2026 Flexible Support Grant Program

The Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (MRAC) administers the Flexible Support grant program, funded through a legislative appropriation from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. This funding initiative is intended to bolster organizations and groups across the seven-county metropolitan region of Minnesota in their efforts to enhance access to the arts. The program specifically targets smaller organizations with modest arts programming budgets, providing them with flexible resources to either sustain current operations or expand their capacity and reach. Flexible Support is designed to support a wide array of proposals, including general operations, programmatic work, and limited capital improvements. Organizations may request up to $25,000, with funding structured to benefit groups led by individuals from historically marginalized communities—including Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC); people with disabilities; and LGBTQ+ individuals—as well as groups based in less centrally located metro counties (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Scott, and Washington). Eligible spending may cover costs such as rent, utilities, staff salaries, software, accessibility upgrades, or direct arts programming. However, requests cannot include real estate purchases, religious instruction, fundraising for other entities, or programming that replaces mandatory state arts education curricula in schools. Eligible applicants include arts nonprofits with annual cash expenses of $400,000 or less, cultural or non-arts nonprofits with the same limit specific to arts programming, community education units with any level of arts-related expenditures, public entities with $400,000 or less in arts expenses, and fiscally sponsored groups with cash expenses under $400,000. All applicants must have a primary address in one of the seven eligible metro counties and a leadership team of at least three individuals capable of making organizational decisions. Fiscal sponsors must be Minnesota-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofits with valid IRS and Secretary of State registrations. Applications are submitted online through Submittable. For FY26, two funding rounds are available. Round 1 opens on July 7, 2025, with a deadline of August 18, 2025, and covers expenses incurred between December 4, 2025, and May 31, 2027. Round 2 opens January 5, 2026, and closes February 17, 2026, funding projects between June 2, 2026, and May 31, 2027. Applications must be completed in full with no changes permitted post-submission. Any activity or expenditure falling outside the funding window renders the application ineligible. Applications are reviewed and scored by trained community panelists across the metro counties. Evaluations are based on artistic goals, access, activities, and capacity to meet proposal objectives. Scores are averaged and ranked, and funds are awarded until the annual allocation is exhausted. The application narrative includes sections on organizational mission, proposal objectives, community impact, timeline, and a detailed budget plan that must align with the narrative. If additional funds are needed beyond the MRAC request, applicants must disclose other funding sources and their secured or pending status. Technical assistance is available throughout the application windows via email at flexiblesupport@mrac.org. Application assistance is offered for Round 1 between July 7 and August 15, 2025, and for Round 2 from January 5 to February 13, 2026. MRAC staff can answer eligibility and procedural questions but cannot provide content feedback or edit submissions. Additional resources, including scoring guides and budget templates, are available on MRAC’s website.