Applying for Shakespeare in American Communities: Schools

Shakespeare in American Communities welcomes applications from 501c3 non-profit professional theater companies located in the U.S. or the Native Nations that share this geography and:

• Have a minimum of two years’ experience providing professional performances and related educational activities to middle and/or high schools.
• Do not have overdue reports or funding moratoria with Arts Midwest.
• Have a UEI [Unique Entity ID] number from SAM.gov, by late April 2025 in order to receive grant funds. Apply for a free UEI at SAM.gov.
• Can comply with Federal eligibility requirements.

Programming must take place between August 1, 2025, and July 31, 2026.

Applicants may request a grant ranging from $15,000 to $25,000.

These funds derive from Federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts (Assistance Listing #45.024: Promotion of the Arts Grants to Organizations and Individuals).

Organizations may submit an application for only one Shakespeare in American Communities grant opportunity. You must choose between Schools, Juvenile Justice, or Apprenticeships.

Each Shakespeare in American Communities: Schools project must meet these requirements:

1. Perform a play written by (or inspired by) William Shakespeare; an adaptation of Shakespeare’s text; or a production that incorporates scenes, monologues, and/or sonnets by Shakespeare.

• The actors in the production must be professionals, paid at no less than the prevailing minimum compensation. (This requirement is in accordance with the regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor in part 505 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations.) It is not required that actors be part of an Actors’ Equity contract.
• Performances may be held in a theater company’s facility, a school, a community venue, or virtually.

2. Conduct educational activities with young audiences that explore and address Shakespeare’s work in modern context.

• Activities must be led by experienced teaching artists, educators, or actors with strong credentials and training.
• Examples include workshops, pre- or post-performance discussions/talkbacks, curriculum-based residencies, or other activities that offer interaction between students and teaching artists or actors. Study guides do not qualify as an activity.
• Activities must be related to the production being performed for students.
• Virtual and/or pre-recorded activities are eligible as long as students have the opportunity to interact live and in real-time with teaching artists in some capacity.

3. Reach five or more middle and/or high school-age, underserved audiences with performances and related educational activities.

• Underserved refers to groups whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited relative to geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability.
• Audiences could include, but are not limited to, communities of color, people with disabilities, older adults, rural areas, reservations, lower income communities, LGBTQ+ communities, veterans, and justice-impacted citizens.

4. Participate in virtual and in-person convenings with other grantees

• Arts Midwest will host several virtual and one in-person networking and professional development convenings for Shakespeare in American Communities grantees. Travel, lodging, and limited food costs for one company representative will be covered by Arts Midwest for the in-person convening at the end of the grant cycle.

5. Provide a budget for the project that includes eligible expenses and demonstrates a plan for providing a one-to-one match for the grant.

• Eligible expenses are those that directly relate to your programming.
• Examples include:
  • Artistic fees for actors, directors, designers, choreographers, etc.
  • Production costs of props, costumes, set, etc.;
  • Travel costs associated with touring productions or artist travel
  • A prorated portion of staff salaries
  • Printing and marketing expenses
  • Other direct costs associated with the production and educational programming.

• Please do not include unallowable costs in your budget. Unallowable costs include, but are not limited to:
  • Refreshments, concessions, food, and alcohol
  • Fellowships or cash prizes
  • Payment for facilities, purchase of capital equipment, or non-project related administrative expenses.
  • Overlapping project costs between federal awards, whether received directly from a federal agency or indirectly, such as through a state agency or other entity.
  • Entertainment costs, such as opening parties, receptions, or fundraisers designed to raise funds for your own organization and on behalf of another person, organization, or cause.
  • Programs restricted to any organization’s membership; programs must be promoted and available to the general public.
• Matching requirement: Applicants must demonstrate matching funds on a one-to-one basis for the grant. Potential sources for the match include:
  • Salaries and wages not covered by this grant
  • In-kind contributions
  • Volunteer hours
  • Earned and contributed revenue (donations, ticket sales, other non-Federal grants)
  • Cash

To demonstrate the match, your expenses and revenues should each be at least double your grant request. For example, if you request a $15,000 Shakespeare grant, the total project budget must be at least $30,000. You will be required to list the sources and amounts you are using for this match. Federal funds cannot be used as match.

For all grant applications, we use an online platform called SmartSimple. Applicants will need to register if they are new to using the system.

Previous applicants and grantees will be able to access the application by visiting the Funding Opportunities tile on the “Grants for Organizations” home page.

Step 1: Intent to Apply

An intent to apply is an initial step in the application process that confirms your organization’s eligibility for Shakespeare in American Communities. This step should only take 10-15 minutes. It is required in order to submit a full application.

