NYFA sponsors a specific project with a defined scope and a clear end point, not an ongoing artistic practice. A reading series, an annual event, a publishing platform, or a YouTube channel is a practice. A specific season, edition, or body of work within it can be a project. Long-term or multi-phase projects are fine if you can describe milestones and a clear path to completion.
Click a question to see what it means and what a strong answer includes.
NYFA must be your only fiscal sponsor. The one exception is a local fiscal sponsor used solely for a specific local or state grant that requires one.
If you have a local sponsor for that purpose, you will be asked to describe it in this section.
If you have an active sponsorship elsewhere, you must formally end it before you join NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship. This process can occur during or after acceptance, provided the project is ready to leave its current fiscal sponsor upon being accepted. Grants and income raised through that sponsor stay with them and cannot be transferred to NYFA.
Choose the category that best describes your project’s main artistic form. If your project crosses several forms, choose Interdisciplinary.
Dance: choreography, dance performance, and dance film where movement is the primary form.
Design: architecture, landscape, graphic, product, and fashion design.
Film and Media Arts: narrative and documentary film, video, animation, radio and podcasts, new media, digital and computer-based art, and virtual or augmented reality.
Folk and Traditional Arts: cultural practices passed down within a community, such as traditional music, dance, crafts, foodways, and storytelling.
Interdisciplinary: work that combines two or more art forms, where no single form is primary.
Literary Arts: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, playwriting for publication, translation, publishing, and book arts.
Music and Opera: composition, recording, live performance, and opera or music theater.
Social Practice: art made with or for a community, where the process, participation, or social change is central to the work.
Theater and Performance: plays, devised theater, musical theater, puppetry, and performance art.
Visual Arts: painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, photography, installation, and craft.
Arts Education and Service: arts education programs, and services that support artists or arts organizations.
Other: if none of these fit, choose Other and describe your discipline in a few words.
You will only see this question if it applies to your discipline.
Copyright must remain with you throughout the sponsorship period. Afterward, you are free to sell or license the rights, for example to a publisher.
If you have already sold or assigned rights to a publisher or third party, please select "I have already sold or assigned rights to this work to a publisher or third party".
Using someone else’s work usually requires permission, called a license. Securing it early avoids delays, extra costs, or having to remove material later. It also helps the panel understand your timeline and budget.
You don’t need every license in place to apply. We ask you to confirm that you understand securing the rights is your responsibility, and that any licensing fees should appear as an expense in your Part 5 budget.
The title of the project NYFA will sponsor. It appears on your contract.
If this is a working title, please add "(working title)" after it.
Example: My Project (working title)
What a strong project summary includes
What it is: the type of work, plus the length for film, documentary or music.
Who is making it: the lead artist.
What it's about: the subject or premise, in plain language.
Where and when: the venue or city and the expected date, if known.
Example: A 75-minute documentary film by John Smith following a neighborhood brass band in the Bronx as it prepares for its 50th anniversary concert, to premiere at a community screening in the Bronx in spring 2027.
For film, video, performance, or other time-based work, the estimated length in minutes. Otherwise enter N/A.
Example: 90
Definition by Americans for the Arts
Cultural equity embodies the values, policies, and practices that ensure that all people, including but not limited to those who have been historically underrepresented based on race/ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, or religion, are represented in the development of arts policy; the support of artists; the nurturing of accessible, thriving venues for expression; and the fair distribution of programmatic, financial, and informational resources.
This question asks whether people who have been historically underrepresented are included in your work, your decisions, and your resources.
A strong answer describes concrete practices, not general values: who you serve, who makes decisions, how you pay artists, and how you remove barriers such as cost, language, or physical access.
NYFA sponsors projects with a clear beginning and end, not ongoing practices. Your timeline shows the panel that the project is well planned and has a path to completion. Reviewers also compare it with your fundraising plan, so make sure you leave time to raise funds before the activities that need them.
Walk us through your project from start to finish. A milestone is a point that marks real progress, such as finishing a draft, wrapping a shoot, or opening night. Make sure to include:
Completed: what you have already done, such as research, early drafts, or filming
Remaining: the work still ahead, in order, with approximate dates (month and year)
Public presentation: when and where audiences will experience the work, such as a screening, exhibition, performance, or publication
Completion: the moment your project is done, such as the premiere, the book’s release, or the final performance
Tips
Use approximate dates. “Spring 2027” or “March 2027” is fine.
Tie fundraising to the timeline. If a grant decision comes in June, production that depends on it shouldn’t start in April.
Name venues or platforms if you know them, even if they are not confirmed yet.
Multi-year or phased projects are welcome. Show each phase and its end point.
Common gaps
No end point, or an end date that is only there because the form asked for one
Activities listed with no dates
Missing public presentation
Production starting before funds are likely to arrive
The month and year work on the project began, or will begin. It can be before you apply if you have already started.
It shows the panel where the project stands today and how long it has been in development.
Only funds raised after you are accepted can go through NYFA, so the start date also helps reviewers see what was funded before sponsorship.
Timelines shift, and that’s normal. If your dates change after you are accepted, let NYFA know.
The month and year audiences will first experience the work, such as a screening, opening, performance, or publication.
You can share an estimate.
This date shows when that benefit happens, and lets the panel check that your fundraising and production timeline lead up to it.
Timelines shift, and that’s normal. If your dates change after you are accepted, let NYFA know.
The month and year the project will be complete.
Usually this is soon after the public presentation, once final activities and payments are wrapped up.
Timelines shift, and that’s normal. If your dates change after you are accepted, let NYFA know.
As a nonprofit, NYFA must make sure sponsored projects serve the public, not just a small private group. A clear selection process, even an informal one, shows the panel that opportunities are offered fairly and that funds support the project’s purpose. This matters most when participants are paid or receive something of value, such as a stipend or exhibition spot.
Tell us how you decide who takes part in your project. This can include:
Casting performers or hiring collaborators
Choosing artists through an open call, residency, or exhibition
Selecting interview subjects or community participants
Choosing workshop participants
What to include
How people find out: open call, referrals, community partners, auditions
Criteria: experience, connection to the project’s theme, community ties
Who decides: you alone, a panel, or a community advisory group
Example: “I will select six local artists through an open call shared with three Bronx community organizations. A panel of myself and two community artists will review submissions based on connection to the neighborhood and artistic quality. Each artist receives a $500 stipend.”
If this doesn’t apply
If this doesn’t apply: if you are working alone or not selecting anyone, write N/A.