2025 National Meredith Willson Awards

Overview 

The Meredith Willson Awards will provide significant, multi-year, general operating support to vibrant national programs and organizations using music to achieve systemic change.

The Music Man Foundation anticipates awarding grants to 3 to 8 organizations in 2025. Grants between $100,000 – $1,000,000 will be paid over a two-year period to support general operating expenses for national organizations and programs. Grant funds must be allocated by December 31, 2027.

Successful submissions will clearly identify the primary system the organization is impacting, articulate how and why music plays a key role in advancing this system change, and demonstrate why the organization is well-positioned to take on this system change. Grants will not be awarded to organizations whose applications focus on developing new programs.

Grant decisions and amounts will take into consideration:

      1. The Leadership Letter, application, organization’s capacity for systems change as observed during the site visit/organizational interview, and application assessments provided by an advisory panel of external reviewers; and
      2. Alignment with the Foundation’s Selection Criteria, published below.

Eligible organizations will have three years of experience conducting programming with a national focus, and an intentional presence in at least three U.S. states or territories. Organizations conducting programming with a national focus that also conduct programming with a local/community focus are eligible. If awarded, grant funds will be restricted for nationally-focused programming only.

Any organization that meets the eligibility requirements is encouraged to submit a Leadership Letter no later than Friday, January 24, 2025.

Defining Systems Change 

The Music Man Foundation interprets systems change as shifting the underlying conditions that make service delivery necessary.

The Meredith Willson Awards grant process seeks to understand an organization’s strategic approach to making a lasting impact at the systemic level. The Foundation recognizes that systems change is a long-term effort that requires collaboration.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to be considered for funding, an organization must:

  • Be a non-profit organization with IRS-determined 501 (c)(3) status since January 2022 or before.
  • Be a national program or organization, defined by having programming that spans at least three states and/or U.S. territories. The efforts in selected states and/or territories must be intentional and in line with the organization’s strategic plan(s).
    • Touring productions with performances in three or more states and/or territories do not meet this eligibility requirement.
    • Camps held in a single location that attract participants from three or more states and/or territories do not meet this eligibility requirement.
  • Have been conducting programming utilizing music since January 2022 or before.
  • Have had at least one paid employee dedicated to national music programming (part-time or full-time) since January 1, 2024 or before. Contractors may not fulfill the employee eligibility requirement.
  • For organizations that have previously received a grant from The Music Man Foundation, the organization must be in good standing with the Foundation.
  • Not have a structural deficit.

Other Eligibility Information

  • Fiscally sponsored organizations are not eligible to apply.
  • Recipients of either a 2024 Southern California Meredith Willson Award or a 2024 Strengthening the Sector grant are not eligible to apply.

Timeline 

  • December 16, 2024 and January 9, 2025: Information sessions on Zoom
  • January 10, 14, and 16, 2025: Optional office hours with Foundation staff on Zoom
  • January 24, 2025 at 5pm PT: Leadership Letters due
  • March 2025: Select organizations invited to submit full application and schedule site visit/organizational interview
  • April 2025: Applications due
  • April – July, 2025: Site visits and/or organizational interviews conducted
  • November 2025: Awards announced

Information Sessions

45-minute information sessions will take place on:

December 16, 2024 at 9:30am PT/12:30pm ET
January 9, 2025 at 11:30am PT/2:30pm ET

To attend the January 9, 2025 Information Session, please register HERE.

Optional Office Hours

Office hours are 20-minute appointments offered to answer organizational-specific questions. Office hours are completely optional and will provide a chance to answer questions if you missed the information sessions, have concerns about your organization’s eligibility, or have questions about the Leadership Letter requirements. More than one team member is welcome to join an organization’s office hour appointment. Attending office hours does not improve the competitiveness of an organization’s Leadership Letter submission.

You may sign up for a 20-minute appointment using this link.

Leadership Letter

The Leadership Letter will introduce the Foundation to your organization and should include a thoughtful description of how the organization’s work intends to achieve systemic change. The letter may come from the organization’s Executive Director, Board Chair, or Program Director depending on your organization’s leadership structure. The Leadership Letter should include the signature of its author. The Leadership Letter should be addressed to The Music Man Foundation, and the salutation can read, “Dear board and staff of The Music Man Foundation.”

Compelling Leadership Letters will clearly and concisely articulate the system the organization aims to impact, demonstrating thoughtful insight into how these music programs serve as strategic efforts to drive systemic change.

In 1-3 pages:

  • Provide a brief summary of why your organization exists.
  • Share how music is central to the organization’s mission.
  • Share how long you have been in a leadership role at the organization and share briefly any noteworthy organizational accomplishments that showcase your leadership capacity.
  • Clearly and concisely address what system your organization is impacting using music and why your organization is well-positioned to take on this system change.
  • Discuss how your organization acts as a leader and key collaborator in this systems change.
  • Articulate why and how music plays a key role in advancing this change, and how the organization’s programs serve as strategic efforts to drive systemic change.
  • Discuss your longer-term goals for the organization and their projected impact on systems change.
  • If applying for support of a national program, please discuss how this program fits within the context of the organization.

Additional Requirements

In conjunction with the Leadership Letter, we request every submission include a one-page document about the organization’s primary programs, as well as two board-approved organizational budgets that include revenue and expenses: one for the current fiscal year and one for the most recently completed fiscal year which reflects budget and actual figures. If you are applying for a national program, a program budget will also be required. The Leadership Letter should not include a specific grant request amount.

An incomplete submission may result in your organization’s Leadership Letter being deemed ineligible.

Selection Criteria 

  • Leadership Letters are evaluated using the Systems Change and Organizational Vibrance criteria.
  • Applications are evaluated using all the criteria listed below.

Systems Change

The organization identifies the system it seeks to shift, demonstrates a thorough understanding of the system it aims to impact and why it is well-positioned to drive this change.

 Organizational Vibrance

The organization articulates how music programs are central to the mission and all programming; a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion across the organization is evident; and the financial requirements are submitted in line with Leadership Letter instructions.

Collaborations and Partnerships

The organization’s partnerships reflect intentional efforts to be a leader in influencing system dynamics and demonstrate that the organization understands the complexities around the system through its partnership selection.

Impact

The organization has achievements that have impacted the system, understands the next steps needed to continue making progress, and has the capacity to collect relevant data. Intentionality in program design and participant selection must be evident.

Application

Select organizations will be invited to submit an application. The application will include the following components (please note this is not the application):

  • Executive summary that includes an overview of the organization’s goals, its measures of progress, and evidence of programs that serve as strategies toward achieving systemic impact.
  • Narrative portion that includes a discussion of the progress the organization aims to inspire, greater detail about programs and their participants, how the organization is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, what activities are planned for 2026 and 2027, and what resources are required to achieve the organization’s mission-aligned goals.
  • Financial section that includes the budgets for the current fiscal year and the most recent fiscal year. Also, audited financial statements and/or balance sheet for the most recent fiscal year.
  • Leadership section that describes the staff structure and board governance.

Organizations will not have the opportunity to request a specific grant amount.

Past Recipients

2024 Southern California Meredith Willson Award Recipients: Arts for Healing and Justice Network, Education Through Music – Los Angeles, Heart of Los Angeles, Harmony Project, LA Opera, LA Phil, Riverside Arts Academy and Tonality.

2023 National Meredith Willson Award Recipients: Braver Angels, CreatiVets, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Music Will and Save the Music.

Questions 

Organizations whose work aligns with the goals of the Meredith Willson Award should get in touch via email:  [email protected].

Instructions for Using the Foundation’s Grant Portal 

For details about setting up your organization’s account and for additional tips on how to successfully submit an application to the Foundation, please find instructions here.