General Operating Support

Purpose

The General Operating Support grant program provides direct funding to arts and cultural organizations in support of ongoing operations. An arts and cultural organization is defined as an entity with a primary purpose of providing arts, creative, or cultural programming/services. Assessed by CAC staff, this purpose is determined by the organization’s mission, purpose statement, and/or by its summary of core organizational programs and services.

Description

This grant supports the well-being of California’s cultural vitality by helping sustain a robust and diverse arts workforce and infrastructure. Funds may be used to support any eligible expenses associated with the general operations of an arts or cultural organization, including but not limited to rent, utilities, and staff salaries. Applying for this grant does not restrict an organization from applying for other CAC project-based grants. General Operating grants are intended to support the applicant organization in carrying out its mission. Funding is not intended to support a specific project. Organizations eligible to apply include: Nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3), California organizations Units of municipal, county or Tribal governments Fiscally sponsored organizations Arts service/network organizations with total revenue of $5 million or below Arts producing or presenting organizations with total revenue (TR) of $1.5 million or below Applicant organizations and fiscal sponsors must meet the requirements below: Have a principal place of business in California and a California address. Have a minimum two-year history of consistent arts programming and/or services prior to the application deadline. Demonstrate proof of nonprofit status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or section 23701d of the California Revenue and Taxation Code. Eligible applicant organizations without non-profit status, please see Fiscal Sponsor Requirements in the 2026 Grants Manual. Have “active status” with the California Secretary of State (SOS) showing evidence of “good standing” at the time of application. Eligible Request Amounts Applicant organizations can request up to $30,000 for a one-year funding cycle Funding Restrictions: Organizations who have applied for the 2026 cycle of State-Local Partners are not eligible for General Operating Support. The CAC’s definition of Total Revenue is the total cash inflow from your organization’s most recently completed fiscal year. Cash inflow/income includes all earned income (ex: ticket sales) and contributed income (ex: grants, donations/contributions, one-time organizational funding, operational grants). Regranting, pass-through, and restricted capital improvement funding are excluded from the organization’s total revenue calculation. Matching Funds A one-to-one match is required for this grant for organizations with a total revenue above $250k. See the 2026 Grants Manual for clarification on eligible match sources. 2026/27 Funding Priorities: Every eligible application will be adjudicated by peer review panels and receive a final rank (see 2026 Grants Manual). All applications that receive final ranks of 6 through panel adjudication will be funded regardless of whether they meet any of the funding priorities. Applications receiving ranks of 4 and above through the adjudication process will then receive added weighting for meeting the priorities as outlined in the Guidelines. Allocations for final ranks below 6 will be made in order of weighted ranks as funding availability permits.