Introduction to Grant Writing
Some grant applications require short answers to specific questions, and others ask for long grant narratives without providing many (if any) guiding questions. Certain organizations provide funds for individuals, while others focus on giving grants to incorporated ventures, such as LLCs or non-profits.
Reliable Funding for Musicians
National Council of the Arts
Individuals are not eligible to apply. Eligible organizations include nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)3 U.S. organizations, units of state or local government, or federally recognized tribal communities or tribes. Applicants may request an amount between $10,000 and $100,000.
Salt Lick Incubator
These project grants range between $5,000 and $15,000, and they’re awarded to independent musicians performing in contemporary genres to use specifically for performance, recording, or self-promotion-related projects.
New Music Creator Fund
This organization provides funding to independent music creators of all genres of music in the United States. Annually, they award a total of 50 to 60 grants, each of up to $5,000, with an average grant amount of $3,000.
Frequently Asked Questions on Grant Applications (with explanations and examples):
Who is the primary audience of your project?
Articulate your audience or community’s experience and educational level regarding your project topic. Are you catering to experts in a field or people who live in a specific area?
Include a budget.
Write a comprehensive breakdown of how you would allocate the grant funds. For each expense, explain why you estimate that particular cost, and demonstrate how the allocation aligns with the long-term objectives of either the audience or the project.
Example: "We will use the $250/minute commission fee that we determined from meeting with Diversify the Stand to commission three more composers for a total of $1500, achieving our long-term goal of commissioning five composers every year."
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Describe your in-kind expenses, which are donated goods/items/equipment. If you are using a university space or someone's backyard to host a concert for free, estimate the amount of money it would cost if you did not have that resource and mention that in the budget as an in-kind expense.
Ask yourself who might have access to the goods/items/equipment you’re seeking. Consider friends of friends, former colleagues or mentors, and your current mentors’ communities.
Describe yourself or your team.
Describe your (or your team's) qualifications as related to completing this project. Why are you the best person to do this?
Example: "Ella, Isabella, and Mattie combine the perspectives of music education, flute performance, and composition to solve a disparity that intersects and permeates all three of their crafts."
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If this is an ongoing project, but a new grant, describe three things you have already accomplished. For each accomplishment, state how that accomplishment clearly sets you up for success with this new grant.
Example: "Over the past two months, we have commissioned two composers and worked with them to reach pedagogical goals and pedagogical difficulty levels based on the strict National Flute Association’s guidelines. Now, we are well-equipped to advise the future composers we will commission with this grant on how to write pieces eligible for Solo and Ensemble competition repertoire lists. Universities and conservatories do not teach this aspect of commercialization to flutists nor composers."
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How does this current project fit into any of your future projects or impact the far futures of the audience of your project?
Example: "With three more composers added to our commissions, we will be able to include more identities from historically underrepresented communities on our website. More students will be able to relate to and learn from our composers, which will facilitate increased financial and reputational sustainability for our organization as more students take lessons through our website and perform our pieces at Solo and Ensemble competitions."
Grant Narrative Example:
This is a grant narrative I submitted and successfully received funding for last year.
See below for the same grant narrative color-coded to the above chart.
I am requesting $600 dollars from the EXCEL Enterprise Fund to commission Gabriel Fynsk, an SMTD composition alumnus who is no longer affiliated with the University of Michigan, to write a piece for flute and piano. The piece will be approximately 10 minutes long, and contain a series of short movements that feature a variety of flutes: the piccolo, the alto flute, and the C flute. Additionally, the piece will feature distinctive piano writing in a sparse impressionistic style and showcase the inspiration behind the piece: four original drawings of the memory of “home.” These drawings by Masha (Mariia Usova) will be on stage and lit up by a spotlight at various points during the performance.
This piece will fill a substantial gap in the body of flute repertoire, given that there are currently no pieces that feature such a wide variety of flutes with piano collaboration. The social and professional impact of this commission includes allowing collegiate flutists to practice switching between various flutes during a live performance, which is frequently required in auxiliary orchestral positions. Classical orchestral repertoire performed frequently by major orchestras (such as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra) in the United States includes parts that require switching between flute and piccolo or flute and alto flute (e.g., “Rite of Spring” by Igor Stravinsky (C flute 3/piccolo), “Daphnis et Chloé” by Maurice Ravel (C flute 2/piccolo), and Scythian Suite by Sergey Prokovief (C flute 3/alto flute)).
