Grant Fancy #01 | Launching in 3-2-1 . . .

Fancy meeting you here!

Welcome to Grant Fancy — a free collection of human-generated insights and resources to help independent artists and non-profit organizations find and apply for grants in the arts.

Each issue will offer a wealth of inspiration and opportunities to help you find the support you need to continue making great art.

We know that it’s already challenging enough to create your art. Grant Fancy aims to simplify the funding process.

Have a question, a tip, or an idea for a story? Just reply to this email. We’d love to hear from you.

First things first: What’s it all about, Artsie?

Grant Fancy is a newsletter for artists and arts organizations committed to getting better at finding, evaluating, and earning funding for their work. Whether you’re running a nonprofit organization, building a community project, growing your audience, or just getting started with an idea that needs support, Grant Fancy is for you.

We have designed Grant Fancy to help you:

• Understand how third-party funding works

• Find funders who align with your mission

• Write better proposals

• Build stronger funder relationships

• Stay motivated through the year

You’ll get tips, strategies, behind-the-scenes insights, and examples you can learn from. Some posts are bite-sized and tactical. Others go deep on mindset, process, and long-term planning. All are designed to be useful, encouraging, and (hopefully) a little fun.

Who is it for?

Grant Fancy is for anyone involved in fundraising or program development — especially people working with limited time and resources.

Maybe you’re:

• a nonprofit leader wearing too many hats

• a grant writer trying to improve your skills

• a freelancer or consultant helping clients grow

• a creative or community builder chasing hard-to-fund ideas

If any of these sound like you, you've come to the right place.

How to use Grant Fancy

Start with what you need right now. Each post is self-contained, so you don’t have to read them in chronological order. Search the archive when you're stuck or need a boost. Share posts with colleagues or clients when you're trying to explain something tricky. And if something resonates — let us know. We’ll try to support you with more of the same.

Eventually, we plan to add tools, templates, and interviews with folks who are doing this work in the wild. But for now we’re just going to try to make a difference, one post at a time.

Why “Grant Fancy”?

Because grant writing is too often treated like a secret art. Because too many people are told they’re “not ready” or “not a fit” when what they really need is a little help and some clear guidance. Chasing funding is hard — but it doesn’t have to be mystifying.

We believe you can get good at this. You can learn to spot real opportunities, write strong proposals, and build funder relationships that last. You don’t have to fake it, or beg, or burn out.

That’s what Grant Fancy is about: making grantseeking less painful, more principled, and way more possible.

Ready to get fancy? Let’s do this.

The State of Arts Funding in the United States

Let’s face it. We are all a bit shattered right now. This goes beyond mere political divisions.

For many of us, this year’s cuts in federal funding have been devastating. Money that was promised has been taken away. Budgets that were balanced have fallen out of whack. Careers based on years of experience and best practices have been upended, effecting people from the largest institutions to the smallest grass roots arts initiatives.

Even if you are fiscally conservative and believe that our tax dollars shouldn’t be spent on the varied artistic pursuits of individuals, you have to admit that the way in which the sweeping changes to federal grants funding were introduced was shockingly fast and for many, utterly devastating. But this newsletter is not about longing for the recent past; it is about adapting to our new reality. Grant Fancy is here to address the question many of us are asking: “What now?”

The arts funding landscape has changed and the dust from its implosion hasn’t fully settled. So, we’re going to help navigate the road ahead, explore new ideas and methods of funding, and embrace the future before us.

Financial support comes in many forms, and there remains a large community of people and organizations committed to seeing your work get produced. It may take a while to replace all the streams that were lost in the great upheaval of 2025, but make no mistake: there is a broad world of opportunity beyond federal funding programs that you can tap into. From state, regional, local, and independent institutions to private supporters, there remains a wealth of opportunity for you to get your art made, seen, heard, and felt. Your job is to stick to your passion, focus on your art, and ride out this storm.

Three Steps You Can Take Right Now to Support Your Art

1. Tap Into Local and Private Funding Sources

Many city governments, arts councils, and private foundations have stepped up to fill gaps left by shifting federal priorities. Start with:

• Your state or municipal arts council

• Local arts incubators and community foundations

• Independent funders like the MAP Fund, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, or The Awesome Foundation

2. Build and Activate a Direct Support Network

• Join Patreon, Buy Me A Coffee, or Ko-fi to solicit ongoing contributions.

• Publish a newsletter to stay in touch with your audience.

• Tap into Instagram Subscriptions or YouTube Channel Memberships to publish exclusive content for your supporters.

• Launch a modest campaign explaining what you’re creating and why it matters now. Remember: Personal storytelling builds loyalty.

3. Collaborate and Co-Create With Your Community

In the midst of the funding upheaval, grassroots and mutual-aid art initiatives are growing stronger.

Consider:

• Joining local art collectives or online salons.

• Collaborating on group shows, virtual exhibitions, or pop-up productions.

• Partnering with small businesses, libraries, or cultural organizations for programming.

These not only spread costs but also build new audiences and sources of support.

Most important, keep meeting people — real live human people — and making your case for why you deserve the support you are asking for.

Today’s Challenge: Commit to the Ask

No one will believe your art is worth supporting if you don’t believe it yourself. Start thinking about what value your art has and how you can ask for support to make it a reality. Visualize your next project and assign value to its impact and production costs. Then start to tell the world about it. Start with this framework:

• The scope of my project is . . .

• The impact my project will have is . . .

• What I need to make this project happen is . . .

Remember: Your ask doesn’t have to be limited to financial support. Maybe you need the physical space to build something or to perform in; maybe your need advertising; maybe you need food and lodging for your creative team. Money can help you get all of these things, but don’t under estimate the helpfulness of borrowing and bartering. Seek to collaborate with others. And above all, tell people about your vision. Just hearing yourself speak about your project aloud is going to help you move forward on it. Good luck!

A Drop of Inspiration

Thank you for reading Grant Fancy. Be sure to add our email address to your approved contacts list so you don’t miss out on future editions of this newsletter.

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See you soon!