The Give for Greatness grants provide $2,000 in capacity building support to micro and small arts or culture focused nonprofit organizations across Western New York.

Eligibility Criteria

• Has arts or cultural activity and programming as primary purpose and mission;
• Has 501c3 or NYS CHAR 500 status;
• Is located in the New York State counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, or Niagara, or the Native nations that share this geography; and
• Has a current operating budget of under $500,000.

Examples of eligible requests

• Hiring consultants or temporary staff for specific activities, such as strategic planning, board development, fund development, etc.
• Updating your organization’s legal documents or required annual filings
• Training for your board or staff
• Updating or purchasing new software or programs
• Updating your website or completing an organizational rebrand
• Purchasing new computers or other small equipment
• and more.

Ineligible Requests

• Support of regular or ongoing operations
• Programmatic, event, or project support
• Projects that are social service focused, recreational, rehabilitative, or therapeutic in nature
• Fundraising events
• Capital projects
• Startup or contingency funds, or increasing profits
• Paying off debt or filling a deficit

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Applicants are asked to tell us how they will use the funding to enhance their day to day operations and strengthen their organization for long term sustainability. Requests should not include support for ongoing operations, programs or events, or capital projects.

In an effort to help people better understand what types of projects are eligible for this funding, we broke up the most common requests into three (3) categories:

• Technology: Examples include small equipment such as computers, monitors, cameras, or tablets, or new software licenses and subscriptions.
• Governance: Examples include board training, strategic planning, updating legal documents, succession planning.
• Administrative Systems: Examples include fund development, staff training, website upgrades, organizational rebranding, or temporary project-based support.

In addition to a brief organization overview, this application will ask three (3) primary questions.

Application Narrative Questions

• List your organization’s mission and vision, and outline your mission-driven activities and programs
• Describe the primary community or audience your organization services
• Explain how you plan to use these funds to build your internal capacity.

We also require at least one attachment that backs up your request. This can be a price quote, invoice, agreement, budget, scope of work, or some other detail that demonstrates your research on and preparedness for this project. There is an additional optional space for other attachments related to your request that could include current strategic or business plans, annual reports, marketing materials, or more. 

All applications are to be completed through our online grants portal. 

The button below allows you to preview the application, set up an account in the grants portal, and complete the application.