2025 One-Year Grant Guidelines

Our Grantmaking Goals

The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation is a family foundation with a goal to help people in the Triangle region live better lives and realize their potential through the Arts, Arts Education, and Student Academic Success. The foundation's grantmaking goal is to help nonprofits working in these areas to build their organizational capacity and effectiveness in ways that lead to long-term sustainability. Please refer to Our Grantmaking Approach for more information about MDBF's grantmaking goals.

One-year general operating support grants are available to organizations that have not received a MDBF grant in the past five years or that are new to the foundation. Each year, MDBF will typically award 5 general operating support grants to nonprofit organizations that further our grantmaking goals.

Grants amounts range from $5,000 - $10,000 a year for each organization. MDBF has a finite budget and may not be able to fund the full amount requested. If your application moves forward, MDBF staff will work with your organization to determine the actual requested amount. Please know there is no penalty for requesting the maximum amount at the LOI stage.

To ensure a transparent and efficient grantmaking process for arts, arts education, and student academic success partners, we have established guidelines and eligibility criteria for our one-year operating support grant.

The Arts

• Support arts organizations that demonstrate artistic excellence and elevate the profile of the Triangle's art scenes, both locally and nationally.
• Support new or developing arts organizations.
• Support arts-focused organizations that work directly with artists to deepen and expand talent, create new works, promote visibility and sales for artists, and/or develop artists' professional and business skills.

Arts Education

• Support organizations that provide opportunities for PreK-12 students to engage directly in high-quality arts instruction in which students actively participate in making art.

Student Academic Success

• Early Learning Programs: We support PreK organization organizations whose primary purpose is kindergarten readiness. Evidence-based programs are a plus.
• Academic Achievement: We support organizations whose primary purpose is to support K-12 students' academic achievement. These include organizations that build academic skills through structured academic learning opportunities and/or structured tutoring and professional training for teachers and tutors that align with the standard NC curriculum. Evidence-based programs are a plus.

Across both Arts Education and Student Academic Success interest areas, MDBF seeks to address and challenge inequities that limit student success, learning, and arts experiences.

Please review Our Grantmaking Approach and the Arts, Arts Education, and Student Academic Success focus areas for additional eligibility requirements and criteria.

Assessment Criteria

Applications are assessed on the following criteria for advancement in the review process:

• Strategic goals
  - Relevance of one key strategic goal and/or priority to the organization's life stage and continued development.
  - Strategies to address goals are well-defined and feasible.
• Role in the Arts, Arts Education, or Student Academic Success ecosystem
  - Organization provides a distinct approach and role in the Arts, Arts Education, or Student Academic Success landscape in its county or the Triangle region.
• Strength of Programming
  - The organization's strength of programming and alignment with the foundation's focus areas in the Arts, Arts Education, or Student Academic Success.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in its governance, staff, and participants.

For information regarding an organization's life cycle stage, please review Our Grantmaking Approach.

General Eligibility Requirements

• 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status or be sponsored by a qualified fiscal agent.
• Organization's primary mission and programming focus on the Arts, Arts Education, or Student Academic Success.
• Organization has not received a MDBF grant within the past five years or is new to the foundation.
• Organization is located in and the majority of programming takes place in Chatham, Durham, Orange, or Wake counties.
• A demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in its governance, staffing, and participants (students or artists).
• A current or expected expenses budget under $2,000,000 (fiscal sponsors are exempt from this stipulation).

Grant Restrictions

• Organizations that have an interim or new executive director (hired within the past 6 months) are not eligible to apply.
• We do not make project-based grants.
• Organizations whose primary mission and focus is on the humanities or history are not eligible to apply.
• University-affiliated organizations are not eligible to apply.
• Public schools and charter schools are not eligible to apply.
• Public school foundations are eligible to apply.

One-Year Grantmaking Timeline

August 7, 2025 - Virtual information webinar for organizations interested in learning more about MDBF's one-year grants. Registration for the webinar will open July 8, 2025. A recording of the webinar will be shared on our website.

August 8, 2025 - Begin accepting open-submission letters of inquiry (LOI) from organizations that meet all of our eligibility criteria (see above) via an online form in our grant portal. Information included in the LOI will be shared on July 8, 2025.

August 11 - 29, 2025 - Pre-application advisory meetings with staff are available. Information on how to schedule an advisory call will be made available in July 2025.

September 5, 2025 - LOI submission deadline.

October 1-10, 2025 - Follow-up conversations with organizations selected for advancement in the review process. All applicants will be notified about the status of their application.

December 2025 - All approved grants will be awarded.