Questions and requirements:

• Applicant organization details (EIN, UEI number from SAM.gov, annual operating budget, mission statement, organization location information, publicity name).
• Primary contact information
• Short summary of project activities (250 words)
• Project start and end dates
• The name of the production/play
• Grant request amount

Step 1: Full Application

Summary and statistics for proposed activities

• Anticipated youth served, anticipated adults served
• Venue(s) for performance(s)
• Types of performances
• Number of schools reached
• Grade levels reached
• Types of educational activities
• Percentage of schools that will receive workshops or residency activities
• Percentage of schools that will participate in pre- or post-show discussions
• Number of performances for students
• Number of actors in production(s)
• Geographic areas reached

Narrative Questions

1) Briefly describe your organization’s history and achievements. (400 words)

2) Artistic Excellence and Merit of Programming (700 words)

• Describe the selected production and why it was chosen, its relevance to today, and how it relates to the work of William Shakespeare (if it is not one of his plays).
• Explain your company’s approach to the play(s).
• Describe the professional artistic team (director, designers, actors, etc.), if known, and why they were chosen.
• Provide the run time, and if shortened, why this decision was made and how the themes of the play will be maintained.

3) Depth of Audience Engagement (700 words)

• Describe, in detail, the content of the educational programming activities.
• Describe the credentials of teaching artist or other staff who will lead these activities.
• Explain how you will address the needs of students of different backgrounds, abilities, ages, and learning styles.
• If offering virtual or hybrid activities, describe how students will have access to the activities and how you will ensure participation and engagement

4) Planning for Success (700 words)

• Describe your company’s strategy to reach at least five middle and high schools.
• Explain your experience performances and educational activities to students. Provide details about any existing relationships with schools/educators.
• Briefly describe the fee structure of your educational programming (e.g. free tickets, bus subsidies, etc.) and how any subsidies are determined and funded.
• Describe how your company would pivot the proposed programming in response to unforeseen challenges.

5) Other required information (500 words)

• List of core partner schools

6) Resource Management

• Organization’s total revenue (current fiscal year and last fiscal year)
• Organization’s total expenses (current fiscal year and last fiscal year)
• Project Budget
• Describe your company’s plan to meet the match requirement. Explain how you would meet the required match if projected earned income from schools is decreased. (200 words)

Applications are reviewed by an independent advisory panel. That panel is composed of a diverse group of arts and literature experts and other individuals with broad knowledge of community programs. Panel composition changes annually.

The panel will use four criteria in the review process. Each criterion is on a scale of (5) for a maximum of (20) points per application.

Grantees are selected based on:

• Artistic excellence and merit of programming. The panel will review the evidence of sound artistic decisions, the professional team of artists and staff, the rationale for choosing the play, the production’s viewpoint and themes, and the relevance of the programming to today’s youth.
• Depth of audience engagement. The panel will consider the plan for workshops, talkbacks, and performances insofar as the depth of engagement with students, plans for reaching schools from underserved communities, and the consideration of the needs of students of different backgrounds, abilities, ages, and learning styles.
• Planning for success. The panel will evaluate the plan for using the grant funds; goals that are clearly stated and align with the intent of Shakespeare in American Communities: Schools and the feasibility to reach five or more schools with educational programming.
• Resource management. The panel will consider the applicant’s ability to manage and implement a federal award. This could include organization expertise; proven fiscal responsibility; etc.

Apply

There is a two-step application process.

• Submit a mandatory intent to apply by January 30.
• Submit a complete application by February 13.

Arts Midwest staff will review applications for eligibility and completeness. We will follow up with any questions or corrections before applications proceed to the review stage.

Review

All complete and eligible applications will be reviewed by a panel in March and April of 2025.

Award

All applicants will receive an email notification of award decisions in May 2025.

Convening

Grantees should plan to send one representative to an in-person convening in Minnesota in Summer of 2026.

Programming

Funded project activities occur between August 1, 2025, and July 31, 2026. Final reports are due about a month after conclusion of planned activities.

Any changes or updates to planned activities should be communicated to Arts Midwest staff as early as possible.

Reporting 

A preliminary activity listing will be due 30 days before the project starts and a final report will be due 30 days after the project is completed. The final report consists of a final listing of events, statistics on audiences and artists, narratives, and a final budget. 

If you have additional questions, we invite you to join Grants Officer Joshua Feist for office hours. You can sign up for office hours using the links below:

• 11am-12pm CT Thursday, November 21, 2024. Sign up here.
• 1-2pm CT Monday, December 9, 2024. Sign up here.

You can also always email Arts Midwest with your questions at [email protected]

Arts Midwest works to ensure that grant guidelines, presentations, and any other written materials are created with accessibility and disability experiences in mind.

We are happy to work with applicants on alternative formats, including but not limited to using an adapted form in Microsoft Word or taking verbal responses.

Please complete this form so we can help make a grant or program accessible to you. We may not be able to accommodate requests made after January 23, 2025.

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