THE GATSBY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION FUND APPLICATION

The Gatsby Charitable Foundation student arts support fund is made possible by Lord David and Lady Susie Sainsbury. The guiding spirit of the grant is to inspire the creation of new and non-curricular student artwork and enrich students' endeavors in the arts. To learn how to apply for this grant, please familiarize yourself with the following:

Eligibility:

• You must be a current Columbia student or a group comprised of at least 80% current Columbia students.
• You may apply as an individual student OR as the representative of a student organization.
• Neither you nor any other student involved in the project can receive academic credit from any institution or department for the project.
• Students or student groups may receive funding only once per fiscal year (July – June).

Application Guidelines:

• The application is an experience in grant-writing. Please do all your preparation and homework prior to submitting the form. Your application should be as detailed and precise as possible.
• Your application should demonstrate a clear connection to the arts and be open to the Columbia community.
• We strongly encourage multi-disciplinary and/or collaborative projects with other Columbia organizations and schools.
• The application should provide the full scope of the project: logistics, resources needed, and any details related to the project that have already been confirmed.
• If you are applying for the first time, we encourage an in-person meeting so that we can help you through the process and answer any initial questions or address any issues you may have. Meeting requests should be submitted to cuarts@columbia.edu.

Deadlines:

• You must submit your application at least one month prior to your event. Deadlines for applications are the THIRD Monday of each month. Click here for a calendar of deadline dates.

Budgeting FAQ:

• The answer to the oft-asked "How much can we apply for?" is simply, "No more nor less than you absolutely need." Click here for guidelines of acceptable grant uses.
• The grant should not replace institutional funding (departmental, ABC, SGB, CCSC/ESC/SGA, GSSC, etc.), but rather supplement the total cost of the project.
• If you are requesting funding from a pre-existing project or publication, please explain in your application what new or extended endeavors necessitate a new funding source.
• A complete budget must include line-item accounts of all your projected expenses (and Expense Total), followed by line-item accounts of all your projected income (and Income Total) including ticket sales, grants, and the amount you are requesting from the Arts Initiative. Click here for an example of a budget proposal.
• Funds above $500 must be transferred to a campus account via IDI or a check must be cut for a Columbia University organization.  They cannot be transferred to an individual student.

For a list of past recipients and projects, click here.

To submit your application, click here.

On behalf of those receiving support, the Arts Initiative thanks Lord David and Lady Susie Sainsbury for their generous giving through The Gatsby Charitable Foundation.