Building on its longstanding Regrant Program for New York State publishers, CLMP offered in 2022 a special opportunity for literary magazines and presses located in the United States to apply for two-year grants of between $2,500 and $25,000 per year, or $5,000–$50,000 total, to support projects that build organizational capacity and ensure greater sustainability. A grant from the Hawthornden Foundation, originally founded in 1983 by the late Drue Heinz, made this program possible.
Applications were accepted from September 12 to October 28, 2022. Grants were recommended by an independent panel of three individuals: Patrick Davis, Johanna Ingalls, and Maria Maloney. Final grant decisions were approved by a committee of the CLMP Board of Directors.
On January 19, 2023, CLMP announced that it awarded capacity-building grants to forty-three independent nonprofit literary magazines and presses.
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.”
Examples of requests for support included new or existing projects in areas such as fundraising, finance, marketing, publicity, distribution, and website development; skill-building opportunities for staff or board members; diversity and equity initiatives; leadership development and management training; strategic planning; and succession planning.
While CLMP’s program was for nonprofit literary publishers, the Academy of American Poets offered a similar program for nonprofit literary organizations that present or serve poets, or incorporate poetry, as some part of their programming. Visit poets.org/capacity-building-grant-program to learn more.
Eligibility and Requirements
- Applicants must be literary nonprofit magazines and/or presses based in the United States or U.S. Territories.
- 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, and/or self-published work (over 50% of content published by authors on staff) are not eligible.
- Applicants must have published at least one title or issue within the past 18 months.
- Applicants must have 501(c)3 status or have a fiscal sponsor.
- Grantees are required to submit a report to CLMP at the conclusion of the first year of the grant period to obtain the second year of funding, as well as at the conclusion of the grant period.
For more information, read our FAQs.
Review Process
Applications were 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
Grants were recommended by an independent panel of three individuals: Patrick Davis, Johanna Ingalls, and Maria Maloney. Final grant decisions will be approved by a committee of the CLMP Board of Directors.
Timeline
- September 12, 2022: Application portal opened
- October 28, 2022: Application portal closed
- January 2023: Applicants notified; funds disbursed
- November 2023: Applicants submit project report
- January 2024: Second year of funds disbursed
- December 2024: Final reports submitted
Application Deadline
Applications must have been submitted by October 28, 2022, 5PM (EST). Only submissions made online through Submittable were reviewed.
Information Session
CLMP and the Academy of American Poets held a joint information session about the grants on September 16, 2022. View a recording of the info session below.