Founders Concept Development Grant

The Children’s Theatre Foundation of America (CTFA) is a national organization dedicated to supporting excellence and equity in theatre for young audiences. A central focus of CTFA’s mission is to ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion are embedded in the future of youth theatre and in society as a whole. Through its grantmaking, CTFA provides resources for not-for-profit theatres to experiment with new concepts, research, and strategies in theatre for young audiences, recognizing that meaningful innovation requires financial support to take root. The 2025 Founders Concept Development Grant is designed to assist U.S.-based, 501(c)(3) certified nonprofit theatres in exploring creative and organizational innovation. The program encourages projects that are in the conceptual or early development stage, providing seed funding to help theatres test new ideas and approaches. The initiative explicitly seeks projects that push beyond traditional models of youth theatre and contribute to broader national conversations on social justice, inclusion, and equity in the arts. This year, the program has expanded its focus to include proposals aimed at redesigning organizational models and structures in response to contemporary challenges facing theatre institutions. Eligible applicants must be U.S. not-for-profit theatres that have maintained nonprofit status for at least three consecutive years, hold an annual operating budget exceeding one million dollars, and demonstrate a record of artistic quality. In addition, applicants must provide a one-to-one funding match, which may include in-kind salaries and services directly tied to the proposed project. Applications from organizations that received CTFA funding after January 1, 2023, are not eligible. General operating support, ticket subsidy programs, projects already underway, academic-credit activities, or proposals misaligned with CTFA’s mission are not considered for funding. The 2025 Founders Concept Development Grant will award multiple grants ranging from $3,000 to $6,000. These awards are not intended to serve as the sole financial resource for a project but to complement other funding sources while underwriting the crucial developmental stage of innovation. Grants will support projects scheduled to take place between November 24, 2025, and November 23, 2026. Awardees will receive 75 percent of the grant upon signing the grant agreement, with the remaining 25 percent disbursed following the submission of a final project report, due by November 24, 2026. Applications open at 12 PM on Monday, August 11, 2025, and must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM ET on Wednesday, September 17, 2025. Proposals must be submitted online via the Good Grants portal at https://ctfa.grantplatform.com/. The application form is not identical to the worksheet provided in CTFA’s guidelines, and applicants should ensure they submit through the designated portal. Because the committee operates on a volunteer basis, incomplete or vague applications will not be considered. Proposals will be reviewed by the CTFA Founders Grant committee, which will evaluate them based on alignment with CTFA’s mission and values, feasibility within the funding window, and the degree to which CTFA funds will make a meaningful difference. Applicants will be notified of their award status by 5 PM ET on Friday, November 14, 2025. All inquiries about the program should be directed to Founders.CTFA@gmail.com, as no phone contact information is provided. This opportunity provides established nonprofit theatres with both the resources and encouragement to engage in bold, creative thinking that may transform the field of theatre for young audiences nationwide.

Applications must be complete and aligned with CTFA’s mission. Vague or incomplete applications will not be considered.