Funding search
Find who already funds work like yours.
Private foundations don’t post open calls, so nobody can search them. We read IRS filings instead — 9.6 million grants from 174,053 foundations and grantmaking charities, searchable by what the money was actually for.
12 funders with a record of paying for “composers”
Where the money went
Largest: $50,000 to SEAN SHEPHERD — to give a promising composer income which allows him to be free of employment and soley compose.
John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation (Consolidated)Chicago, IL
28 matching grants · $3.4M · through 2024Largest: $10,640 to THE BIG EARS FESTIVAL — to support a conversation between macarthur fellows, jazz cellist and composer tomeka reid (2022) and electronic music composer and performer ikue mori (2022) as part of the 2024 b…
Largest: $200,000 to NATIONAL SAWDUST — composer fellowships and commissions
Largest: $208,000 to American Composers Forum — for the mcknight artist fellowships for composers and for a visiting composer artists residency program
Largest: $27,500 to American Composers Orchestra Inc — encourage knowledge and appreciation of contemporary american music
Largest: $30,000 to AMERICAN COMPOSERS FORUM — grant for recording assistance to bipoc women composers
Largest: $32,500 to American Composers Orchestra — support for composers in the earshot readings & colaboratory residency program.
Largest: $800,000 to AMERICAN COMPOSERS ORCHESTRA INC — to support modeling social practice within orchestras
Largest: $6,500 to AMERICAN COMPOSERS FORUM — encourage the performance of contemporary concert music
Largest: $100,000 to NEW YORK CITY BALLET — to preserve the ballets, dance aesthetic, and standards of excellence created and established by its founders; and to develop new work that draws on the creative talents of contemp…
Largest: $2,500 to CHICAGO COMPOSERS CONSORTIUM — chicago composers consortium
Largest: $75,000 to AMERICAN COMPOSERS FORUM — to support the digital components of the american composers forums (acf) five-year strategic plan, including a director of digital media, webinar series, and additional resources f…
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Source: IRS Form 990-PF Part XV and Form 990 Schedule I, tax years 2019–2025. These are grants already paid, a record of what an organization funds rather than an open call. Private foundations rarely accept unsolicited applications and the route in is usually a program officer; grantmaking charities and associations more often run real application cycles, so check their website. How this data is built, and its limits →