Through the CLMP Capacity-Building Grant Program, nonprofit literary magazines and presses may apply for grants to support projects that aim to create a sustainable and effective organization related to fundraising, marketing, distribution, web development, and other areas; skill-building opportunities for staff and board members; strategic and succession planning; diversity and equity initiatives; and leadership development and management training.
Literary magazines and presses may apply to the CLMP Capacity-Building Grant Program for grants of $5,000 or $10,000 to support capacity-building initiatives. Funding from Hawthornden Foundation, originally founded in 1983 by the late Drue Heinz, makes this program possible.
The 2024 application deadline was May 10. The 2024 grantees were announced on August 7, 2024.
More About the Program
“Capacity building” as defined by the National Council of Nonprofits, is “whatever is needed to bring a nonprofit to the next level of operational, programmatic, financial, or organizational maturity, so it may more effectively and efficiently advance its mission into the future. Capacity building is not a one-time effort to improve short-term effectiveness, but a continuous improvement strategy toward the creation of a sustainable and effective organization.”
CLMP’s program is for nonprofit literary publishers. The National Book Foundation is offering a similar program for nonprofit literary organizations. Visit the National Book Foundation website to learn more. Applicants may apply to only one of the two programs.
Information about CLMP’s 2023-2024 Capacity-Building Grant Program is available here.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be nonprofit literary magazines and/or presses based in the United States or U.S. Territories.
- Applicants must have 501(c)3 status or have a fiscal sponsor.
- Applicants must primarily publish literary works (over 50% of work published must be fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, drama, and/or literary reviews).
- Applicants that primarily publish children’s literature, children’s writing are not eligible.
- Self-publishers (over 50% of content published by authors on staff) and “hybrid” publishers (in which authors pay for part or all of publication costs) are not eligible.
- Applicants must have published at least one title or issue within the past 18 months.
The decisions of CLMP as to eligibility, both initially and throughout the grant period, are final.
Learn more and view frequently asked questions.
Review Process
Applications will be reviewed based on the following criteria:
- Completeness of application and clarity of proposal
- Feasibility of capacity-building project as described
- Potential impact on organizational capacity and/or sustainability
- Submitted work samples
- Previous Capacity-Building funding from the Academy of American Poets and CLMP will be considered, in addition to separate Hawthornden Foundation funding.
Grants will be recommended by an independent panel. The CLMP Capacity-Building Grant Program panelists are Amanda Bullock, Diana Marie Delgado, and Sue Landers. Final grant decisions will be approved by a committee of the CLMP Board of Directors. For more information about the panelists, please visit the frequently asked questions page.
Timeline
- April 2, 2024: Application portal opens
- May 10, 2024, 5 p.m. ET: Application portal closes
- August 2024: Applicants notified; funds disbursed
- September 2025: Final reports due
Application Deadline
Complete application, including all materials, must have been received by CLMP via Submittable by May 10, 2024, at 5 p.m. EDT. CLMP assumes no responsibility for applications not received due to user or technical error.
Information Session
CLMP and the National Book Foundation held an information session about the grants, hosted by LitNet, on April 10, 2024. You can view a recording of the session below.
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