The MacArthur Foundation Arts and Culture Loan Fund

About The Program

ACLF participant Porchlight Music Theatre. Photo by Bonnie Robinson.

Arts and culture organizations are crucial components of vibrant, healthy communities — but for many organizations, being creative and focusing on art can be difficult if they’re worrying about having enough money to make it to next month. For many organizations, long-term planning can get complicated when revenue relies on the irregular schedules of production calendars, ticket sales, and grant and government funding.

The MacArthur Foundation Arts and Culture Loan Fund (ACLF) aims to help members of Chicago’s arts and culture scene navigate these challenges.

ACLF is available to small- and mid-sized arts and culture organizations that are part of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Culture, Equity, and the Arts program or the Field Foundation’s A Road Together program. The ACLF program comprises three major components:

An operating line of credit, providing a ready source of cash to cover for periods of slow revenue and support short-term financial stability;
A series of financial management clinics that provides nonprofits with an opportunity to learn about practices and tools to strengthen their long-term financial capacity; and
Technical assistance projects that support nonprofits in strengthening their financial management practices, processes, and capacity.

ACLF is supported by the MacArthur Foundation and administered by IFF, in partnership with BDO and Fifth Third Bank.

ACLF participant Porchlight Music Theatre. Photo by Bonnie Robinson.

The Program Includes

Operating Line of Credit

An operating line of credit is a financial resource designed to support an organization during periods of low revenue, offering immediate access to capital and flexibility in repayment.

Organizations can borrow as needed up to a set limit (usually up to $150,000) and repay the borrowed amount over a two-year term. Interest is charged only on the amount drawn, not the full credit limit.

Draws are unlimited, provided the total borrowed does not exceed the limit and is repaid by the end of the term. This makes it especially valuable for organizations with irregular cash flow, such as those dependent on seasonal ticket sales or unpredictable grant disbursements. In lean times, it offers a reliable source of funding and financial stability.

Lines of credit are offered by program administrator IFF and program partner Fifth Third Bank, offering up to $150,000 with two-year terms and potential for renewal. Coaching is also available to help interested organizations determine if a line of credit would work well for them. Click here for more information on the line of credit options from IFF and Fifth Third Bank.

Financial Management Capacity Building Clinic Series

Trainings in ACLF’s financial management clinic series will explore the values, practices, and resources characteristic of financially resilient organizations. These trainings will provide information to help ACLF participants build their long-term financial stability.

In each full-day clinic, participants will learn best practices and begin to customize and populate a tool or template that relates to the workshop’s topic. Each organization will also have access to follow-up coaching hours to support their development of the tool or template they started in the clinic.

Topics and dates for upcoming clinics will be as follows:

Scenario Planning — September 24, 2025
Managing Cash Flow — October 15, 2025
Assessing Revenue Risk and Opportunity — November 20, 2025
Engaging the Board in Strategic Financial Decision-Making — January 22, 2026

Interested in learning more about and registering interest in attending the clinics? Find more information and complete our interest form for our 1/22 clinic on Engaging the Board in Strategic Financial Decision-Making.

NOTE: To be considered for the Engaging the Board in Strategic Financial Decision-Making clinic on January 22, please fill out this form no later than January 14. Approved organizations will receive an email confirming their spot.

Have more questions? Get in touch and inquire about the clinics.

Financial Management Technical Assistance

In technical assistance projects, ACLF participant organizations will receive individualized, in-depth support on a particular financial need. Each technical assistance project will result in at least one deliverable relating to an organization’s financial management practices (e.g., a tool, workstream, etc.), which they can implement immediately to strengthen their financial management practices and capacity.

For those of us who run smaller nonprofits, we don’t have the luxury of having someone with an accounting background on our team. Often times, financial forecasting can be very abstract. It feels like a huge leap for a nonprofit that relies on donations — not sales of a product — to have any kind of debt. But these classes were phenomenal and, believe it or not, fun. The environment was friendly and enabled participants to learn from one another. Additionally, it was important and helpful that we used CAC’s real numbers. The training prepared us to take out a line of credit and pay it back.

- Caroline Older, former executive director of Chicago Artists Coalition (CAC)

Eligibility

To take advantage of the lines of credit, trainings, and technical assistance offered through ACLF, organizations must be current general operating support grantees of either the MacArthur Foundation’s Culture, Equity, and the Arts program or the Field Foundation’s A Road Together initiative. Organizations also must have annual expense budgets in the last fiscal year between $250,000 and $5 million. Organizations who have a line of credit with either IFF or Fifth Third may also maintain that line of credit, even if they no longer are in the grant portfolios for the Culture, Equity, and the Arts or A Road Together programs.

Unsure about eligibility? Get in touch with us for confirmation that your organization is eligible for the program.

Current ACLF participant Arts of Life. Photo by Jeff Rosal.

Several smiling people walk around a white art gallery looking at colorful paintings on the wall

Why is financial management important for arts and culture organizations?

Arts and culture play an integral role in supporting communities. In addition to enriching people’s lives, arts and culture support the economic well-being of Chicago as a whole. However, for many arts organizations, access to the funding, financing, and financial management resources necessary to sustain arts-based programming can be difficult to find. After completing the program, ACLF’s goal is that organizations will be able to:

Have access to an operating line of credit to meet their organization’s short-term fiscal needs
Deeply understand financial management tools, practices, and processes
Build an institutional credit history and continue creating relationships for future financial needs