General Support Program

The General Support program provides core operating support to arts and cultural organizations of all sizes that have a primary mission to create, produce, or provide arts and cultural programming to enhance the quality of life for Phoenix residents. 

• Support arts and cultural opportunities among residents of all ages through education, outreach programs, and opportunities for personal artistic expression and participation.
• Encourage broad-based, community-wide participation in arts and cultural activities resulting diverse programming that is accessible to all residents.
• Sustain a community of organizations that are responsibly governed and managed, financially sound, and assist organizations that have reached a critical stage in artistic or institutional development by encouraging the identification of internal needs important to the sustainability or growth of the organization.

Feb. 4: ​Guidelines published | Application opens​

Jan. 30 - Mar. 13: One-on-one application consultations with staff

Mar. 23 at 11:59 pm: ​Application deadline. Staff will not be available for questions on Saturday or Sunday (March 22 – 23, 2025).

To be eligible for the General Support program, applicants must meet all the following criteria:

• Have a primary mission of producing or creating arts and culture programming and education for Phoenix residents
  
• Have a minimum prior-year income of $5,000 (i.e., a total of earned income from Phoenix sources only and contributed income from all sources)
• Be in good standing concerning all contract agreements with the City of Phoenix, including filing previous grant final reports
• Must complete and submit a DataArts Cultural Data Profile with three years of financial data (applicants with a prior annual income of $5,000 to $249,999 have the option of submitting completing the provided summary form.)
• Not be an organization that is applying to the Project Support program
• Have existed as an arts and culture organization for the past three years while producing year-round arts and cultural programming within the city of Phoenix. ​​
• Have a business address and administrative offices in the city of Phoenix (no PO BOX) and conducts a majority (i.e. 51% or more) of its programs and services in the city of Phoenix. Applicants that are not a 501(c)3 nonprofit but meet all the other eligibility criteria are eligible if their average annual income from the past three fiscal years is not over $250,000, and they also meet the evaluation criteria below​.

Fiscal Sponsor

Applicants who do not have 501(c)3 status are eligible to apply for a tax-exempt organization grant using a fiscal sponsor. Two options for applicants having trouble finding a fiscal sponsor are TAPAZ and Fractured Atlas. Any applicant with a fiscal sponsor must submit an MOU (memorandum of understanding) at the time of application, and both parties must sign the MOU. Fiscal sponsors typically charge an administrative fee between 5% and 12% of the total grant award. The estimated fee should be included as a line item in the project budget. Applicants cannot change their fiscal sponsor after applying and must utilize the same fiscal sponsor through the grant period. The Phoenix Department of Arts and Culture does not accept applications submitted by fiscal agents.  Please contact us with any questions you have about fiscal sponsorship.   

*Subject to grant being taxed as income if not applying with a fiscal sponsor who has 501(c)3 tax-exempt status​

**Applicants cannot change their fiscal sponsor after the application deadline.

Applicants do NOT make specific funding requests:

• ​A review panel reviews like-sized budgeted organizations. Organizations receive award allocations determined by the ranking they receive in the panel. 
• Award allocations are also dependent on the number of recommended applications and the total grants budget, as approved by Phoenix City Council annually in May.​

The General Support program does not fund:

• Individual or single-member LLCs (exceptions can be made if there is a formal advisory board in place)
  
• Any division of local, state, or federal government
  
• Organizations outside of the city of Phoenix limits
• Schools, including public, private, and charter
• Colleges and universities, other City of Phoenix departments, auxiliary/affiliate organizations
• Organizations that produce a single annual event
  
• Religious institutions or religious group-sponsored organizations not open to participation by non-congregants
• Religious institutions or religious group-sponsored organizations whose primary purpose is the religious socialization of individuals or whose arts programming exists as parts of religious sermons or services
• Debt reduction
• Re-granting, unless permission is received
• Grant administration, overhead, or processing fees taken by an umbrella/parent organization as a percentage of the total award, except for fiscal sponsors
• Lobbying expenses
• Expenses related to the construction of facilities
• Food and beverage for receptions and hospitality functions
• Fundraising projects
• Scholarships and awards​

Applications are first reviewed for eligibility by staff. Eligible applications are then reviewed by panels comprised of conflict-free arts and cultural workers. Panelists will review and score all completed applications based on the evaluation criteria. Applications are scored on a 100-point scale. 

An application is considered complete if it has responded to all narrative questions and has included all the required attachments.​

Evaluation Criteria​

COMMUNITY SIGNIFICANCE: The applicant clearly and specifically identifies the community the organization engages; reveals an understanding about how they currently effectively engage their community; demonstrates an awareness of how they and others fit into the arts and culture ecosystem to increase the benefit to the  Phoenix community.

​​ARTISTIC/CULTURAL VALUE: The applicant is thoughtful in delivering programs and services that advance the organization’s artistic/cultural mission; demonstrates intentionality behind upcoming programming; and shows commitment to the success and development of Phoenix artists. 

FINANCIAL CAPACITY: The applicant shows fiscal accountability, including fiscal health, staff, and board development, and a focus on the future.

LEADERSHIP CAPACITY: Reveals leadership's intentionality and thoughtfulness regarding building equity into the organization.

After applications have been approved for funding by City of Phoenix Council, applicants will need to complete the following:

• ​Register as a City of Phoenix vendor or confirm previous registration.
• Attend the “You’ve Been Funded! What’s Next” webinar facilitated by Arts and Culture Department grants staff
• Sign a grants conditions form that agrees to the following:
  • Use Arts and Culture Department logo when promoting public presentation of grant-funded work 
  • Complete a final report 90 days after June 30, the end of the City of Phoenix fiscal year.
• ​​Payments are made upon completion of any pending final reports, verification of vendor registration and address, and signed grant conditions. ​​​​​​

A final report is due 90 days after the end of the fiscal year. Grant funds will not be released until all final reports from previous years have been received.