2026 Donors InVesting in the Arts (DIVAS) Request for Letters of Interest
The DIVAs Giving Circle is comprised of Montgomery County women who seek to enable youth to have life-changing experiences through the arts.
Each year, the DIVAs Giving Circle develops guidelines for its giving, evaluates youth/arts grant opportunities, and seeks to support promising arts programming for youth through a competitive review process facilitated by The Community Foundation’s professional staff.
Eligibility
For the 2026 cycle, the DIVAs are particularly interested in enabling under-resourced children and youth (K-12) from Montgomery County, MD to access art programs which promote joy, healing, mental health, wellbeing, and resilience, and/or elevate youth voices within our community. They are particularly interested in breaking down barriers to the arts for those who have limited access due to family income, distance, and/or other challenges.
The DIVAs will consider applications from 501(c)3 public charities which fall into one of the following categories:
Arts organizations
Youth-focused nonprofits that seek to partner with professional artists and/or established arts organizations
Safety-net organizations that serve children/youth and seek to partner with professional artists and/or established arts organizations
Proposals may support activities after school, on weekends, or over the 2027 summer. The DIVAs are especially interested in supporting hands-on artistic activities that tap creativity rather than one-time and passive experiences.
Grants to arts organizations may support/enhance current programming or seed new partnerships. Grants to youth-focused or safety-net organizations may support formal collaborations or sponsor children to participate in specific art programs (i.e., a youth-led organization could incorporate an arts component into its regular programs, a safety-net provider could host an artist/art organization at its site, and/or these organizations could sponsor youth clients to pursue a specific program or camp).
Important: Access to art and meaningful interactions with others should be fundamental components of the program.
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Most grants will range from $5,000 - $10,000.
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Interested organizations must complete the application form no later than 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, August 27, 2026.
In the fall, The Community Foundation will follow up with any questions from the DIVAs members and/or information about how to submit a formal proposal.
Questions?
Contact Olivia Hsu, Development Officer, at [email protected] with any questions you may have prior to the deadline. No phone calls please.