Variety the Children’s Charity of New York Announces 2014 Grant Application
Grassroots Organizations in New York, New Jersey & Connecticut Invited to Apply for Grants to Transform the Lives of Children through the Arts
Variety the Children’s Charity of New York supports grassroots non-profit organizations in the New York Tri-State area whose programs use the arts as a catalyst to transform the lives of children in underserved communities.
Variety believes that the arts have the power to create new opportunities, build self-confidence and ultimately change lives of the children we serve. Through our grant-making, we provide children with a better future and strengthen the communities in which they reside.
In order to qualify for a Variety New York grant, your organization must be a grassroots non-profit transforming the lives of children through the arts. The work must have an impact on the lives of children in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut. The program(s) must fall into one of our focus areas:
- Art Therapy – programs using formal therapy programs, with licensed arts therapists, to support the individual and social growth of children experiencing mental or physical traumas. Therapy program may incorporate any arts medium including, but not limited to music to dance to visual arts to performance. There is an understand that these programs may reach fewer youth, therefore it is imperative that these applicants clearly demonstrate long term care and outcomes for youth.
- Arts Education – programs using the arts in or out of school to support the individual, interpersonal, academic, vocational or civic outcomes for youth. These programs focus highly on the process to create rather than the ultimate product, although the arts products resulting from these programs are often of high quality. Often these programs hinge on the employment of teaching artists and other professional with arts, education and youth development expertise.
- Arts for Social Change – programs using the arts as a mechanism by which youth are contributing to community development, social change and/or social justice efforts. The focus of these programs is often multifaceted with outcomes at the community level as well as the individual youth level. Youth engaged in these programs often demonstrated increased competencies in leadership, civic engagement and social awareness.
Variety awards restricted grants for specific projects and programs up to $20,000. First year applicants typically receive grants between $5,000 and $10,000. Applicants must first submit a letter of inquiry no longer than two pages which includes the following information:
- Designation of program area(s) (therapy, education, social change)
- Amount requested
- A brief overview of the organization and the proposed program/project
- Description of organization’s unique characteristics
- Population served
- Alignment to Variety New York’s mission
- How Variety’s Value-Added program will help the organization
Additionally, applicants must be prepared to fully participate in Variety New York’s value-added programming, which includes monthly workshops, data collection for collective evaluation, publication opportunities and attendance at additional value-added events. For more information about Variety’s Value-Added Philanthropy program please download our publication “The Art of Adding Value” at https://varietyny.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Variety-Paper_Feb2013_FINAL_pages.pdf.
The letter of inquiry deadline is November 21, 2014, 5:00 pm EST. Letters must be submitted in hard copy by mail. Late applications will not be accepted. The letters should be mailed to or dropped off at Variety New York’s offices.
Please mail your application to:
ATTN: Jessica Bynoe
Executive Director
Variety the Children’s Charity of New York
505 Eighth Avenue, Suite 1800
New York, NY 10018
Up to 30 applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal for review by Variety’s staff and board. Applicants invited to submit will be notified by December 13, 2014. Full applications will be due in mid-January followed by site visits to the finalists. Grant decisions will be made in June 2015 and funds distributed thereafter.
We do not grant money for capital improvements, administrative overhead, to other foundations, nor individuals. We do not make funding commitments beyond one year.
For more information about Variety the Children’s Charity of New York’s grant-making or the 2014 grant application process, please contact Jessica Bynoe at [email protected]. Applicants are encouraged to reach out to discuss their work prior to submitting.