2024-25 Seed Fund Grant Proposal Guidelines :: Tiers 1-3

About the Fund

Fund the Flow Arts is a US-based nonprofit established in 2011 to present and promote the Flow Arts. Our mission is to:

• Advance the prop manipulation-based Flow Arts
• Foster local Flow Arts communities
• Cultivate the global community of Flow Arts practitioners.

The purpose of the Seed Fund is to support projects that will help fulfill this mission. We are offering tiered grant amounts. In your proposal, please provide the requested information for the tier to which you are applying.

Project Eligibility for the 2024-2025 Grant Cycle

• For the 2024-2025 grant cycle, we will be funding projects in the Teaching/Outreach and Flow Arts Education and Training Resource Development categories.
• Examples of eligible projects include after-school programs, workshop series, or the creation of resource material for educators, therapists, or other professions to incorporate flow arts into their work. Guides on fire safety, or best practices for working with people with disabilities, would also be examples of resources. These examples are not prescriptive nor exhaustive!
• Projects in the Events/Gatherings and Performance/Presentation categories will be funded in the 2025-2026 cycle.
• Projects that have the potential for wider reach beyond your personal community will be more competitive. Partnerships with other nonprofit organizations, businesses, or other community entities such as libraries, schools, park districts or merchants associations (just as examples) would be a plus.
• Exclusions: Product development is not eligible for funding, e.g., the creation of new flow props or start-up funds for a company to make flow props intended for retail sale.
• Projects that include Circus or Burlesque performance are eligible only if the Flow Arts are the central feature and the main point of the project.
• For this round, grants are available to recipients who can receive US funds only (US citizens, permanent residents/ authorized to work in the US.). We hope to be able to support international projects and applicants in future rounds.
  
  We will be distributing a total of $50,000.

Previously funded projects have included:

• Full Moon Jam Foundation for their Winter Workshop Flow Jam Series, a monthly series of free workshops and open jams.
• Being a Bridge for continued work bringing American Sign Language interpreters to flow festivals for accessibility and advocacy for Deaf/Disabled flow artists.
• The Flow Nexus for a mobile educational space comprised of a library of flow tools and decorative environment based out of the Emerald Village Observatory in San Diego.
• Photonix, a student-run organization at the University of Michigan, a performance group dedicated to showcasing the Flow Arts.

GRANT TIERS AND PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

For requests up to $1,000 :: click here to apply

1. Please describe your project. Let us know what the activity is, and how it will help fulfill the Fund’s mission and promote/support the Flow Arts community. Also specify when and where the project will take place.
2. What is your history with organizing this, or similar, projects? If working with children in grades K-12, please tell us about your history with working with school districts, incorporating required curricula, and working with kids.
   
3. Do you anticipate receiving funding from other sources? If yes, please let us know what they are.
4. Will the project involve partnerships with other individuals and organizations? If so, please list them and specify their roles in the project.
5. Will you be using a fiscal sponsor for this project? If so, please provide information about the sponsor and their history of similar or related work.
   
6. Please let us know what the received funds will be used for. (e.g., teacher stipends, sound system, props, etc.). The total should equal your request amount.
7. If full or partial funding from the Seed Fund is not received, will you be able to carry out the project anyway?

For requests between $1,001 – $5,000 :: click here to apply

1. Please describe your project. Let us know what the activity is, and how it will help fulfill the Fund’s mission and promote/support the Flow Arts community. Also specify when and where the project will take place.
2. What is your history with organizing this, or similar, projects? If working with children in grades K-12, please tell us about your history with working with school districts, incorporating required curricula, and working with kids.
3. Will the project involve partnerships with other individuals or organizations? If so, please list them and specify their roles in the project.
4. Will you be using a fiscal sponsor for this project? If so, please provide information about the sponsor and their history of any similar or related work.
5. Do you anticipate receiving funding from other sources?
6. Please let us know what you’d spend the funds on (total should equal your request amount).
   If full or partial funding from the Seed Fund is not received, will you be able to carry out the project anyway?

Example expense breakout for $5,000 request. Please note the items listed here are examples only, and not necessarily what your project will need.

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For requests between $5,001 – $10,000 :: click here to apply

1. Please describe your project. Let us know what the activity is, and how it will help fulfill the Fund’s mission and promote/support the Flow Arts community. Let us know when and where the project will take place.
2. What is your history with organizing this, or similar, projects? If working with children in grades K-12, please tell us about your history with working with school districts, incorporating required curricula, and working with kids.
3. Will the project involve partnerships with other individuals or organizations? If so, please list them and specify their roles in the project.
4. Please provide a timeline for the implementation of your project, including all deliverables.
5. Please describe your promotional/outreach strategy. If applying for a resource, please share the distribution plan for the resource you create.
6. Will you be using a fiscal sponsor for this project? If so, please provide information about the sponsor and their history of any similar or related work.
7. Please list your other sources of funding e.g., ticket sales, merchandise sales, individual contributions, grants from other sources. Please note that for this tier, other sources of funding are required.
8. Please let us know what you’d spend the funds on (total should equal your request amount). Please refer to example above for how to do this.
9. If full or partial funding from the Seed Fund is not received, will you be able to carry out the project anyway?
   

Example expense breakout for $12,000 request. Please note the items listed here are examples only, and not necessarily what your project will need.

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Review Process:

 Applications will be reviewed by a panel of community members.

Application Period:

• October 1 – December 31, 2024
• Deadline: December 31, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Pacific
• Awards announced no later than March 17, 2025

REVIEW CRITERIA

Criterion Maximum points

Grant recipients will be expected to have periodical check-ins to update the Fund on the progress of their project, as well as provide written and/or visual documentation. By the end of the grant cycle, we hope to have a compelling story to tell about your project.