Our Town is the NEA’s creative placemaking grants program. Through project-based funding, the program supports activities that integrate arts, culture, and design into local efforts that strengthen communities over the long term. Our Town projects engage a wide range of local stakeholders in efforts to advance local economic, physical, and/or social outcomes in communities. Competitive projects are responsive to unique local conditions, develop meaningful and substantive engagement in communities, center equity, advance artful lives, and lay the groundwork for long-term systems change.
An organization may serve as the eligible applicant on two (2) applications to Our Town. Interested applicants from within Duke should contact fundopps@duke.edu as early as possible.
A partnering organization may serve as a partner on as many applications as they like.
Deadline: August 1, 2024
Important Note About Matching Requirements: All grants require a non-federal match of at least 1:1. Please contact your chair or director and dean to confirm institutional support for your project and then contact your school development office to discuss the feasibility of raising matching funds before submitting an internal proposal. Also, you are encouraged to speak with the Office of Foundation Relations regarding corporate and foundation matching funds. They may be reached at 681-0468.
For Fiscal Year 2025, we are particularly interested in arts, culture, or design projects that address health/well-being, transportation/infrastructure, or climate-related challenges within a community.
All applications are submitted by one organization (the eligible applicant) and require one partner organization (the required partner). The applicant-partner pair must include 1) a nonprofit organization and 2) a local governmental or quasi-governmental entity. The pair will provide leadership for the project. Additional partners across all sectors are encouraged.
The applicant organization must meet the eligibility requirements, and will submit the application and assume full responsibility for the grant.
The following are eligible to apply: • Nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3), U.S. organizations • Nonprofit institutions of higher education • Units of local government • Federally recognized tribal communities or tribes
To be eligible, the applicant organization must: • Meet the NEA’s "Legal Requirements" including nonprofit, tax-exempt status at the time of application. (All organizations must apply directly on their own behalf. Applications through a fiscal sponsor/agent are not allowed. See more information on fiscal sponsors/agents.) • Have completed a three-year history of programming prior to the application deadline. o Programming must have started in or before August 2021
Applicants may request an amount between $25,000-$150,000, with a required minimum nonfederal cost share/match equal to the grant amount.
Our grants cannot exceed 50% of the total cost of the project. All grants require a nonfederal cost share/match of at least 1 to 1. For example, if you are requesting the lowest grant amount of $25,000, you must show a minimum of $25,000 in cost share/matching funds, and your total project expenses must be at least $50,000. These cost share/matching funds may be all cash or a combination of cash and in-kind contributions. You may include in your Project Budget cost share/matching funds that are proposed but not yet committed at the time of the application deadline.