How I Raised $65,000 in Grants for my Music Business Education

If you’ve never tried it before, applying for grants can seem pretty intimidating—at least, that’s how I felt. I was thrilled when I got my acceptance letter from the NYU Music Business Master’s program in 2016, but I also knew that my work had only just begun! It was time to fund this adventure—one that I’d already been working towards for the better part of a year.

I’d love to tell you that I had a grand grant master plan (see what I did there?), but I didn’t, at least not at first. I just had a big scary number on my budget. Sure, I needed to cover tuition, but also two years of living expenses in New York City as an International student (read: with extremely limited employment options).

Whether you’re in a similar situation or just browsing by, this article retraces some of my most important steps toward raising a whole lot of money for my music business education.

I went through a scattershot research phase 

I spent hours and hours Googling anything and everything I could think of related to grants, fundraising for education abroad, raising money for music business education, and so on. I read a book, which quite concisely laid out all steps of the grant process, from preparing supporting documents to finding grants to following up and trying again. Shoutout to Legatbogen—an invaluable Danish resource for me at the time.

But even with all of this footwork and all of the preparation, I only found about a dozen grants that seemed like a fit—and I needed a lot of money, so even if I got the most I could from all 12 of them, I knew that wouldn’t cut it.

I asked everyone (!) for help

I shared my plans, along with my challenges, on social media, asking my friends and connections if anyone had tried anything like this before. Or, if they hadn’t, perhaps they had friends who’d have good advice for me. I posted in relevant Facebook groups. I emailed different interest groups, such as organizations dedicated to helping Danish, Scandinavian, or European students studying abroad.

I invested in expert help

Through one of my many emails to strangers, I was referred to Søren Madsen of Fundraising.how. He had not only walked the walk, but he’d also started a consultancy to offer fundraising coaching. I hired him to help me, and he created a tailored list of any and all grants that I might be eligible for. Seeking out expert advice took my prospects and process from good to great—and the results speak for themselves.

I embraced all of who I am

The grant list I got from my fundraising coach definitely was my most important tool, but I didn’t stop there. I kept thinking of new angles, and more special things about me that might make me eligible for other types of grants. After all, I wasn’t just a Dane looking to study at NYU; I was also a rather successful independent musician; I grew up far outside any major city area; I was the first person in my immediate family to pursue a Master’s degree. The list goes on, and I had no intention of limiting myself. I approached this in the same way I approach many other things—the more I try, the more likely I am to succeed. 

I built an assembly line

I wrote, assembled, and packaged a strong “standard” application with supporting documents like letters of recommendation, a realistic budget, press clippings, etc. I built an assembly line on the dining table of my apartment. All grants are different, and they require different applications, but I’d set up a system that allowed me to churn out grant applications at high speed. 

I got real geeky with it

My “master” grant spreadsheet carefully tracked how much time I spent, how many applications I sent, how much money I’d raised, etc. I even set it up to calculate fun little stats like how much each application had yielded on average, my “hit rate” (how many applications I needed to send on average to get a grant), and my hourly “salary” for putting in the work. It was super motivating—and I knew for a fact that my efforts were paying off.

I didn’t take no for an answer, and I came back for more

It took five tries for one foundation to come through. For others, it took two or three attempts. I had promised myself that I wouldn’t let one rejection stop me—and trying again paid off more than once. I also reapplied for foundations that had already granted me money (unless they specifically stated that they don’t do repeats). Not only did that help me raise more money, but it also felt really good to be able to show my progress to the foundations that had already invested in me.

The bottom line is, yes, it takes time and effort, but applying for grants can be more than worth it. I raised over $65,000 over the course of a year, sending more than 145 grant applications. It’s not the whole story about how I afforded NYU and living as a student in New York City—I had savings, Danish governmental support, loans, and supportive parents who, luckily, were in a position to help me make my last semester tuition payment. These are all huge privileges that I realize are not available to just everyone. Even so, I hope this article can inspire others to give grant applications a go. 

For me, raising so many funds remains one of the most valuable experiences that I took with me from my US grad school experience. It was incredibly empowering and validating as I’d figured it out by myself. I also took the investments that these foundations made in me to mean, “Yes, we totally believe that you can do this, so we’re backing you!”

Whether or not you’re looking for grants yourself, or perhaps just browsing around this site to learn more about the people behind the Port Authority Music Export Academy, I’d be happy to hear from you. Whatever you’re chasing right now, I wish you the best of luck and more success than you ever dreamt of.