Overview: Social Impact Theatre Grant Program

LOI 

Organization Name: Please provide the legal name of you organization.
Character Limit: 250

Tax ID Number: Please provide your organization’s tax ID number.
Character Limit: 20

Mailing Address: Please provide your organization’s mailing address.
Character Limit: 250

Mission Statement: Please provide your organization’s mission statement. Eligible organizations must have a mission to produce or present theatre.
Character Limit: 1000

History: Has your theatre been in operation for at least two years? Eligible organizations must answer yes.
Choices: Y/N

Annual Revenue: Please provide your organization’s annual revenue for the most recently-completed fiscal year. Eligible organizations must have a minimum annual revenue of $1M.
Character Limit: 250

Project Name: Name of production for which you are seeking funds.
Character Limit: 100

Production Type: Is this production being produced, premiered, or presented? Please note that professional touring productions are ineligible for funding.
Choices: Produced, Premiered, or Presented

Professional Actors: Are at least 75% of the actors in the production professional (i.e. paid for their work)? Eligible organizations must answer yes.
Choices: Y/N

Stage: Will performances take place on a stage in a professional theatre? If answering no, please provide a brief explanation.
Character Limit: 500

Production Run: Please provide the dates of the production’s opening and closing performances.
Character Limit: 250 

Number of Performances: Please provide the total number of performances. If the number of performances has not been determined, an estimate is sufficient. Eligible productions must have a minimum of 15 fully produced public performances.
Character Limit: 20

Seating Capacity: Please provide the seating capacity of theatre in which the production will be staged.
Character Limit: 20 

Estimated Audience: Please provide the estimated total number of audience members you anticipate attending the production over the course of its run. While the Foundation does not have a minimum audience threshold, the review committee will be prioritizing applications that reach a strong number of audience members.
Character Limit: 20

Estimated Attendees at Engagement Events: Please provide the estimated number of attendees at the engagement activities and events surrounding this production.
Character Limit: 20

Age of Production: Was this piece written in the last 100 years? Eligible organizations must answer yes.
Choices: Y/N

Summary: Provide a brief, three to four sentence summary of the production.
Character Limit: 1000

Social Issues: What are the primary social issues addressed by the production?
Character Limit: 500

Optional: Impact Beyond Youth: If your organization is a children’s theatre, please briefly explain how the production and surrounding engagement events will impact audiences of all ages.
Character Limit: 1000

Script: Is the script for this production complete? Eligible organizations must answer yes.
Choices Yes No

Script Excerpt: Provide a 20-page excerpt of the script. Excerpt should contain a song or dialogue that exemplifies how the piece engages the audience around a particular issue.
File Size Limit: 5 MB

Context: Provide the context for the script excerpt, noting which portion of the story is highlighted.
Character Limit: 1000 

Violence: Does this production contain physical or graphic violence? If yes, please describe the nature.
Character Limit: 1000

Full Application Questions 

Project Name: Name of production for which you are seeking funds.
Character Limit: 100

Selected Production: Discuss how your selection is timely, inspiring, educational, and innovative in its presentation. How does the selected production align with the mission of your organization and fit into the context of your current programming?
Character Limit: 2000

Target Audience and Outreach: Please describe your target audience for this production and how you plan to reach new and underrepresented audience members.
Character Limit: 2000

Audience Engagement: Please describe in detail how you plan to engage your audience around the social issues raised in your production.
Character Limit: 2000

Promoting Conversation: Knowing the complexity of issues addressed in your production, please describe how pre and/or post show discussions, panel discussions, or other engagement strategies will highlight participants’ different experiences with and/or understanding of the issues. How do you plan to promote rich conversation within the theatre that will impact audience members when they depart and interact with their broader communities?
Character Limit: 2000

Partnerships: Provide a list of the community partners with whom you will work in conjunction with this performance to deepen the impact for your audiences. For each partnership, please note which are confirmed and which are in process and describe the roles these partners will play in supporting your outreach and engagement efforts.
Character Limit: 2000

Evaluating Impact: Describe how you will evaluate the social impact on your audiences and broader community.
Character Limit: 2000

Organizational Funders: List the ten largest funders supporting your organization for each of the last two years, including giving amounts. The list can include individuals, government entities, corporations, or other foundations.
Character Limit: 1000

Biller Family Recognition: Should your organization receive a social impact theatre grant, we are interested to hear your ideas about how The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation would be recognized in publicity, printed materials, and/or verbal acknowledgement. If you have different sponsorship levels for this production, please provide details of those levels here.
Character Limit: 2000

Mission, Vision & Values: How do your organization’s mission, vision, and values guide your operations, programs, and organizational culture? What need, niche, or role does your organization fulfill in the theatre community?
Character Limit: 1500

Financial Condition: What is your organization’s financial condition? What are your current financial goals, successes, or challenges?
Character Limit: 1500

Management & Leadership: What is your organization’s management and leadership structure, including staff and board? Have there been any recent changes or do you anticipate any upcoming changes?
Character Limit: 1500

Project Budget: Provide a budget for the production for which you are seeking funds. While the Foundation does not provide a template, please be sure to upload a PDF including unique line items for major funding sources and expenses, such as salaries and benefits, facility expenses, production materials, and expenses associated with audience engagement and community outreach.
File Size Limit: 2 MB

Organization Budget: Attach a budget comparison formatted in columns that include: 1) board approved budget for current fiscal year, 2) board approved budget for previous fiscal year, and 3) budget actuals for previous fiscal year. Budget document must be in a PDF file.
File Size Limit: 2 MB

What was the balance of your operating cash reserves at prior fiscal year-end? These are funds set aside to provide cushion against unexpected cash flow shortages.
Character Limit: 20

What is the current balance of those reserves?
Character Limit: 20

What is your accumulated deficit, if any, and over how many years has it accumulated?
Character Limit: 100

Does your organization have a line of credit?
Choices: Y/N

Balance Sheet: Please upload a PDF of the balance sheet for your most recently completed fiscal year.
File Size Limit: 2 MB 

Income Statement: Please upload a PDF of the income statement for the most recently completed fiscal year. Report only operational, unrestricted activity (programming, administration, marketing, etc.). Do not include endowments, capital projects, or other non-operational activity.
File Size Limit: 2 MB

Form 990: Please upload a PDF of the Form 990 for the most recently completed fiscal year.
File Size Limit: 2 MB