General Operating Support Grant

Georgia Council for the Arts administers the General Operating Support Grant to support eligible nonprofit arts organizations located in Georgia. The agency's mission is to cultivate the growth of vibrant, thriving Georgia communities through the arts, and it states that its grants support organizations whose work demonstrates a significant benefit to the people served. The program is open to eligible organizations across different artistic disciplines, organizational sizes, locations, and levels of experience. General Operating Support Grants are reimbursement grants, meaning recipients first expend funds on items included in the approved grant budget and subsequently request reimbursement for a percentage of those expenses. General Operating Support funding may be used for eligible operating expenses incurred during the FY27 funding period of July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. Eligible expenses include salaries, rent, utilities, programming expenses, marketing, insurance, and other allowable operating costs. Grant funds cannot support specified ineligible costs, including capital expenditures and certain equipment, fundraising expenses, programming outside Georgia, non-arts programs, scholarships or prizes, endowments or cash reserves, depreciation, deficit reduction, alcohol and food, lobbying, goods for resale, fiscal sponsorships, vehicle purchases, and other prohibited expenses identified in the guidelines. Each applicant must request exactly $10,000 and will either receive the full $10,000 award or no funding. The total amount available for grants depends on Georgia Council for the Arts' budget and was not known at the application deadline. No separate cost-share or matching requirement is stated for General Operating Support applicants. Eligible applicants must be 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organizations with an arts-based mission and at least 50 percent arts-based programming, must be located in Georgia, and must be registered with the Georgia Secretary of State. Applicants must have had annual operating expenses of at least $100,000 in their most recently completed fiscal year and must have completed requirements associated with previous Georgia Council for the Arts or State of Georgia grants awarded before FY26. Individuals, fiscal-agent applicants, organizations without their own 501(c)(3) status, for-profit businesses, schools, libraries, colleges and universities and associated nonprofits or arts entities, organizations based outside Georgia, local government entities, arts institutions that are part of local government, and non-arts organizations are not eligible. Applicants also must satisfy the agency's debarment and suspension policy. Eligible programming must occur in Georgia between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027, include a public component, and not promote a specific religious doctrine, political party, or candidate. Applications must be submitted through the Georgia Council for the Arts online grant system at https://georgia.org/ArtsApply. The complete application consists of general information, narrative questions, the required Budget Form, the organization's most recent Form 990, a list of arts programs planned for FY27, support material, a Board of Directors list, and, when applicable, the organization's IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter. Support material must contain at least one work sample demonstrating the artistic work of the organization and/or artists involved in the programming. Applicants that have never received a Georgia Council for the Arts grant or have not received one since FY23 must provide the IRS 501(c)(3) letter. Required application materials must be complete by the deadline, and additional information or changes are not accepted afterward. The narrative addresses the organization's mission and planned FY27 work, community served and community benefit, engagement of underserved audiences, accessibility for people with disabilities, planning and execution of arts programming, qualifications of management and artistic decision-makers, meaningful arts experiences, organizational capacity and fiscal stability, and the role of the Board of Directors. Complete and eligible applications are reviewed by grant panels organized by applicant budget size. Community Impact is worth 50 points, Qualities of the Arts Experience is worth 25 points, and Organizational Capacity and Fiscal Stability is worth 25 points. Panelists score only information contained in the application. High and low scores are dropped and the remaining scores are averaged, applicants are ranked by score, and Georgia Council for the Arts funds the highest-scoring applicants until available grant funds are exhausted. The FY27 application deadline was Friday, February 6, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. The guidelines do not state a separate letter of intent, concept paper, pre-proposal, or other pre-application gating deadline. Staff eligibility checks and grant panel preparation were scheduled for March 2026, with review panels and funding decisions during April through June. Award notifications were scheduled for early July 2026, and all applicants, including applicants not selected for funding, were to receive email notification. The performance period is July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. The guidelines describe Georgia Council for the Arts as awarding grants each year, supporting treatment of the program as recurring; based on the documented February deadline, the next cycle is anticipated around February 2027, although an official FY28 deadline is not provided in the source. Questions about the guidelines or application process may be directed to Allen Bell, Director of Grants and Research, at abell@gaarts.org or 404-962-4839. Accessibility assistance is available from Pamela Ballard at Pballard@Georgia.org or 470-720-0663.

Submit well before the deadline; use the GCA Budget Form and required breakdowns rather than recreating it; ensure expenses do not exceed income; include every required attachment and a work sample; write for multidisciplinary panelists unfamiliar with the organization and community; clearly demonstrate community benefit, underserved audience engagement, accessibility, thoughtful program planning, qualified leadership, organizational capacity, fiscal stability, and board involvement; Community Impact carries 50 of 100 points.