Applicants are instructed to develop a strategic vision for deploying General Operating Support grant awards that is appropriate to their specific situation, challenges, and opportunities. The proposed grant budget must align with the proposed strategies. The NLTI grants application allowed each applicant to determine the strategies and processes that best address its organizational and artistic needs and priorities.

The NLTI Budget Form enables applicants to provide information on how NLTI funds will be deployed in Year 1 of Round 2. Applicants MUST use the budget form provided. Approximately nine months into Year 1 of Round 2 of the program, grantees will be requested to submit a Budget for Year 2. This will allow them to explain the impact of Year 1 funding on their organization and either continue with Year 1 program priorities or calibrate their priorities and budget to align with their 2027 goals and realities. This methodology will be followed in subsequent years.

The program guidelines prioritize providing funding support for artistic and administrative staff compensation. Other allowable expenses include, but are not limited to:

• Benefit artists: joint commissions, artistic program production and development, creation of touring opportunities, promoting participation at national/international festivals, and professional/personal development.

  Benefit organizations: succession planning, archival needs, IT needs, capital improvements, marketing, social media planning and strategies, establishing or expanding cash reserves, and other artistic and organizational needs.

NLTI Grantees are selected through a competitive, Peer-reviewed panel process under the following two categories:

National Latinx Anchor Producing Theaters and Ensembles are, by definition, larger, more established institutions. Generally, they have annual operating budgets exceeding $250,001. (NLTI grants will generally range from $75,000 to $120,000 annually.)

Eligibility Criteria:

1. Latinx-led theater institutions and ensembles that serve predominantly Latinx communities and are a recognized part of the national contemporary Latinx Theater movement that evidence Artistic Merit

2. Board participation, if applicable, generally must be at least 51% Latinx, and so must staff composition

3. Programming for a continuous 15 years or more

4. Evidence of programming at least one Latinx theatrical production annually in the last five years created and produced by Latinx artists for primarily Latinx audiences; these productions can be in one or more languages.

5. History of paying artists and staff

6. History of producing, presenting, and/or commissioning contemporary and/or classic Latinx theater works and/or performance art

   Commitment to educational and/or other community-based programs

OR

OR Local Latinx Anchor Producing Theaters and Ensembles (grants will generally range from $25,000 to $60,000 annually)

Eligibility Criteria:

1. Latinx-led theater organizations and ensembles that serve predominantly Latinx communities and are recognized as part of the local contemporary Latinx Theater movement that evidence Artistic Merit.

2. Board participation, if applicable, must generally be at least 51% Latinx and so must staff composition

3. Programming for five or more years continuously. These productions can be in one or more languages

4. Evidence of programming at least three Latinx theatrical productions created and produced by Latinx artists for primarily Latinx audiences in the last five years.

5. Articulated plans to pay artists if the NLTI grant is awarded

6. Evidence of community engagement with and within Latinx communities