What is General Operating Support?
General Operating Support provides direct, flexible funding to 80 nonprofit arts organizations in Portland. Organizations use these funds to deliver their mission and provide a wide range of arts programming for residents and visitors.
How is the General Operating Support Program funded?
General Operating Support grants are funded through the City of Portland’s General Fund and Arts Access Fund, which is supported by a $35 income tax paid by Portlanders. For FY25, the General Operating Support grant budget includes $240,000 from the General Fund and $3,858,538 from the Arts Access Fund.
How did the creation of the Office of Arts & Culture impact the General Operating Support grants process?
In previous years, the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) managed disbursement of the City of Portland’s General Operating Support grants to arts organizations. In 2023, the City began restructuring its approach to arts delivery, leading to the creation of the Office of Arts & Culture in July 2024. This transition provided an opportunity to bring the management of arts grants in-house, and as a result, Arts & Culture is managing the distribution of General Operating Support grants—for the first time—in fiscal year 2024-25.
As part of this transition, the Office of Arts & Culture made a commitment to maintain funding levels to previous years’ General Operating Support grantees. In addition to maintaining current funding, in fiscal year 2024-25 Arts & Culture grantee organizations will also receive an Arts Access Investment Award—equal to 40% of their base award—based on their proven service to K-12 schoolchildren and/or people in underrepresented communities, as called for in the Arts Tax (specifically, in the ballot measure language and PCC 5.73.030 (C)(1)). The grant amounts shown in the table above are inclusive of this Arts Access Investment Award.
How does fiscal year 2024-25’s General Operating Support process address scheduled rent increases for Portland’5 Centers for the Arts users?
Frequent non-profit users of Portland’5 Centers for the Arts, including resident and featured companies, will receive an additional one-time subsidy to cover the cost of their scheduled rent increases in 2025. These subsidies will be distributed to arts organizations in addition to their General Operating Support base grant and Arts Access Investment Award. The grant amounts shown in the table above are inclusive of P’5 subsidies.
What are the General Operating Support grant eligibility requirements?
To be eligible for General Operating Support, 73 arts organizations meet these criteria:
- They are arts organizations headquartered in, and providing services in, the City of Portland. For the purposes of General Operating Support, the definition of “arts organization” is an organization whose primary mission and goals articulate its commitment to developing and providing ongoing arts programs made available to the public.
- They have IRS 501(c)3 tax status.
- They have minimum eligible annual income of $75,000.
- They have at least one paid professional administrative staff member on payroll as an employee of the organization.
- They have continuous administration throughout the year.
In addition, seven General Operating Support grantees receive funding because they provide essential, culturally specific programming and other services for current and historically underrepresented and underserved populations. Some of these Cultural Equity grantees may not be in the position to fulfill all of the General Operating Support grant requirements, but providing funding is a continuation of service based on their previous relationships with RACC and vital to their operations. These Cultural Equity grantees, listed among the General Operating Support grantees above, include:
How will 2025 General Operating Support grants be awarded?
What additional grantmaking programs for artists and nonprofits does Arts & Culture offer?
In addition to the General Operating Support Program, the Office of Arts & Culture provides Small Grants ranging from $500-$5,000 to individual artists and arts organizations through partnerships with three local arts-focused grantmakers including Friends of IFCC, MusicOregon, and RACC.