Grants

The Morrison-Shearer Foundation has been awarding modest grants and event sponsorships since 1990. During Sybil Shearer’s lifetime, recipients were proposed by her and approved by the Trustees. Today, the Foundation charges its Program Committee to oversee the planning, development, evaluation, and ongoing management of the organization’s programs and services, ensuring they align with the mission and strategic goals, and providing recommendations to the full board based on their analysis and findings. The Program Committee of the Board of Trustees acts as the primary body responsible for monitoring and optimizing the organization’s program delivery including grant making, public programs, publications, exhibitions and choreographic reconstructions. MSF Grant History.

Eligibility Criteria

Funding is focused on those dance and media artists and arts organizations located within the United States whose work is congruent with the artistic discipline and creative individuality embodied in Shearer’s and Morrison’s own work. When the Trustees’ attention is called to artists and arts organizations that demonstrate those ideals, an invitation to submit a grant proposal will be offered. Grants are given only to or through 501(c)3 organizations. The Morrison-Shearer Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals.

Application Requirements

We work to minimize the burden of preparing an application as much as possible while still receiving enough information for the Foundation to make its determinations. Applications should include:

  • Proposal Narrative
  • Organization Description (for organizations)
  • CV and Artist’s Statement (for individual artists)
  • Project Description and how it serves the organization’s mission, if applicable to the funding request
  • Timeline, if applicable
  • Budget of relevant income and expenses
  • Copies of most recently completed financial statements, audited if available
  • Supporting materials (e.g., artistic portfolios, work samples, etc.)

A site visit may be necessary for requests for significant funding, complex projects, or when the Foundation needs to verify information beyond what is described in writing, assess organizational capacity, understand community impact, or build stronger partnerships.

Budgetary Guidance

This Budget Template provides guidance on how to structure an organizational and/or project budget, detailing eligible expenses with consideration for in-kind contributions, administrative fees, etc.

Application Review and Awards

 We acknowledge that the work of inviting and reviewing proposals and making the final grant awards is a subjective process.

 The Foundation uses the following standards in determining its grant awards:

  • Artistic quality
  • Innovation
  • Potential impact in the field
  • Alignment with the Foundation’s mission, vision and values

Grant proposals are reviewed on an annual basis by the Board of Trustees at its annual meeting in November. Recipients are notified about their award prior to the end of the calendar year and when they can expect payment. Grant payments are typically distributed in the first quarter of the following year. Additional grants may be awarded at various points throughout the year at the discretion of the Board.

Grant Award Agreement Letter

Each grant recipient is required to sign a Grant Award Agreement Letter that specifies the amount of the grant, the purposes of the funding, and confirms their agreement to the Foundation’s Reporting Requirements and Terms and Conditions.

Reporting Requirements

 A brief, final report to the Foundation should be received once these funds are expended but no later than the conclusion of the last month of the year in which the grant was made including the following information:

  • Use of grant funds
  • Your statement of compliance with the terms of the grant
  • Progress made toward achieving the purposes of the grant

The Morrison-Shearer Foundation requires public recognition of the Foundation’s gift in ways commensurate with its other funding sources and in consultation with the Foundation.

Terms and Conditions

  • Use funds appropriately. Apply all funds received from the Morrison-Shearer Foundation only for the purposes of the grant and repay any portion not used for such purposes.
  • Submit financial reports and statements. At least once a year during the existence of the grant period, submit full and complete financial report to the Morrison-Shearer Foundation of the type ordinarily required by commercial investors under similar circumstances.
  • Keep adequate records. Maintain books and records adequate enough to provide information on income and expenses and make these books and records available to the Morrison-Shearer Foundation at reasonable times, if requested.
  • Avoid political involvement. The grant funds shall not be used for propaganda purposes or to attempt to influence legislation; to influence the outcome of a specific public election or to carry on, directly or indirectly, a voter-registration drive; or to make a grant that doesn’t comply with the requirements of IRC Section 4945(d)(3) or (4).