Harkness Foundation for Dance Grant Proposal Guidelines (Download PDF) >
Eligibility
Programs/projects related to dance only will be considered. Proposers may submit one application for support in a particular calendar year. Multiple proposals for support within one calendar year are not accepted. Our customary Program and Project grant range is $1,000 to $10,000.
EXCLUSIONS
- Endowment funds
- Capital projects
- Private schools (below college level)
- Video/film/book projects
- Outside of New York City (applies to applicants and fiscal sponsors)
Deadlines
- AUGUST 1 to be considered at our Fall meeting
- DECEMBER 1 to be considered at our Winter meeting
- APRIL 1 to be considered at our Spring meeting
- Deadline time: Proposals must be received by 11:59pm on the deadline date.
- 6-month lead time: Please submit your proposal at least six months in advance of when your program or project is scheduled.
WINTER 2025 GRANT CYCLE
- Proposal deadline for our WINTER 2025 meeting is December 1st, 2024.
- Calendar Year Funding: Approved grants in this cycle will be sent in calendar year 2025, timed to the extent possible to best support the proposed project or program activities.
- Fiscal Year Budgeting: If you budget on a July-June fiscal year, grants approved in this cycle may apply to your FY25 or FY26 season.
Email Submission Process
Please submit your proposal by email. Note: We no longer accept hard copy proposals.
- Subject Line must use this format: HARKNESS 12/1/24 PROPOSAL — ORGANIZATION or ARTIST’S NAME.
- Submission Content: Please include all pieces listed in the next section.
- Submit: Email your proposal materials by attachment to info@harknessfoundation.org.
- Receipt: We will email you confirmation of receipt in reply to your submission. If you do not receive this confirmation by a week after submitting, please follow up promptly with an email to joanf@harknessfoundation.org.
Submission Requirements
File Formats: Please attach to your email the items below as separate files in any format (PDF, Excel, Word); as a zip file; as a single combined pdf; or as a file sharing link (Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer, etc).
All applications should include:
- Your Contact Info: Include your full current company contact information on the front page of your proposal AND in the text of your email:
- Contact name
- Phone
- Permanent company address
- Current mailing address (if different/temporary)
- Please alert us to any contact changes.
- Brief cover letter addressed to Joan Finkelstein, Executive Director, summarizing the amount you are requesting and whether it is for general operating support, ongoing program support, or specific project support.
- Narrative describing your proposed program(s), project, or operation and goals for the grant year (1-2 pages as needed; please be as concise as possible). If you received Harkness funding in the year prior and are seeking renewed funding, you can include a brief summary report either as a separate piece or folded into your narrative.
- Historical summary of organization or artist’s mission and work (up to 1 page).
- Program/project budget. (Please include both projected expenses and projected income, with contributed income sources itemized and marked ‘received’ or ‘pending’ as appropriate.)
- Organization/Artist annual budget. (Please include both projected expenses and projected income, with contributed income sources itemized and marked ‘received’ or ‘pending’ as appropriate.) Fiscally sponsored artists: please include income and expenses related to your artistic work only. If the project budget and annual budget are essentially the same because you create one project per year, you do not need to submit an annual budget.
- Copy of IRS 501c3 tax exempt letter. Fiscally sponsored artists: please instead include your letter of fiscal sponsorship plus the IRS tax exempt letter of your sponsoring organization.
- List of board members & their affiliation. Fiscally sponsored artists: you do not need to include your fiscal sponsor’s board list.
- Short bios of key artistic personnel.
- Financial statement (last available). If your organization does not engage an auditor, please include your most recent short form 990. Fiscally sponsored artists: you do not need to include the financial statement for the fiscal sponsor organization. We will contact them directly if needed.
- A few representative pieces of support material, such as a performance review, lesson plan, and/or 2 to 3 video samples of representative work via Vimeo or YouTube links.
HARKNESS FOUNDATION CONTACT INFORMATION:
The Harkness Foundation for Dance
145 East 48th Street, Suite 26C
New York, NY 10017-1259
Office phone: (212) 755-5540
Remote Office phone: (646) 436-3730
Office email: info@harknessfoundation.org
Joan Finkelstein, Executive Director: joanf@harknessfoundation.org