General Support Program

The General Support program provides core operating support to arts and cultural organizations of all sizes that have a primary mission to create, produce, or provide arts and cultural programming to enhance the quality of life for Phoenix residents.

Applications open every year and remain open for approximately six weeks. Proposed projects must occur between July 1 and June 30 of the upcoming fiscal year.

• Support arts and cultural opportunities among residents of all ages through education and outreach programs and opportunities for personal artistic expression and participation. 
• Encourage broad-based, community-wide participation in arts and cultural activities resulting from a diversity of programming that is accessible to all residents.
• Sustain a community of organizations that are responsibly governed and managed, financially sound, and assist organizations that have reached a critical stage in artistic or institutional development by encouraging the identification of internal needs important to the sustainability or growth of the organization.

All info sessions are held virtually via WebEx and are in Arizona Time. A recording will be available on the grants page 24 hours after each session is held.  
 
Video one-on-one appointments and application consultations can be made with grants staff between January 22 and March 3, 2026. 

January 21: ​Guidelines published | Application opens​

January 27: Virtual info session recording (Password: ArtsFY27)  | Grabación de Sesión Informativa (Contraseña: Arte27)

February 7:

Best Practices for Submitting your Grant presented by Sarah León 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Mejores prácticas para completar su solicitud presentado por Anel Arriola 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Januay 22 – March 3: One-on-one application consultations with staff

March 4 at 11:59 pm: ​Application deadline. (staff is not available after 5 p.m.)

March 5 – 13: Eligibility review

March 5  – 15: Panel review meetings

• Have a primary mission of producing or creating arts and culture programming and education for Phoenix residents
• Have existed as an arts and culture organization for the past three years while producing year-round arts and cultural programming within the city of Phoenix. 
• Have a prior three-year average income of at least $5,000 (from the past three fiscal years of total income earned from Phoenix sources only and contributed income from all sources)
• Must complete and submit a DataArts Cultural Data Profile with three years of financial data (applicants with a prior three-year average income between $5,000 to $249,999 have the option of submitting the provided summary form.)
• Be in good standing concerning all contract agreements with the City of Phoenix, including filing previous grant final reports
• Not be an organization that is applying to the Project Support program
• Have a business address and administrative offices in the city of Phoenix (no PO BOX) and conducts a majority (i.e. 51% or more) of its programs and services in the city of Phoenix.

Applicants that are not a 501(c)3 nonprofit but meet all the other eligibility criteria are eligible if their prior three-year average income is less than $250,000, and they also meet the evaluation criteria below.

Note

• Arts and Culture LLCs cannot be a sole proprietorship.
• All LLCs are checked against the Arizona Corporation Commission records.
• All non-profit organizations are checked against the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search Tool for Phoenix address and status verification. 

Who cannot apply

• Any organization applying to the Project Support Program is not eligible to apply for a General Support grant​.
• Individuals or single or dual-member LLCs 
• Any division of local, state, or federal government
• Organizations outside of the city of Phoenix boundaries
• Schools, including public, private, and charter
• Colleges and universities, other City of Phoenix departments, auxiliary/affiliate organizations
• Organizations that don’t provide year-round arts and cultural programming in Phoenix
• Religious institutions or religious group-sponsored organizations whose arts programming exists as part of proselytization. 

Fiscal Sponsor

Applicants who do not have 501(c)3 status are eligible to apply for a tax-exempt organization grant using a fiscal sponsor. Two options for applicants having trouble finding a fiscal sponsor are TAPAZ and Fractured Atlas. Any applicant with a fiscal sponsor must submit an MOU (memorandum of understanding) at the time of application, and both parties must sign the MOU. Fiscal sponsors typically charge an administrative fee between 5% and 12% of the total grant award. The estimated fee should be included as a line item in the project budget. Applicants cannot change their fiscal sponsor after applying and must utilize the same fiscal sponsor through the grant period. The Phoenix Department of Arts and Culture does not accept applications submitted by fiscal agents.  Please contact us with any questions you have about fiscal sponsorship.   

*Applicants cannot change their fiscal sponsor after the application deadline.

The General Support program is intended to provide operating support for Phoenix arts and cultural organizations.

The General Support Program does not fund:

• Debt reduction
• Re-granting, unless permission is received
• Grant administration, overhead, or processing fees taken by an umbrella/parent organization as a percentage of the total award, except for fiscal sponsors
• Lobbying expenses
• Expenses related to the construction of facilities
• Food and beverage for receptions and hospitality functions
• Fundraising 
• Scholarships and awards

Applications are first reviewed for eligibility by staff. Like-sized budgeted organizations are reviewed by a review panel of conflict-free arts and cultural workers. Panelists will review and score all completed applications based on the evaluation criteria. Applications are scored on a 100-point scale. 

An application is considered complete if it has responded to all narrative questions and has included all the required attachments.​

Award Recommendations

Applicants do not make specific funding requests. Award recommendation amounts are dependent on a few factors:

• The total grants budget (adopted by City Council in June for the next fiscal year)
• The average and median score an application receives as determined by a conflict-free panel
• The number of recommended applications
• For recommended general support applicants, a grant award will not be more than 30% of an average of the organization’s past three years of annual income (restricted funds are not included).  For example, if an organization has an average annual income of $12,000, the highest award they could theoretically receive $3,600 (with the highest score in the panel)

Evaluation Criteria

ARTISTIC/CULTURAL VALUE: The applicant is thoughtful in delivering programs and services that advance the organization’s artistic/cultural mission; demonstrates intentionality behind upcoming programming; and shows commitment to the success and development of Phoenix artists. (40 points)

COMMUNITY SIGNIFICANCE: The applicant is knowledgeable about the people they engage; shows an awareness about how to strengthen engagement with their intended participants/audience; has an understanding about how they and others (arts and cultural entities, nonprofits, businesses, and/or schools) interact in the arts and culture ecosystem to enrich the applicant’s programming. (30 points)

​​FINANCIAL & LEADERSHIP CAPACITY: The applicant shows fiscal accountability and fiscal health; demonstrates understanding about how to implement equitable practices throughout their organization. (30 points)

After applications have been approved for funding by City of Phoenix Council, applicants will need to complete the following:

• ​Register as a City of Phoenix vendor or confirm previous registration.
• Attend the “You’ve Been Funded! What’s Next” webinar facilitated by Office of Arts and Culture Grants and Community Engagement staff
• Sign a grants conditions form that agrees to the following:
  • Use Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture logo when promoting public presentation of grant-funded work 
  • Complete a final report 90 days after June 30, the end of the City of Phoenix fiscal year.
• ​Payments are made upon completion of any pending final reports, verification of vendor registration and address, and signed grant conditions.

My application wasn't recommended for funding. What can I do? Learn About the Appeal Process

A final report is due 90 days after the end of the fiscal year. Grant funds will not be released until all final reports from previous years have been received.