ATAP’s Archiving Manual offers many suggestions for engaging your boards, donors, staff, and volunteers with the work of preserving your archive. Your initial review of what you have and what you want to do with it – your archives mission statement – can be repurposed for fundraising appeals and grant applications.
If you find you need funds to support your archival project, your current supporters may be among the most reliable sources. Perhaps you launch your own archive-focused crowdfunding campaign? Or a benefit performance in support of the archives? Some theatre companies have auctioned unwanted duplicate playbills, photographs, and other ephemera to raise funds for the archives while also connecting their audiences more deeply with their histories.
There are also grants from foundations and government agencies that might also be able to help. The priorities of grant funders shift every year, so be sure your project matches the goals of the funder before you apply.
A reference tool available online by subscription for identifying government, corporate, and private and independent funding sources. Online access to the Directory is provided by many public and academic libraries.
Society of American Archivists: List of State and Federal Granting Agencies
Lists of U.S. federal and state government agencies and private granting agencies compiled by the Society of American Archivists. Many of the agencies require that grant recipients make their archives available to the public. If you are planning to place your company’s archives with a public or academic repository, you may be able to partner with the repository on a grant application.
National Foundations (examples)
“Through our Arts and Culture program, Mellon celebrates the power of the arts to challenge, activate, and nourish the human spirit. We support exceptional creative practice, scholarship, and conservation practices while nurturing a representative and robust arts and culture ecosystem. We work with artists, curators, conservators, scholars, and organizations to ensure equitable access to excellent arts and cultural experiences and support approaches that place the arts and artists at the center of thriving, healthy communities.”
“While the majority of our grants are identified by the foundation, we welcome proposals that fit within our lines of work. Each program has its own strategy and comprehensive selection process. We aim to be as clear as possible about our priorities, but we know that there are more worthy ideas, approaches, and organizations than we have the resources to fund. We recognize the time and energy it takes to apply, and because we respect the value of your time, we don’t want to encourage applicants to apply when there isn’t an opportunity for funding.” A list of projects currently taking submissions is listed on the website.
Local and Regional Foundations (examples)
Local and regional foundations often offer the best funding opportunities for theater companies, as they focus their resources on organizations that serve those in their geographic areas. State arts and humanities councils are often seeking to preserve regional local histories and could also be helpful sources. Your public library may maintain lists of local funding resources.
John Randolph Haynes Foundation
Los Angeles County Arts and Culture Organizational Grant Program
Many thanks to Susan Brady and Eric Colleary for developing this resource.