City staff outlines $100,000 Small Organization Sustainability Fund to help tiny arts groups

April Bryce, an arts program coordinator with the City of Sacramento Office of Arts and Culture, told the Arts, Culture and Creative Economy Commission on March 9 that the office has launched a one‑year Small Organization Sustainability Fund to support very small arts and cultural organizations across Sacramento County.

The office set aside $100,000 for the program, with individual awards up to $5,000 and a limit of no more than 50% of an organization’s total adjusted revenue (defined as revenue minus city and county grant funding). Eligible applicants include California 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and fiscally sponsored entities with at least one year of operations and public programming; the office defined “small” as organizations with fiscal‑year revenue under $25,000. Ineligible entities include for‑profit businesses, individual artists, most schools and recipients of prior Office of Arts and Culture cultural arts awards.

Bryce said staff received 41 applications by the December deadline; 25 applicants were deemed eligible and were awarded using a formula that combined each organization’s revenue and panel scores. A diverse five‑member panel of arts and cultural experts scored applications on a 100‑point rubric covering organizational planning, diversity/equity/accessibility, artistic and community impact, and similar criteria.

The program emphasized outreach and equitable access, Bryce said. Staff partnered with the Sacramento County Office of Economic Development, the California Arts Council’s State and Local Partners program, the county and city public information officers, community ambassadors and language‑access resources. Guidelines and application materials were made available in English and Spanish, staff hosted recorded information sessions and office hours, and printed materials were distributed across county community hubs.

During public comment, artist and Prism Art Space founder Justina Martino thanked staff for outreach but urged the commission to reconsider eligibility rules for future rounds. Martino said her fiscally sponsored small business (Art Tonic) was ineligible because it is an LLC with revenues that exceed $25,000 despite community‑centered programming, and suggested raising the cap or adjusting the revenue calculation to better reach community practitioners.

Commissioners asked staff whether the $25,000 cap targeted an existing gap left by the Cultural Arts Awards program. Bryce and grants manager Melissa Cerrone said the $25,000 threshold was deliberately chosen to capture organizations that cannot apply for the Cultural Arts Awards; staff also acknowledged that locating and reaching the smallest organizations is challenging because some lack websites or formal online presence. Commissioners and staff discussed using the one‑year grant period to connect smaller groups with larger organizations and resources.

Bryce said award amounts varied by score and revenue; top‑scoring applicants received 100% of their maximum allowable award, applicants scoring 70–80% received about 95%, and those below 70% received 90% of their maximum allowable award. Staff provided the commission with a list of awardees and their amounts in the meeting packet.

The presentation closed with staff offering to compile additional outreach data and to consider applicant suggestions for future rounds. The commission did not take a formal vote on the program at the March 9 meeting; the item was presented for review and discussion.

Ending: Staff said the office will use lessons from this inaugural round to refine outreach and eligibility for future funding cycles and to explore ways to connect small organizations to larger partners and capacity‑building resources.