General Support Main Round

This is unrestricted operating money for organisations that have built a real body of work around contemporary American concert music, jazz, or both, and intend to keep going. Because it is unrestricted, it can go toward running costs rather than a single project, covering the support year from September through the following August.

The important catch is that this round is closed. Only organisations that applied to the Preliminary Round earlier in the cycle and were invited to submit a full proposal can apply here. Eligible bodies include performing ensembles, presenters, music service organisations and record companies; individuals cannot apply at all, with or without a fiscal sponsor, though organisations without their own nonprofit status can apply under fiscal sponsorship. The Fund treats music written in the last 40 years as contemporary, and American as work by US-citizen composers wherever they live plus non-citizens long resident in the US. School and student activity, commissioning fees and Broadway-style musical theatre are out.

Grants generally run from USD 2,000 to USD 20,000, with larger awards possible for larger organisations. The Fund never awards more than you request and suggests asking for no more than 30 per cent of your season operating expenses. No match funding is specified, and one year of support does not imply the next.

The application is substantial: narrative and season highlights within character limits, key personnel, community partnerships, audience information, three years of financials on the Fund's own budget template, a repertoire list, three MP3 samples and one score excerpt. Peer panels from the field assess repertoire quality and programming creativity, artistic quality of personnel, feasibility, multi-season commitment, geography, audience engagement and likely impact. Decisions come by the end of November.