The Department of Cultural Affairs' Program Services Unit Cultural Development Fund Application for Fiscal 2010 is now closed.

In 2003 the Department established the Cultural Development Fund (CDF), an open, competitive process for allocating program support.  CDF Applications are solicited on an annual basis and reviewed by peer review panels made up of experts in the field and representatives of the City's elected officials. We encourage participation in the process by the widest possible representation of the City's diverse cultural constituency.

Through the CDF process, the Department awards grants supporting a vast array of programs provided by many of the City's largest cultural organizations as well as programs by neighborhood-based groups, tapping New York's extraordinary cultural possibilities. The Department has supported exhibitions, performances and training offered by a variety of organizations such as Manhattan's Metropolitan Opera, the Alice Austen House on Staten Island, Brooklyn's Urban Bush Women, Dreamyard Drama Project in the Bronx, and the Queens Symphony.

In January 2007, the Department announced major budget reforms expanding the CDF process.   By the Fiscal 2008 deadline we had received 1,074 applications, a 22% increase from the prior year.  For the first time, the Department granted multi-year awards and greatly increased funding for emerging arts organizations and artists through the regrants programs operating in all five boroughs.  As a result of the reform process, most organizations funded in Fiscal 2008 received awards greater than those received in the previous year.  

For Fiscal 2009, the Department received over 1,000 applications for CDF funding, including 283 organizations which renewed support as our first-ever multi-year grant recipients.  Throughout April and May, we convened 20 peer review panels representing the breadth of the cultural field to recommend awards for CDF applicants seeking competitive funding.  For Fiscal 2009, additional support was also designated to organizations beyond the competitive process, including one-time Council Member items administered by the agency.  As of the Fiscal 2009 Adopted Budget, approximately $29 million is being awarded to 882 organizations.

In Fiscal 2010, the Department launched an online Application form through which organizations could apply for annual and multi-year Program funding, depending upon the size of the organization's operating budget.  The application deadline was March 23, 2009.  Fiscal 2010 CDF Applications are currently under review.

Get a listing of currently funded organizations