Given my professional goal of becoming an orchestral flute player, and as the current piccolo substitute for a professional orchestra, the Lima Symphony in Ohio, building this “switching” skill is essential to my career and the aspiring careers of many collegiate flute students around the country.
This grant will also fund the publishing and distribution of this commission through Just a Theory Press to allow collegiate flutists the opportunity to perform this commission for juries and competitions that require that pieces by living composers be published for the performer to be considered for monetary prizes (such as Music Teachers National Association competitions). A recorded video of this performance will be posted to my YouTube page and website, making an example performance freely accessible to other flutists planning to perform the piece.
Susan and I, who have performed together for over a year in competitive chamber music, will perform this piece at my “junior recital” in March or April of 2024 in the Earl V. Moore Building. This project goes well beyond curricular requirements – a junior recital is not required for the Bachelor of Music flute performance degree program, and commissioning pieces is never required for any flute degree recitals.
Thank you for considering this request to fund the commissioning, publishing, advertising, and dissemination of a piece that will facilitate the improvement of flute technique necessary for building an orchestral career. This funding will greatly impact collegiate flutists by facilitating the composition of a piece that combines orchestral and solo performance skills and is suitable for juries, recitals, and competitions.
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Color-Coded Grant Narrative:
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I am requesting $600 dollars from the EXCEL Enterprise Fund to commission Gabriel Fynsk, an SMTD composition alumnus who is no longer affiliated with the University of Michigan, to write a piece for flute and piano. The piece will be approximately 10 minutes long, and contain a series of short movements that feature a variety of flutes: the piccolo, the alto flute, and the C flute. Additionally, the piece will feature distinctive piano writing in a sparse impressionistic style and showcase the inspiration behind the piece: four original drawings of the memory of “home.” These drawings by Masha (Mariia Usova) will be on stage and lit up by a spotlight at various points during the performance.
This piece will fill a substantial gap in the body of flute repertoire, given that there are currently no pieces that feature such a wide variety of flutes with piano collaboration. The social and professional impact of this commission includes allowing collegiate flutists to practice switching between various flutes during a live performance, which is frequently required in auxiliary orchestral positions. Classical orchestral repertoire performed frequently by major orchestras (such as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra) in the United States includes parts that require switching between flute and piccolo or flute and alto flute (e.g., “Rite of Spring” by Igor Stravinsky (C flute 3/piccolo), “Daphnis et Chloé” by Maurice Ravel (C flute 2/piccolo), and Scythian Suite by Sergey Prokovief (C flute 3/alto flute)).
Given my professional goal of becoming an orchestral flute player, and as the current piccolo substitute for a professional orchestra, the Lima Symphony in Ohio, building this “switching” skill is essential to my career and the aspiring careers of many collegiate flute students around the country.
This grant will also fund the publishing and distribution of this commission through Just a Theory Press to allow collegiate flutists the opportunity to perform this commission for juries and competitions that require that pieces by living composers be published for the performer to be considered for monetary prizes (such as Music Teachers National Association competitions). A recorded video of this performance will be posted to my YouTube page and website, making an example performance freely accessible to other flutists planning to perform the piece.
Susan and I, who have performed together for over a year in competitive chamber music, will perform this piece at my “junior recital” in March or April of 2024 in the Earl V. Moore Building. This project goes well beyond curricular requirements – a junior recital is not required for the Bachelor of Music flute performance degree program, and commissioning pieces is never required for any flute degree recitals.
Thank you for considering this request to fund the commissioning, publishing, advertising, and dissemination of a piece that will facilitate the improvement of flute technique necessary for building an orchestral career. This funding will greatly impact collegiate flutists by facilitating the composition of a piece that combines orchestral and solo performance skills and is suitable for juries, recitals, and competitions.