How to Apply

Coronavirus Relief Fund for Cultural Support (CRFCS)

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act established the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) and appropriated $150 billion to the Fund. The State of Oregon has allocated $25,984,872 in CRF for Cultural Support (CRFCS) “for business, innovation and trade, for providing financial assistance to arts organizations and cultural and community venues that have canceled or postponed public programming because of economic conditions and executive orders associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.”

About the CRFCS Program

CRFCS Program Guidelines

Covered Period: March 1 to December 30, 2020

Link to Final Report  and Final Report Guidelines. All final reports must be submitted by January 15, 2021.

Link to program orientation webinar co-hosted with the Multnomah County Cultural Coalition.

Cultural Development Program

FY2020 Cultural Development funded project final reports are due September 1, 2020. Download FY2020 CDV Final Report Form.

The FY2021 cycle closed Friday, May 8th, 2020. The Cultural Trust recognized that many organizations were challenged to prepare project-based applications during this time and encouraged creative thinking.

FY2021 Cultural Development Grant Guidelines:

• FY2021 Cultural Development Grant Guidelines

Cultural Development Application Assessment Rubrics

The following rubrics shall accompany the Cultural Development program guidelines. Applicants are advised to use the descriptive qualities in crafting an application. Panelists are advised to use the same descriptive qualities to assign a score for each application section:

• Access Application Assessment Rubric
• Preservation Application Assessment Rubric
• Creativity Application Assessment Rubric
• Capacity Application Assessment Rubric

The FY2021 Cultural Development Program will support projects taking place between September 1, 2020 – August 31, 2021. First time grant seekers interested in applying for Cultural Trust grants are encouraged to attend the 2020 Conversation with Funders & Partners workshops and/or schedule a 30 minute phone consultation with Trust Manager Aili Schreiner (aili.schreiner@oregon.gov).

Program awards are made in four categories and are intended to fund arts, heritage, history, preservation and humanities programs.

Cultural Development Grants are for project activities that:

• protect and stabilize Oregon’s cultural resources;
• expand public awareness of, access to and participation in quality cultural experiences in Oregon;
• ensure that Oregon cultural resources are strong and dynamic contributors to Oregon’s communities and quality of life; and
• build an understanding of the value and impact of culture to Oregonians.

The four program categories are:

• Access: Make culture broadly available to Oregonians;
• Preservation: Invest in Oregon’s cultural heritage by recovering, preserving and sharing historic assets and achievements;
• Creativity: Create and/or present cultural or scholarly work; Support the development of artists, cultural experts, or scholars who promote culture as a core part of vibrant communities; and
• Capacity: Strengthen cultural organizations to increase stability, improve sustainability, or measure/share cultural impacts.

In considering funding requests, the Cultural Trust seeks proposals that will expand the public benefit of Oregon’s culture through:

• positive impact on, or improvement of, cultural resources and activities and the expansion of public and private support for culture;
• preservation of the past or investing in the future, by commissioning new work that continues Oregon’s strong artistic, literary and humanistic presence;
• enhancing cultural opportunity and understanding by creating or sustaining model programs that can be replicated elsewhere; and
• by creating opportunity for every community to invest further in its culture, stimulating new ventures that could not be tried without Trust help.

The Trust’s two non-competitive grant programs fund the Trust’s five statewide Cultural Partners and 45 County and Tribal Cultural Coalitions.

Have questions? Contact Aili Schreiner at aili.schreiner@oregon.gov or 503.986.0089. You may schedule a 30 minute consultation before April 1; draft applications will receive feedback if received prior to March 31, 2020.

FY2021 Organizational & Professional Development Grants: Note- due to requirements of the CRFCS program, applications will be reviewed for funding beginning January, 2021

The Organizational & Professional Development Grant Program is an opportunity available to cultural nonprofits in Oregon as well as Cultural Trust County and Tribal Cultural Coalitions and their members. Applying organizations must have an annual operating budget of under $1 million. Rolling Deadline July 1, 2020 – May 30, 2021. The FY2021 application cycle will reopen January 19, 2021. 

Funded by the Cultural Trust’s Statewide Cultural Partners, this pilot grant program will support activities taking place between August 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. This program has two categories:
Organizational Development – maximum request $2,000
Professional Development – maximum request $750

• FY2021 Organizational & Professional Development Grant guidelines and application form
• FY2020 Organizational & Professional Development Grant- Final Report form

FY2021 Cultural Coalition Grants

FY2021 Cultural Coalition Grants will be awarded in late summer, 2020.

Cultural Coalitions may now submit their FY2021 Contact Form to cultural.trust@oregon.gov. Please include as attachments:

• Updated Board Roster: Include names and contact information
• Grant Guidelines & Application: Have you updated your grant guidelines or application since last year? If yes, please attach your new versions (PDF format)
• Cultural Plan: Have you updated your Cultural Plan? If yes, please attach your updated plan (PDF format). For tribal coalitions, your Cultural Resource Department Plan can be submitted instead.

Questions? Please contact Kat.Bell@oregon.gov or (503) 986-0082 or Aili.Schreiner@oregon.gov or (503) 986-0089.

FY2020 Cultural Participation Final Grant Reports

Final grant reports for FY2020 Cultural Participation grants for County and Tribal Coalitions must be submitted by February 1, 2021. The final report form is a fillable PDF.

• FY2020 Cultural Participation (Coalition) Grant Final Report Form
• FY2020 Cultural Participation (Coalition) Sub-Grant Forms

Please submit your completed form and send to: cultural.trust@oregon.gov. Questions? Call us at (503) 986-0082.