Dance/USA: Engaging Dance Audiences

Engaging Dance Audiences (EDA) was conceived in 2008 to significantly increase the dance field’s capacity to engage audiences by researching, implementing and documenting effective and forward-thinking practices, and sharing them with the field. In this third round of EDA, Dance/USA members and the field at large will benefit from direct funding and related professional development services.

EDA’s three components are designed to advance the dance field’s effectiveness in audience engagement through: 1) Support for Projects and Operating Costs, 2) Technical Assistance, and 3) Creation of a Learning Community.

Support for Projects and Operating Costs: Direct support will be provided to dance organizations to sustain and refine existing engagement programs that have shown success at or strong potential of reaching dance audiences. Dance organizations must meet one or both of the following objectives:

• Option A) Focusing on Audience Experiences: Grantees will apply to sustain an existing engagement program, focusing particularly on the audience or community that experiences that program. Successful applicants will articulate the experiences that they wish their dance audiences to have during engagement activities and propose program refinements that realize these experiences.
• Option B) Engaging Specific Audiences: There is a commitment to supporting projects proposed by organizations that have a track record of engaging dance audiences that have been historically underrepresented in the EDA grantee pool. A particular interest is in supporting organizations to refine engagement of audiences of color, the LGBTQ community, and/or people with disabilities. Competitive applications will establish clear links between the proposed audience project and the organization’s mission, track record and capacity.

2. Technical Assistance: Grantees will have the option of receiving technical assistance from specialized consultants or Dance/USA staff who have expertise in audience engagement, project management, budgeting, evaluation and/or audience research.

3. Creation of a Learning Community: Provides the opportunity to participate in the professional development activities for grantees that will run from the summer of 2015 to the summer of 2016, both online and at conferences. Grantees will be required to attend, in-person, two meetings: one in June 2015 and one in June 2016. Travel costs will be covered.

Amount: $1,173,000, including $925,000 for project support and $248,000 for general operating support. An estimated 20-25 grants of up to $46,250 each will be awarded to support audience engagement programs. Additionally, these grants will be augmented with general operating support of almost 30% of the grant amount for a total funding amount of up to $58,650.

Eligibility: Applicants must have 501(c)(3) nonprofit status or apply through a fiscal sponsor; paid administrative staff; be in existence for at least three years; and have an annual operating budget of at least $150,000.

Link: https://danceusa.org/eda-round-three-overview-and-guidelines

This post was filed under: