Literary Arts Fund

What Literary Arts Fund does

The Literary Arts Fund is a U.S.-based, New York-headquartered grantmaking organization and a fiscally sponsored project of the National Center for Civic Innovation, established in 2023 and publicly launched in October 2025. It was initiated by the Mellon Foundation in collaboration with six other founding funders (Ford Foundation, Hawthornden Foundation, Lannan Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Poetry Foundation, and one anonymous foundation) and operates with a three-person staff (Executive Director Jennifer Benka, Engagement Director Michelle Campagna, and Grants Director Nikay Paredes). The fund's stated objective is to deploy at least $50 million in support of the nonprofit literary arts field over five years through 2031, in a discipline that receives only 1.9% of the $5 billion in U.S. arts grants awarded in 2023.

The fund offers two core grant products: unrestricted General Operating Grants ranging from $40,000 to $500,000 (disbursed as a single payment intended for multi-year use and informed by each nonprofit's annual operating budget), and Innovation Project Grants ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 for one-time projects addressing structural or infrastructural challenges in the field. Applications are managed through the Submittable platform and reviewed by panels of writers and literary arts experts; the inaugural 2026 general operating cohort disbursed $7.7 million across 40 organizations spanning 19 states plus Washington, D.C., and a $1 million Innovation Project Grants cycle opened in June 2026. Beyond grantmaking, the fund conducts and publishes field research using Candid data and runs learning sessions for grantees, while operating the Literary Arts Funders Collaborative — an affinity group of grantmakers intended to expand philanthropic support for the discipline beyond the founding cohort.

The fund's business model is pooled philanthropic grantmaking rather than commercial revenue: it does not charge for services, derives inflows from one-time lead gifts and ongoing contributions from a defined set of charitable foundations, and channels the vast majority of those inflows out to grantees. Technology is intentionally lightweight — Submittable for applications, MailChimp for the newsletter, Zoom Webinar for information sessions, and Google Forms for event registration — with no proprietary platform, AI/ML components, or paid distribution channels. Marketing and applicant outreach run through literaryartsfund.org, an email newsletter, six social platforms (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, YouTube), and recurring webinars, positioning the fund primarily as a convener and capital allocator rather than a technology or content business.

Name

Literary Arts Fund

Legal name

Literary Arts Fund

Website

https://literaryartsfund.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Literary Arts Fund is a New York–based, fiscally sponsored grantmaking nonprofit that deploys at least $50 million over five years (2025–2031) in unrestricted general operating grants ($40K–$500K) and innovation project grants ($25K–$100K) to U.S. nonprofit literary arts organizations, supported by a coalition of thirteen charitable foundations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arts Grantmaking / Literary Arts Philanthropy

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

Keywords

• Arts grantmaking foundation
• Nonprofit literary arts
• General operating grants
• Literary philanthropy
• Arts funding collaborative

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Contributions and Donations: The Literary Arts Fund receives one-time gifts and contributions from charitable foundations including founding funders (Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, Hawthornden Foundation, Lannan Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Poetry Foundation, and anonymous foundation) and contributing members of the Literary Arts Funders Collaborative (Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Fund, Barr Foundation, Houston Endowment, Jerome Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Barbara and Amos Hostetter). The fund is a fiscally sponsored project of the National Center for Civic Innovation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Literary Arts Fund is a private nonprofit grantmaking organization that provides unrestricted general operating grants and innovation project grants to U.S.-based nonprofit literary arts organizations, publishers, and presses. The fund, backed by a coalition of seven founding foundations, plans to distribute at least $50 million over five years (2025–2031) to sustain the nonprofit literary arts field. It also conducts field research, publishes reports, and fosters the Literary Arts Funders Collaborative, a philanthropic affinity group for grantmakers.

Product overview

The Literary Arts Fund operates as a unified grantmaking initiative offering two interconnected programs: General Operating Grants providing unrestricted multi-year funding (ranging from $40,000 to $500,000) to sustain organizational missions and operations, and Innovation Project Grants ($25,000-$100,000) supporting one-time projects addressing structural challenges. The Fund also fosters the Literary Arts Funders Collaborative, an affinity group connecting foundations supporting the literary arts field. Together, these offerings form a comprehensive approach to strengthening the nonprofit literary arts ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Literary Arts Funders Collaborative: A new philanthropic affinity group for grantmakers interested in literature, reading, and creative writers, hosted by the Literary Arts Fund.

Products and services

• General Operating Grants Unrestricted funding grants awarded to U.S. nonprofit literary arts organizations and publishers to support their mission, activities, and administrative needs. Grants range from $40,000 to $500,000, disbursed in a single payment for use over multiple years. Awardees are selected through a competitive open call application process.
• Innovation Project Grants Competitive grants ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 for new, one-time, forward-thinking projects addressing critical structural or infrastructural challenges facing literary arts nonprofits. Projects must commence after January 1, 2027 and conclude by December 31, 2027.
• Literary Arts Funders Collaborative A philanthropic affinity group hosted by the Literary Arts Fund that brings together grantmakers interested in literature, reading, and creative writers. Provides opportunities to learn about the nonprofit literary arts field throughout the year and grow collective philanthropic support for the sector.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40 literary arts organizations and publishers received $7.7 million in inaugural grants
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• National Center for Civic InnovationflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025The Literary Arts Fund is a fiscally sponsored project of the National Center for Civic Innovation (NCCI). NCCI provides administrative and operational infrastructure, and the Literary Arts Fund shares information with NCCI.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Ford Foundation: Major international foundation with an arts and creativity portfolio addressing inequality through cultural change. A founding funder of the Literary Arts Fund and a broader incumbent comparable in scale and mission orientation.
• Knight Foundation: National foundation investing in arts, journalism, and the success of cities where its founders once published newspapers; supports literary arts organizations, festivals, and presses. Comparable as a major national arts and culture grantmaker.
• National Endowment for the Arts: Federal agency funding nonprofit literary arts organizations through grants to publishers, presenters, and literary programs. Operates at substantially larger scale across all artistic disciplines; comparable as a national literary arts funding source.
• Wallace Foundation: National foundation focused on arts and culture, education, and community development — including significant support for nonprofit arts organizations and cultural infrastructure. Comparable as a discipline-focused grantmaking foundation investing in cultural ecosystem capacity.
• Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: The nation's largest supporter of the arts and humanities, with extensive literary arts grantmaking including the Monuments Project and direct writer fellowships. Primary convener and lead initiator of the Literary Arts Fund and the most significant incumbent comparable.

Direct peers

• Jerome Foundation: Arts and culture grantmaking foundation supporting emerging artists and nonprofit arts organizations across Minnesota and New York City. A contributing member of the Literary Arts Funders Collaborative with highly comparable discipline-specific grantmaking focus.
• Poetry Foundation: Major literary arts grantmaking organization that publishes Poetry magazine and funds poets and literary organizations through prizes, fellowships, and grants. One of the seven founding funders of the Literary Arts Fund and the most directly comparable peer in literary arts philanthropy.
• Doris Duke Charitable Foundation: Major arts grantmaking foundation supporting performing arts, visual arts, and related nonprofit organizations through multi-year programmatic and general operating support. Comparable as a large-scale arts discipline-specific grantmaker.
• Lannan Foundation: Private family foundation supporting writers and literary organizations since 1960 through awards, fellowships, residencies, public readings, and grants to publishers. A founding funder of the Literary Arts Fund and a close comparable in mission and constituency.
• Hawthornden Foundation: Foundation supporting contemporary writers and the literary arts through residencies, the Hawthornden Prize, and grants to literary arts organizations internationally. A founding funder of the Literary Arts Fund with directly overlapping grantmaking activity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@LiteraryArtsFund
• Facebookfacebook.com/literaryartsfund
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/literary-arts-fund
• Instagraminstagram.com/literaryartsfund
• Xx.com/LiteraryArtsFnd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Literary Arts Fund