PECO Powering the Arts Program

The 2025 Powering the Arts Grant is a collaborative initiative sponsored by PECO, Team Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania Creative Industries, supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. This funding opportunity targets nonprofit organizations engaged in arts and culture programming in southeastern Pennsylvania and designated areas of York County. The program seeks to enhance audience diversity and accessibility in local arts initiatives by supporting both planning and implementation efforts focused on reaching new demographic groups not traditionally served by the applicant's current audience base. The purpose of this grant is to foster grassroots audience development across Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties, as well as select ZIP codes in York County (17302, 17309, 17314, and 17321). The initiative encourages applicants to understand and evaluate their existing audience composition and strategically engage groups that differ in age, gender, ethnicity, geographic location, or ability. Organizations may apply for either a Planning Grant or an Implementation Grant, depending on whether they are in the research and strategy development phase or actively executing audience diversification strategies. Eligible activities under the Planning Grant include conducting audience research, developing new audience engagement plans, or evaluating and refining existing plans. Implementation Grants support active outreach and programming efforts, such as removing barriers to access, designing inclusive activities, hosting external community arts events, building community partnerships, and expanding promotional strategies to reach new groups. Funding may be used to support staff salaries related to project management and other planning or implementation expenses. Applicants must be nonprofit arts or community organizations with an annual operating budget not exceeding $2 million. Fiscal sponsorship through a 501(c)(3) is permitted. Only organizations physically located in the specified counties are eligible. Educational institutions, government bodies, individuals, and faith-based organizations are not eligible. All programming funded must be open and accessible to the public and must prominently acknowledge the support from PECO, Team Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania Creative Industries in their materials and activities. Each awarded grant is $5,000 and requires a 1:1 match, of which up to 50% may be provided in-kind. Projects must be completed within the grant activity period from October 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. Grantees must submit a final report within 60 days after the activity period ends, detailing project implementation, finances, and supporting documentation such as photos or videos. Applications open on July 1, 2025, and must be submitted by July 31, 2025, at 5:00 PM. A panel of diverse individuals active in the arts and culture sector will review the applications based on their understanding of current audiences, logical strategies for engaging new ones, feasibility of plans, and clear evaluation methods. Final award decisions will be made by PECO, with grant announcements expected on September 15, 2025. All inquiries about the application process can be directed to poweringthearts@teampa.com.

Review eligibility requirements and program priorities before submitting.