BENEFIT’s nonprofit grant application process opens January 20
LEESBURG, Va. (Jan. 13, 2025) – BENEFIT, a coalition of Loudoun County musicians and community leaders, will be accepting grant applications from nonprofit organizations beginning Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
Nonprofit organizations that serve children in Loudoun County are encouraged to apply for BENEFIT grant funding. Applications are due no later than 5 p.m., Friday, Feb. 14.
The mission of BENEFIT is to unite people with music to raise funds and awareness for nonprofit organizations serving children in Loudoun County.
This year, the nonprofit organizations selected for BENEFIT grants will receive two grant awards.
The funding for the first grant awards was raised from a portion of the proceeds from BENEFIT’s 2024 Crossroads Music Festival. The total amount of funding available for the first grant awards is $30,000. The BENEFIT grants will be awarded in March 2025. Funds will be distributed in varying amounts — with a minimum of $3,000 — among the nonprofit organizations selected.
In addition, the selected grant recipients will receive awards from a portion of the proceeds of BENEFIT’s 2025 Crossroads Music Festival to be held in September. The awarding of the grant funding from proceeds of the 2025 event will take place in November.
“In the past, BENEFIT held two annual events — one in the fall and one during the winter holidays,” Ara Bagdasarian, president and co-founder of BENEFIT, said. “We would then combine the proceeds raised and award the grant funding after an application process in spring of the following year. Starting in 2025, BENEFIT has decided to focus energy on hosting one annual event and align the distribution of grant funding in the same calendar year the event takes place. So, as the first year of aligning funding with the annual event, the nonprofits selected for grant funding in 2025 will have the opportunity to receive grants from both the 2024 and 2025 events. Then, moving forward, the nonprofit organization selection and grant funding award distribution will be aligned with that specific year’s event.”
To qualify for the BENEFIT 2025 grant awards, nonprofit applicants must:
- be a 501(c)(3) organization that provides services to children in Loudoun County
- complete the online application form found at www.BENEFIT.live no later than 5 p.m., Feb. 14, 2025 (application form will be available Monday, Jan. 20, 2025)
- submit a 30-second video that captures the mission and work of their organization (non-professionally produced video preferred)
Grant applications will be reviewed by a panel of BENEFIT volunteers. The panel will review the applications and videos to select the grant recipients and to also decide on the amount of funding that will be awarded.
The nonprofit organizations selected as grant recipients will be contacted in March 2025. After the grant recipients have been announced, their application videos will then be shared by BENEFIT throughout the year on its social media platforms in order to raise awareness and support for the nonprofit’s mission, as well as the greater mission of BENEFIT. Grant recipients will also be encouraged to collaborate with BENEFIT in its 2025 fundraising efforts.
The grant application and the instructions for submitting videos will be made available on BENEFIT’s website (www.BENEFIT.live) Monday, Jan. 20.