CSAW'S FOURTH ANNUAL FUNDRAISER!

Can You Help CSAW Raise $24,000 to Fund Another Year of Grants For U.S. Circus Artists of Color and to Better Our Programs in 2025?

CSAW is a non-profit circus organization that works to increase accessibility of information and funding for circus artists of all backgrounds. As of October 2024, CSAW has awarded over $80,000 in grant funding to 50 different US Circus Artists of Color. Can you help us continue to provide these crucial resources for circus artists of color? CSAW is committed to continuing to take action against racism and we hope that you will join us in these efforts. 

CSAW will be raising $24,000 this year to help fund all of our programs for US Circus Artists of Color (Microgrants, Tuition Grants, Cannonball Grants, Black Circus Week and other in person opportunities.) The funds will also be used to help cover rising operational costs for our organization as we continue to grow and expand each year! Here’s a little more information about our programs:

• CSAW Microgrants for US Circus Artists of Color are monthly $1,000 grants awarded every month for the year and able to be used for any circus related funding need.
• The CSAW Tuition Grants for US Circus Artists of Color are $5,000 grants provided annually and specific to circus education. This program was on pause for 2024, but hopeful to come back in 2025.
• The CSAW Award at Cannonball Festival is a $5,600 grant in partnership with Cannonball which provides artists the opportunity to present their work at the Philadlephia Fringe Festival with funding, marketing and technical support.
• Black Circus Week launched this year in partnership with Cannonball. From September 6-11 black circus artists from all across the US came together to perform, teach and be in community. This incredible in person opportunity must continue!

To date, more than 500 U.S. circus artists of color have applied for CSAW grants. We know that these long-term, sustainable, programs are crucial for our community. We’ve been providing consistent and impactful programs for four straight years and we need your help to continue for a fifth and beyond.

Meet our past Microgrant Recipients: https://www.csawcircus.org/microgrants

Meet our past Tuition Grant Recipients: https://www.csawcircus.org/tuition-grants

Meet the past Cannonball Grant Recipients: https://www.csawcircus.org

Become a monthly donor for CSAW at https://www.patreon.com/csawcircus

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WHY ARE WE RAISING $24,000?

Here’s a breakdown of where these funds are going!

• 30% for CSAW grant programs 
• 25% for CSAW administrators 
• 17% for 2025 operating needs 
• 13% for 2024 operating needs 
• 10% for outreach and community building
• 5% will go to fundraiser management and perks

*CSAW will continue to seek support through sponsorships as well as through this fundraising campaign. This $24,000 is not all encompassing of our funding needs. If you’d like to learn more about sponsoring a Microgrant, Tuition Grant, Cannonball Grant or Black Circus Week please reach out to [email protected]

There are no CSAW grants without you!

Your tax deductible donations help us work to make circus in this country more inclusive, more accessible and therefore better. CSAW'S Non-Profit Tax Identification: 85-1487691

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HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Donate!

Monetary donations are the lifeblood of our fundraiser, so every bit helps! Your money goes directly toward making grants for circus artists of color.

Match a Donation​

In our previous three fully-funded campaigns, matched donations accounted for more than 80% of our total funds raised. This is a great way to double your impact! Email [email protected] with the amount that you would like to match and we'll work together to challenge people to meet your amount!

Spread the Word

​Share our fundraiser with your platform! Repost our content, reach out to figure out a cross-promotion plan with us, or tell your friends to donate. There's so much chatter in the online world now, it's hard to get the word out about things. If you can personally ask your friends to donate or share through your own platforms, this makes such a big difference for us.

You can find CSAW on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/csaw_circus/

On Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/csawcircus/

Or share our website or this fundraiser link directly!

Pledge a % of Your Event

Do you have an upcoming live event? Or a virtual one? A class or a festival? YAY! You can pledge to donate a percentage of ticket sales, class purchases, etc. to CSAW. We’ll promote your event and you can encourage your audience members to donate!

Ongoing Learning & Growth

How are your anti-racism policies and training going? What needs updating, how can you keep working to learn and change? CSAW needs to keep doing this ongoing work too. Let’s help hold each other accountable.

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MORE INFORMATION

CSAW - Connecting Circus Students Around the World was founded by Sierra Rhoades Nicholls in 2018 to increase accessibility of information and funding for students of international circus schools. Through an increase of knowledge, resources, community, and financial aid CSAW strives to assist future circus artists in finding the pathways best for them.

CSAW recognizes that funding and access to money are not the only barriers for circus artists of color and that there is so much more work to be done to fight systemic racism in the circus community and the United States at large. CSAW is always working to create an infrastructure that would allow for long-term donors and more significant funding opportunities to be created. We have had some success with this in our sponsorship efforts in 2023 and 2024.

We are also continuing conversations and learning to find where the need for funding truly lies in the circus. Receiving applications for these grants will help us continue to identify which areas of circus are in the most need of support.

For any feedback, inquiries, or other information contact [email protected] or visit https://www.csawcircus.org/

CSAW would also like to recognize that in spite of their best efforts, we may cause harm or perpetuate harmful practices. In the fight for social justice, mistakes will inevitably be made. If you would like to call us out, or if you have any concerns or questions, please don't hesitate to contact CSAW in the following ways:

Email : [email protected]

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/csawcircus/

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/csaw_circus/

Website : https://www.csawcircus.org/

Twitter : https://twitter.com/CsawThe

YouTube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIDfUsWIjzZb9ExJ-E3a5EQ

TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdWeYFfh/

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THANK YOU

It has truly been an amazing experience for CSAW to be able to do the work we've done since 2018 and to meet and support so many circus artists of color. 

This would not be possible without you and donors like you. We cannot thank you enough for your support, donations, time and investment through these years. Thank you for being a part of the community that we care about so deeply and for working with us to continue to bring change to the circus industry.