NEA Challenge America, FY 2026 | 2025NEA01CA

Opportunity Information: Apply for 2025NEA01CA

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Challenge America program for FY 2026 is a discretionary grant opportunity designed to help arts organizations and community partners expand access to the arts for underserved groups and communities. The core purpose of the program is to support projects that meaningfully extend the reach of arts programming to people who have limited opportunities to experience or participate in the arts. In practice, this often includes communities facing geographic isolation, economic barriers, disability access barriers, or other forms of under-resourcing, with an emphasis on projects that clearly identify who is being served and how the project will reduce gaps in access.

This opportunity is especially geared toward smaller organizations and those that are newer to federal arts funding. The NEA explicitly welcomes applications from primarily small organizations, first-time NEA applicants, and returning Challenge America applicants. It also encourages applications from organizations that have not been recommended for funding in any of the three most recent fiscal years within certain other NEA programs, specifically Grants for Arts Projects, Our Town, or Research Awards. This makes Challenge America a practical entry point for groups that may be building their grant track record or that have not recently been competitive in other NEA funding categories.

Eligible applicants span a wide range of U.S.-based public and nonprofit entities. Applicants may include nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations with 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions in that particular nonprofit category), units of state or local government, and federally recognized tribal governments. The eligibility list also includes state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, independent school districts, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, and private institutions of higher education, as well as federally recognized Native American tribal governments. The program is listed under CFDA number 45.024 and is administered by the National Endowment for the Arts.

At the same time, the NEA clearly limits who cannot apply under this category. Funding is not available to individuals, fiscally sponsored entities (organizations operating under a fiscal sponsor rather than having their own eligible legal status), or commercial/for-profit enterprises. State Arts Agencies (SAAs) and Regional Arts Organizations (RAOs) are also not eligible for Challenge America funds, which helps keep the focus on local organizations and direct community-serving projects rather than statewide or regional regranting structures.

For FY 2026, the maximum award amount listed is $10,000 (award ceiling). The NEA anticipates making about 280 awards, indicating a relatively broad distribution of smaller grants rather than a small number of large awards. The funding instrument type is a grant, and the activity category is Arts. The funding opportunity is identified as “NEA Challenge America, FY 2026” with the opportunity number 2025NEA01CA. The original closing date provided is April 24, 2025, and the record creation date is December 12, 2024.

Overall, Challenge America is a targeted NEA program for organizations that want to deliver focused, community-centered arts projects with a clear access and equity orientation. It is structured to be approachable for smaller and less federally experienced applicants, while maintaining firm requirements about organizational eligibility and excluding individuals, fiscal sponsorship arrangements, and for-profit entities.

• The National Endowment for the Arts in the arts sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NEA Challenge America, FY 2026" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 45.024.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-12.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-04-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $10,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 280 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for 2025NEA01CA

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