Actors should be ready to supply an 8- by 10-inch headshot as well as a résumé or biography explaining their experience. You might also have to audition or provide a recording of a scene you've done.
The Fox Foundation offers five Resident Actor Fellowships in two categories. The Extraordinary Potential Grant serves actors either early or in the middle of their careers and who have graduated from an acting school within the past 15 years. This grant offers $15,000 to pursue career interests, with another $10,000 to pay student loans. The Distinguished Achievement Grant pays a veteran actor $25,000.
The Puffin Foundation funds artists creating controversial or socially relevant work. Grants are $1,000 to $2,500.
Directors should provide the name of the play they are working on and their vision for the project. Having an outline with notes on the script is also helpful. Be sure to mention any plays in which you had some creative control, even if you were an assistant director or choreographer.
The Alan Schneider Director Award provides regional directors without a national following $10,000.
Playwrights should have a writing sample ready, preferably from the script for which they want the grant.
The Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation sets aside $1,000 to $3,000 for playwrights who are not receiving money from other sources. This organization accepts applications by email to speed up the process.
The International Centre for Women Playwrights offers a variety of rewards to its members, including Professional Development Grants and money for women participating in International Women Day events. Dues range from free to $25 per year depending on your type of membership.
Some organizations offer help to anyone involved in or interested in the arts, sometimes with programs in place of grants. Some of these programs offer small stipends for struggling artists.
The Princess Grace Awards for theater artists and playwrights provides grants, scholarships, apprenticeships and fellowships to young performers and writers. Recipients are determined by the artistic merit of past work, as well as the potential for any creative growth.
Creative Capital gives up to $20,000 to actors and playwrights. Working in conjunction with the Andy Warhol Foundation, the board strongly encourages works involving the visual arts, though writing and performing plays about such art is acceptable.
Many regional organizations fund the arts, as long as the performer lives or works locally, or intends to produce the finished project in the area. United Artists helps aspiring actors in Raleigh, North Carolina, while the Maine Theater Fund assists performers in Maine.
Know what kind of grant you want. Some organizations only offer grants to cover health care, groceries, travel expenses or business needs.
Examine an organization's past winners to see what sort of work interests them.