501(c)(3) and serve New Jersey communities
- Have primary programming in one or more New Jersey counties.
- Employ at least one year-round, part-time, paid employee or unpaid year-round part-time person (dedicated volunteer) working a minimum of 20 hours per week in an administrative or a combined administrative/leadership role.
- Have a primary mission focused on arts, arts education, or history.
- Be in operation for a minimum of two years prior to the application.
- Have budget expenditures of less than $5 million.
Priority Criteria: We anticipate the number of requests will exceed the available funds in each round of our grantmaking. We will consider the following aspects of the requests and give priority to:
- Arts, arts education, or history organizations working in and/or for low- to moderate-income communities in South, Central, and Northern New Jersey.
- Organizations most currently and historically affected by systemic injustice.
- Organizations addressing the underrepresentation and incomplete storytelling that has marginalized the creative, historical, and intellectual contributions of some groups including Black, Indigenous, Latinx and other People of Color (BIPOC) in New Jersey.
- Organizations with a demonstrated commitment to equity.
- Organizations with clear evidence of engagement with their community.
The New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund (NJACRF) contributes to the survival and strength of the state’s arts, arts education, cultural, and historical sectors by awarding grants to eligible organizations. The NJACRF provides financial support to help smaller arts, cultural, and historical organizations thrive. Its grantmaking process is conducted through an equity lens.
Final grant award decisions are made by a committee comprised of a group of board members and stakeholders galvanized around the Fund’s mission to ensure the survival and strength of the arts and culture sector. Decisions are guided by a review panel of arts, arts education, history, and philanthropy experts and community stakeholders after a thorough review and follow-up full panel discussion.
The Fund defines a part-time employee as a year-round, paid employee working a minimum of 20 hours per week in an administrative or combined administrative/artistic leadership role. Please note that a part-time, solely artistic employee does not meet this eligibility requirement.
Yes. You can apply again if you have submitted your final report and are a qualifying organization. Please check the NJACRF web page and social media for updates on when the application will be available.
Yes, you may apply again. We recommend that you carefully review the panel review rubric to assess your last application and make adjustments that might increase your score.
Grant decisions are typically made approximately 12 weeks after the application deadline. You can learn about the timeline for grants decisions here.
Application cycles generally open in Spring and Summer. Learn more here.
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