Cultural Participation A grant program to help nonprofit organizations build their capacity to increase cultural participation in southeastern Michigan. The grants were designed to help these organizations build their capacity to attract audiences and increase public participation in cultural programs. Following is a description of the grant program and the projects that received funding. The Venture Fund for Cultural Participation was designed to increase access to and participation in arts and cultural programs in southeastern Michigan.
Cultural activity is one of the hallmarks of a healthy and vital community.
The level of participation is an indicator of how effective cultural programs are in engaging and serving their communities and building public support. Organizations that are leaders in building audiences and increasing participation are ones that are strengthening and reinventing their business practices so the programs they offer meet the highest standards of quality while engaging a broad cross-section of people. These organizations have integrated community engagement strategies in all aspects of their operations. They are successful at both growing and diversifying their constituencies. They effectively integrate market research, customer service, excellent artistic and cultural materials and innovative approaches into the content and delivery of their public programs.