City announces opportunity to apply for the External Agency Fund Competitive Grants

Grants available to social services and arts and creative industry organizations

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (January 6, 2020)  - Louisville Metro Government (LMG) will begin accepting External Agency Fund applications on Jan. 17 for fiscal year 2021 (July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021). These grants funded through the city’s general fund are awarded to non-governmental or "external” agencies that contribute to the city's cultural, social and economic vitality.

A summary of the application process is as follows with more details listed below:

• Starting Jan. 6, application questions may be viewed for reference at https://louisvilleky.gov/government/external-agency-fund
• All applicants are required to attend a mandatory application orientation on Friday, Jan. 17.
• Following the mandatory orientation, the city will begin accepting applications. The deadline to apply is Friday, Feb. 7, at 5 p.m.

All agencies wishing to apply are required to have at least one representative participate in a mandatory application orientation on Jan. 17. The orientation will provide information about deadlines, how to access the application and other general information. There will be a morning session held from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and an afternoon session held from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Both sessions will take place at Metro United Way, 334 E. Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202.

It is only necessary to attend one of the two sessions, and no RSVP is required.

The External Agency Funds are awarded annually to nonprofit organizations offering programs or services in Louisville/Jefferson County that align with the Mayor's and departments' strategic goals. The competitive grants are available for Social Services programs, administered by the Louisville Metro Office of Resilience and Community Services (RCS), and for Arts and Creative Industries programs, administered by Louisville Forward.

For the Social Services funding program, qualified nonprofits committed to providing services that achieve meaningful outcomes for Louisville citizens in the following key areas are encouraged to apply:

• Decreasing homelessness;
• Increasing household financial stability;
• Increasing youth, teen, and/or young adult engagement in quality programming; and/or
• Increasing access to services and resources for a targeted population. 

For the Arts and Creative Industries funding program, qualified nonprofits committed to providing programs that achieve meaningful outcomes for Louisville citizens in the following focus areas are encouraged to apply:

• Arts experiences for everyone;
• Creative workforce; and/or
• Creative community spaces and neighborhoods.

Applications will be reviewed by two External Agency Fund panels, which include Metro Council members and community members, and those recommendations will be included in Mayor Fischer’s Recommended FY21 Metro budget.

Louisville Metro Government employs a competitive granting strategy and strives to award funding to agencies that demonstrate measurable positive impact in the community and are good stewards of taxpayer dollars. Successful grantees will be required to report on their success in meeting goals, outcomes and how the taxpayer dollars are spent.

The deadline to apply is Friday, Feb. 7, at 5 p.m.

For more information about EAF and to access the EAF applications and guidelines, visit https://louisvilleky.gov/government/external-agency-fund.

Please submit all questions to EAF@louisvilleky.gov.