Overview

The purpose of ArtsWave’s Sustaining Impact grant program is to provide general operating support to arts and cultural heritage organizations whose programming supports the building blocks of ArtsWave’s Blueprint for Collective Action to ensure their ongoing capacity to drive community impact. 

 Who May Apply 

ArtsWave believes that strong arts create strong communities and actively seeks to promote access, equity, and inclusiveness in its grantmaking. ArtsWave will not award grant support to organizations that, in their constitution, bylaws, or practices, discriminate against a person or group because of age, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation, or religious belief. In doing so, we seek to promote respect for all people. 

 To be eligible for FY2027-29 General Operating support, an organization must meet all the following requirements:

· Have a primary mission to provide programs or activities in areas directly concerned with arts or cultural heritage for the public demonstrated by 51%+ of the operating budget directed toward those areas;

 · Be based in ArtsWave’s 16 counting funding region, including: Brown, Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren Counties in Ohio; Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, and Pendleton Counties in Kentucky; and Dearborn, Franklin, Ohio and Union Counties in Indiana; 

 · Have a 501(c)3 tax status for five or more years for organizations with annual operating budgets (expenses) less than $1 million OR 10 or more years for organizations with annual operating budgets (expenses) more than $1 million;

 · Employ at least 3 FTE paid and/or contract professional and/or administrative staff (Full-time Equivalent is defined as an average of 30 hours per week); 

 · Manage a board with at least 3 board members who have an active role in the organization; ensure compliance with both the state and federal guidelines for a nonprofit;

 · Have received some form of funding support from ArtsWave in at least three of ArtsWave’s last five fiscal years (Five-year period = Sept. 1, 2020 – August 31, 2025); this does not include pass-through CARES Act or ARP Act governmental funding;

 · Have maintained a balanced budget over the organization’s past three fiscal years OR have less than 10% accumulated deficit of annual operating budget, and;

 · For organizations with annual operating budgets (expenses) more than $1 million ONLY- have maintained a current ratio of 2 or greater over the past three fiscal years. (See appendix for explanation).

 · Have no outstanding (overdue) report from previous ArtsWave grants or other commitments; 

 · Current financial position to create community impact, knowing ArtWave's Sustaining Impact grant is impact-based and not need-based.

 Letter of Inquiry (LOI) Instructions 

 All LOI materials must be submitted via the online grantmaking system, Submittable.com. We strongly recommend that you begin your online application well before the due date to familiarize yourself with the online system and to address any technical concerns. 

 While completing your application, remember these tips:  

• Be brief, clear, and direct in your narrative. Focus on what is most  important. 
•  We  recommend that you prepare your responses offline in a word processing  program and then copy and paste them into the appropriate sections of the online application.   
• Add impact@artswave.org to your safe senders’ list to ensure that you receive all communications from the online grantmaking system. 

Please complete the form by November 28, 2025 5:00 pm. Eligible organizations will be invited to apply for the full FY27-29 application in January 2026.

Need to bring some entertainment to an event or a creative break during a long meeting? Schedule a performance from one of the Cincinnati region's top artists!
Performances can range from an evening of live, in-person entertainment to a quick 5-10 minute virtual drop-in. All art forms are available to fit you and your team. Some examples include...

• At a retirement party, the lyrics to a popular song are rewritten about the person retiring, then sung by a professional who pops in to the meeting (virtually or in-person) to share in the fun.
• A company has someone in leadership who loves classical music, so to surprise that person, an instrumentalist visits the office or joins a call to perform a piece.
• A jazz band provides ambient music for a lunch event.
• A local actor performs a stirring monologue to get the team ready for a major project that's about to begin.

For a list of available artists, check out the Artist Roster.

The rate for each 5-10 minute virtual performance is $125, with most of that fee going directly to the artist. The suggested rates for live, in-person performances are as follows:

• Soloists: $150/hour
• Duos: $300/hour
• Trios: $375/hour
• Quartet+: $125 per performer/hour

 
* Please note, a $25 processing fee will be added to all in-person performances. Rates are subject to change based on artist/ availability.