Pay Your People 2026 (For Companies, Collectives, and Venues Only)

ABOUT THE PAY YOUR PEOPLE GRANTS:

The Pay Your People Grants are $1,000 for NYC-based indie theater and performing arts companies, collectives, and venues distributed at our annual Big Give event. Pay Your People Grants are used to compensate historically marginalized artists or leadership for working in, administering, or performing in their spaces and/or productions. For venues, you can use these funds to subsidize a rental from an artist in your venue or to pay historically marginalized performers or administration directly.

ABOUT THE BIG GIVE:

Mark your calendar now: The Big Give is December 8! The Big Give is our annual grant giving event and creates an opportunity for all of us to get to know more members of our community, and maybe even make some productive connections. As leadership in your org, consider coming to the event yourself, bringing other company and board members, and bringing friends. It’s always an awesome night, with free food and drink provided. The in-person event will take place at Judson Memorial Church and the virtual party will take place via Zoom.

RSVP here.

Someone from your organization must be present at The Big Give (in person or on Zoom) to receive a grant.

You are eligible if:

• You or someone from your organization has RSVPed to attend The Big Give, in-person or on Zoom.
• You are a NYC-based indie performing arts company, fiscally sponsored collective/production, OR indie performing arts venue (venues with 99 seats or less).
• You can commit to using the grant to pay historically marginalized artists or leaders who bring an underrepresented perspective to our community through race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, economic disadvantage or refugee/immigration status.
• You are planning to produce at least one show, reading, or workshop in the 12 months following The Big Give (December 2026 to December 2027).
• You have a bank account in your organization's name or have a fiscal sponsor to receive funds. Checks will NOT be written to individuals.

You are NOT eligible if:

• You received a Pay Your People Grant in 2025, you ARE NOT eligible to apply for the Pay Your People Grant this year. Organizations/Companies/Collectives can not receive this grant two years in a row. If you received a grant in 2025, you are eligible to apply again for Pay Your People in 2027.
• You are a venue that RECEIVED The Little Venue That Could Grant in 2025 or 2026, you ARE NOT eligible to apply for a Pay Your People Grant this year.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

To apply for funds, please RSVP for The Big Give before completing the application below.

Before submitting your application, please note:

• Only one application for the Pay Your People Grant should be filled out per venue/company/collective.
• This application will ask you to upload a performance/rehearsal or venue photo to be used in a slideshow at The Big Give event or in marketing materials. By uploading this photo, you give IndieSpace permission to use it in the slideshow at The Big Give, where it may also be captured in the background of photos or video taken that evening to be used in future marketing.  

SELECTION AND PAYMENT PROCESS:

Eligible applicants will be entered into the live grant drawing that will occur at our hybrid Big Give event on December 8. Checks will be written and given out at the event that evening; PayPal is also possible, if preferred. For those who attend the event virtually, IndieSpace staff will reach out to you and arrange payment either via PayPal, ACH, or check.

Payments will be made to companies, venues, or fiscal sponsors, not directly to individuals.

You must have a bank account set up in the name of the company or venue that is accepting the grant check or be working with a fiscal sponsor that can receive the funds.

YOU MUST ATTEND THE BIG GIVE IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THIS GRANT, either in-person or virtually, when the names are pulled to claim and receive one of the $1,000 grants. You may only represent ONE company at the event. Names will be called three times. If someone is not present to respond, we will pull another organization’s name for that grant. Checks will be cut that night and you’ll be on your way to paying artists and leaders!

October 16 - Application Opens at 12:00am

November 15 - Application Closes at 11:59pm

November 16-23 - Applications are reviewed by the IndieSpace staff and Board for eligibility only

November 23 - Applicants are notified of their application status and eligibility. Please note your eligibility confirmation determines if you will be entered into the Pay Your People lottery, and is not an award notification. If you do not receive an email regarding your eligibility by November 24, please contact us at hello@indiespace.org.

December 8 - THE BIG GIVE event at the Judson Memorial Church & on Zoom! Eligible applicants will be entered into the lottery and recipients will be selected live.  

IMPORTANT NOTE:

We ask questions to determine your eligibility for the lottery—we do not compare applications or review them for merit. Your application should display that you are an actively producing indie venue, company or collective that can commit to putting the funding towards historically marginalized artists. Feel free to write very short descriptions, or to copy language from other grant proposals.

There is no required reporting for this grant. You may be asked for a testimonial on the impact of this grant at the end of the grant period.