New York City Cultural Innovation Fund Idea Submission

The idea submsission period has ended.

Welcome to the NYC Cultural Innovation Fund online idea submission process. Established in 2007, the fund annually awards $2.5 million in two-year grants—ranging from $50,000 to $250,000—to spur and support innovation in New York City's creative sector.

The Criteria

Innovation in the organizational context is a new presentation, process, or service that is discontinuous from previous practice and yields new pathways for fulfilling an organization's mission and/or for solving acute problems.***

Your NYC Cultural Innovation Fund project must be within the five boroughs and should fall within one or more of the following categories:

Creative engagement with the issues shaping New York City's future cultural and civic agenda.
Programming and premieres of new artistic work that demonstrate fresh perspectives and can activate new directions in the visual, performing and media arts.
New partnerships among cultural organizations, community-based institutions, universities and the private sector.
Interventions designed to confront longstanding bottlenecks and limitations on the expansion of cultural vitality with fresh approaches and solutions.

The Process

1) Submit an idea for an innovative cultural and/or artistic project by filling out the online form, below.*
2) By January 2012, you will be notified by email whether or not you will be invited to submit a full application. Please note that a Cultural Data Project profile will be required of arts organizations for 2012 applications. Learn more about creating a Cultural Data Project profile here.
3) Applicants will receive notification of proposed grants later in 2012.

* If your project is NOT for an NYC Cultural Innovation grant, but for any other Rockefeller Foundation program, go to the funding inquiry application.

The Deadline

October 31, 2011 at 11:59 p.m.

Describing Your Idea

When submitting your idea (via the form below), please state clearly the goal your organization hopes to achieve with your proposed innovative project. How will this project enable your organization to meet its objectives differently in the future? How does your project manifest creativity, innovation, nontraditional approaches and fresh thinking? What makes this project distinctive, compared to the work of other organizations that are attempting to achieve the same or similar goals? What value does the project add and for whom?

Please note that NYC Cultural Innovation Fund grants are not sources of support for general operations or for long-standing programs. The fund is specifically meant to support changes in organizational and/or artistic practice. While the largest sum you can request is $250,000, your request is not a guarantee that, if supported, you will receive that amount. This must be factored into your financial planning as well as into your application.

Re-applying

If you have received a New York City Cultural Innovation Fund award in the past, you may re-apply for a different project after the next award cycle. Awardees from 2010 may submit new ideas in fall 2011 for the 2012 cycle. Awardees from 2011 may submit new ideas in fall 2012 for the 2013 cycle.

If your organization has distinctly different divisions (such as a university encompassing different schools), a different division may submit a new idea the year following your receipt of an NYC Cultural Innovation Fund award. Awardees from 2011 may submit new ideas from a different institutional division in fall 2011 for the 2012 cycle. Your institution will be asked to substantiate the assertion that the submission is by a separate division of the institution.

Grant Contact

Honorific
First Name
Middle Name
*Last Name
*Title
*Phone	Include extension, if any.
*Email

Organization Info

*Organization Name
Web site Address
*Borough
*Address 1
Address 2
*City
State
*Zip

Partnerships

Partnerships are not required. If you do plan to partner, you must list partner contact information. You may list up to four partner individuals or organizations.

Partner #1

Organization Name
Web site	Address for the organization's Web site. Must begin "http://".
Contact Name
Contact Title
Contact Phone
Contact Email

Partner #2

Organization Name
Web site	Address for the organization's Web site. Must begin "http://".
Contact Name
Contact Title
Contact Phone
Contact Email

Partner #3

Organization Name
Web site	Address for the organization's Web site. Must begin "http://".
Contact Name
Contact Title
Contact Phone
Contact Email

Partner #4

Organization Name
Web site	Address for the organization's Web site. Must begin "http://".
Contact Name
Contact Title
Contact Phone
Contact Email

Submit an Idea

Please be sure to read Describing Your Idea (above) and to include the borough(s) where your project will be located. To submit your idea, please describe it in the box below. The maximum length is about 320 words or 2250 characters (note the character counter at the bottom of the box). All submissions must be in English. All fields marked with an asterisk (*) on this form are required.

*Project Title
Idea Description Briefly describe your project. You have used 0 of 2250* characters (about 321 words).
*Grant Amount Request	$

If more detailed and/or complete information is required, we will contact you. If you have any questions please contact us at CIFHelp@rockfound.org.

** By clicking above on "SUBMIT" you agree that: 1) your submission is made freely without restriction or expectation of compensation; 2) The Rockefeller Foundation's acceptance of your idea through this portal is not an offer or solicitation to enter into an express or implied contract or commitment whatsoever, nor does it create a confidential relationship or any obligation of confidentiality between you and The Rockefeller Foundation, and 3) by its receipt of your submission, The Rockefeller Foundation does not waive any rights to use or fund similar or related ideas developed independently from yours.

*** This definition is adapted from definitions by Richard Evans, Andrew Hargadon and Geoff Mulgan.