Engage: Capacity-building programs for arts and cultural organizations
Forecasted
Engage: Capacity-building programs for arts and cultural organizations supports arts and cultural groups with coaching, workshops, and peer learning to strengthen leadership, sustainability, and community impact.
Funder: Mid-America Arts Alliance
Due Dates (Anticipated): February 2027 (Engage US survey) | May 2027 (Engage Express Lubbock application)
Funding Amounts: Engage US: free technical assistance, no financial awards; Lubbock: estimated $500 refundable deposit per organization
Summary: Engage provides customized coaching, workshops, and peer learning to strengthen arts and cultural organizations’ leadership, sustainability, and community impact.
Key Information: Lubbock participation requires location in Lubbock or Hockley County; Engage US requires prior federally funded technical assistance.
Description
Engage is Mid-America Arts Alliance’s suite of capacity-building and technical-assistance programs for arts and cultural organizations. Through workshops, consultations, individualized coaching, and peer learning, it helps organizations respond to leadership transitions, fluctuating funding, and operational constraints. Programs are customized to organizational capacity, community needs, and available funding, with priorities including effective governance, financial management, long-term sustainability, and community responsiveness.
The suite ranges from introductory professional development to extended organizational learning. Topics include mission, vision, values, leadership succession, strategic planning, fundraising, cross-sector partnerships, volunteer recruitment, and artist-centered community engagement. Engage also emphasizes access and inclusion. Engage Express Lubbock serves local arts organizations and creative businesses in partnership with the Lubbock Cultural Arts Foundation, while the national Engage US pilot supports organizations that previously received federally funded technical assistance.
