Funding for organizations supporting programs and projects that advance the arts, culture, and the humanities in the lives of the people of Hawaiʻi.
The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) provides public funds through Biennium Grants to support projects designed to promote, perpetuate and preserve culture and the arts in Hawaiʻi.
The legal provisions of the Biennium Grants are in Sections 9-11 through 9-18 of the Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes. The Grants budget is contingent on the State fiscal biennium and appropriations from the Hawaiʻi State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. Grants are subject to available funding.
There are four grant categories that align to the SFCA Strategic Priorities 2019-2023. Applicants may submit an application to one of these categories for either or both years. Category and project can be the same or different for each year.
Biennium Grant requests must be in the range of minimum $5,000 to maximum $15,000 per application.
The Biennium Grants are awarded for a two-year period. Organizations may apply to YEAR ONE and YEAR TWO. During the application period, all eligible applications received by the application deadline are considered. Grant Panels, consisting of individuals with backgrounds in relevant arts, culture, and humanities fields, review the eligible applications and submit their recommendations for award. The SFCA Board of Commissioners take into consideration the panel’s recommendations and have the final approval of applications awarded a Biennium Grant.
Application must be entirely completed and submitted via the Hawaii GO Smart online application system (Hawaii.GoSmart.org).
Applicants are subject to meeting Chapter 9 eligibility requirements and policies established by the SFCA.
See Organization Legal Eligibility PDF.
The biennium grants program supports eligible applicant organizations with public funds to implement projects designed to promote, perpetuate, and preserve culture in Hawaiʻi.
An applicant must be a nonprofit organization, exempt from federal income tax by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The following documents are due at the time of application:
Eligibility/Legal PDF packet – all applicants will submit one compiled PDF packet via GO Smart consisting of the organization’s legal documents in the following order:
January 22, 2021 recording with closed captions of the Biennium Grants 2022/2023 Grants Workshop. This presentation gives an overview of the Biennium Grants program, the application process, and navigation of the SFCA website and the Hawaiʻi Go Smart system.