For Arts & Culture Organizations

Win More Arts Grants with Compelling, Evidence-Based Applications

Northstar Toolkit helps arts and cultural organizations find aligned funders, showcase audience impact data, and write grant applications that resonate with arts funders.

The Challenges Arts & Culture Organizations Face

Grant writing in arts & culture comes with unique obstacles. Northstar Toolkit is built to solve them.

Quantifying Artistic Impact

Arts funders increasingly demand measurable outcomes — attendance data, community engagement metrics, educational impact — not just program descriptions.

Navigating Diverse Funding Sources

Arts funding comes from foundations, NEA, state arts councils, corporate sponsors, and individual donors. Each requires different approaches and language.

Small Teams, Big Proposals

Most arts organizations have lean staffs wearing many hats. Dedicated grant writers are rare, and applications compete with programming for limited time.

Telling Your Story with Data

Blending artistic vision with quantitative impact data is uniquely challenging. Applications need both compelling narrative and rigorous evidence.

Arts-Focused Funder Discovery

Search foundations and government agencies that fund visual arts, performing arts, museums, literary arts, and cultural preservation. See their giving history from 990 filings.

  • Filter by arts discipline: visual, performing, literary, media
  • Find NEA, state arts council, and foundation opportunities
  • AI alignment scoring for your artistic programs

Riverside Community Foundation

Sacramento, CAEIN: 941234567
Strong Match
$42.3M
Total Giving
$65K
Avg Grant Size
651
Total Grants
AI Analysis

The Riverside Community Foundation shows strong alignment with community-focused organizations in the Pacific Northwest. Their emphasis on equity and local impact suggests excellent potential for partnership.

Strengths & Alignments

  • Focus on community development aligns well with your mission.
  • History of multi-year funding relationships.

Considerations

  • Competitive with a 15% acceptance rate.

Applications That Blend Story and Data

Generate drafts that weave your artistic vision with audience impact data. The AI cites your actual attendance figures, survey results, and program outcomes.

  • AI drafts that balance narrative and quantitative evidence
  • Citation of your attendance data, surveys, and evaluations
  • Gap analysis before you submit
Draft Assistant
Section: Organizational Capacity
AI Draft

The Urban Sustainability Coalition has demonstrated measurable impact in climate resilience programming since 2015. In FY2023, we served 2,847 community members across 12 urban neighborhoods.

Source: 2023 Annual Impact Report, p.12
"Direct program participants increased 34% year-over-year..."

Our annual budget of $1.2M supports a team of 8 full-time staff with expertise in environmental justice and community organizing.

3 sources cited
All verified
Continue Drafting

Never Miss an Arts Funding Deadline

Monitor open grants from arts-focused foundations, government agencies, and corporate funders. Get alerts for opportunities matching your organization's profile.

  • Daily updates from hundreds of grant sources
  • Filter by arts discipline, geography, and grant size
  • Save and track opportunities through your pipeline
Major Grant

Community Innovation Fund

Riverside Foundation

Funder:Riverside Foundation
March 15, 2025
$150,000

The Foundation is seeking proposals from organizations building innovative community programs that address local housing, education, or workforce...

HousingCommunityWorkforceEquityCalifornia
Show more details
10 years
Of 990 filing data, back to 2010
5 seats
Included in every plan
$79/mo
Full access, billed annually

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Northstar work for small arts organizations and theaters?

Yes. Northstar Toolkit is designed for organizations of all sizes. Whether you're a community theater, independent gallery, or large museum, the platform helps you organize your impact data and find aligned funders.

Can it help with NEA and state arts council applications?

Absolutely. The grants feed tracks opportunities from NEA, state arts councils, and hundreds of arts-focused foundations. The grant writing tools help you build evidence-based applications for any funder.

How does the AI handle artistic program descriptions?

The AI draws from your uploaded documents — past applications, program descriptions, audience surveys, and evaluation reports. It uses your language and data, ensuring applications authentically represent your artistic work.

Can I track audience engagement data in the platform?

Yes. Upload audience surveys, attendance reports, and community engagement data into your evidence library. These metrics become available for citation across all your grant applications.

Ready to Win More Arts & Culture Grants?

Join arts & culture organizations using Northstar Toolkit to find funders, organize evidence, and write winning applications.

7-day trial with full platform access. No credit card required.