Kentucky Arts Grants

This funding opportunity provides financial support to small and mid-sized nonprofit arts organizations in the southeastern U.S. for professional development activities that enhance staff skills and organizational effectiveness.

This grant provides funding to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in specific regions to support programs that assist low- to moderate-income individuals and families in areas such as community development, education, health services, arts, and the environment.

This grant provides financial support and professional development opportunities to exceptional scriptwriters residing in the Southern United States, celebrating their contributions to the region's cultural landscape.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to various organizations for creating and improving community learning centers that offer academic and enrichment programs for students in high-poverty, low-performing schools.

This grant provides financial assistance to homeowners in specific neighborhoods of Paducah for significant home rehabilitation or new construction projects, promoting energy efficiency and property improvement.

This program provides funding to resident-led groups in Covington, Kentucky, to support community beautification, social events, and projects that enhance neighborhood quality of life.

This program provides financial support to resident-led groups in Covington, Kentucky, for projects that improve neighborhood quality of life through beautification, blight removal, and community events.

This grant provides financial support and recognition to exceptional visual artists in the Southern U.S. to enhance their artistic practice and promote their work through exhibitions and residencies.

This grant provides financial assistance to homeowners in Paducah for exterior home improvement projects, encouraging community beautification and property enhancement.

This initiative provides funding to support large-scale economic development projects across the Appalachian region, focusing on workforce development, business growth, infrastructure improvements, and community capacity building.

This funding initiative provides financial support to community-based organizations, local and tribal governments in eight southeastern states to address environmental justice issues and promote healthier environments.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to nonprofit organizations and local governments in rural Southern communities for engaging professional artists in various artistic disciplines.

This grant provides funding to nonprofit organizations in Owensboro and Daviess County to support leadership development, accessible arts experiences, family support systems, and urgent community needs.

This grant provides funding to U.S.-based non-profit organizations to support projects that promote Japanese arts and culture, particularly in areas with limited access to such events.

Leap Funding, provided by Main Street Ventures, offers equity-free funding ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 to promising, revenue-generating businesses. The primary goal of this program is to help these businesses scale their community impact and enhance their long-term survival prospects. Main Street Ventures' mission, as evidenced by this grant, is to foster economic growth and community development by supporting local enterprises, particularly within the Greater Cincinnati region. This aligns with a strategic priority to strengthen local economies through direct investment in businesses that demonstrate strong potential and customer demand. The target beneficiaries of Leap Funding are established business entities, specifically C-Corps, S-Corps, or LLCs, that possess a Federal Tax ID (EIN). The program focuses on businesses within key industry areas, including retail storefronts (restaurants, coffee shops, retail shops), manufactured goods (consumer packaged goods, clothing, sporting goods), and technology companies (hardware, software). A critical geographical focus is the Greater Cincinnati region, encompassing specific counties in Ohio (Hamilton, Butler, Clermont, Warren), Kentucky (Boone, Campbell), and Indiana (Dearborn). Grant requests from outside this region are explicitly not considered. The program prioritizes funding for specific growth projects rather than general operating expenses. Main Street Ventures defines a growth project as a step that will accelerate business expansion. Suitable direct expenses include key equipment, packaging support, and technology product development. Conversely, general operating expenses such as existing payroll, rent, insurance, marketing, and legal fees are not eligible for grant funds. Businesses are also required to demonstrate customer demand and consistent progression since their founding, ensuring that the funding supports businesses with a proven track record and clear growth trajectory. Expected outcomes include accelerated business growth, increased community impact, and improved long-term survival rates for the funded enterprises. Measurable results would likely include job creation, increased revenue for the businesses, expansion into new markets, or enhanced product development. Special consideration is given to women and minority-owned businesses, as well as those that can secure matching funds from other sources, reflecting a strategic priority to promote diversity and leverage additional investment. The foundation's theory of change appears to be that by providing targeted, equity-free capital for specific growth initiatives, they can empower local businesses to expand, thereby creating a ripple effect of economic benefit and community resilience within the Greater Cincinnati area.

The Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SSARE) Education Grants program is designed to fund education and outreach activities that benefit the sustainable agriculture community. This grant directly aligns with SSARE's mission to promote efforts in farmer innovations, community resilience, business success, agricultural diversification, and best management practices. The core objective is to support projects that develop sustainable agriculture systems or move existing systems towards sustainability. The primary beneficiaries of these grants are farmers and farming communities, including those involved in indigenous agriculture producing for community food systems. Academic institutions, non-profits, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), 1890 land-grant university faculty/extension cooperators, 1862 land-grant universities, other colleges and universities, and government agencies are eligible to apply, acting as facilitators for these educational initiatives. The impact goals are centered on fostering a more sustainable, resilient, and economically viable agricultural sector through knowledge dissemination and practical application. Education Grants prioritize projects that clearly articulate what is being taught, to whom, and how the goals will be accomplished. Focus areas include experiential learning (demonstrations, on-farm tours, field days, workshops), integrative approaches (conferences, seminars, course curriculum), and reinforcement methods (fact sheets, bulletins, videos, online technologies). SSARE also encourages proposals on quality of life topics, such as heirs property, farmers’ markets, food hubs, local/regional processing, and urban agriculture systems, emphasizing the social health of farming systems. Expected outcomes include the adoption of sustainable agriculture practices, enhanced farmer innovation, increased community resilience, improved business success for agricultural enterprises, and greater agricultural diversification. Projects should yield results that are realistic, acceptable to farmers, logical, and capable of leading to tangible actions and benefits described in the proposal. The grant projects are strictly focused on education and outreach, with no research component, and are paid by reimbursement of allowable expenses. The foundation's strategic priorities are evident in the grant requirements, which mandate that project outcomes focus on sustainable agriculture systems and clearly demonstrate how education and outreach efforts will be implemented and evaluated. The theory of change underpinning this program is that by providing targeted education and outreach, knowledge and best practices will be transferred to farmers and communities, leading to the development and widespread adoption of sustainable agricultural methods and improved quality of life within farming systems. Project maximums are $50,000, with a duration limited to two years. Applicants from the Southern region, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, are eligible. Farmers involved in these projects must have farming/ranching as their primary occupation or part-time farming with at least $1,000 of documented annual income from their operation, with exceptions for indigenous agriculture.

This grant provides up to $100,000 to nonprofit organizations for innovative projects that address critical community needs in areas such as culture, education, environment, family, and health & wellness within the Tri-State region.

This grant provides funding to artists, cultural organizations, and community groups in Kentucky to create artistic projects that celebrate and reflect on the state's diverse history and narratives as part of the national 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

This funding supports Southern nonprofit organizations and government entities in enhancing their artistic programming and professional development through travel and training opportunities.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to nonprofit organizations and public schools in Greater Louisville to purchase musical instruments for music programs that serve immigrant youth and communities.