Dear Craft Community,
Today, we are sharing difficult news.
After careful evaluation of our financial position, the Craft Emergency Relief Fund has made the difficult decision to suspend all grantmaking programs for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2026.
Since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2026, we have distributed more than $1 million in direct disaster and emergency relief to craft artists throughout the United States, Tribal Nations, and U.S. Territories, making this one of the largest years of disaster and emergency relief in our organization’s history outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beginning in late April, we experienced a significant surge in requests for emergency assistance that has continued to accelerate, placing extraordinary demand on our emergency relief programs. At the same time, the funding environment has become increasingly constrained. Several anticipated sources of funding were significantly reduced or did not materialize, philanthropic giving has become more uncertain, and the broader economic and political climate continues to create significant challenges for nonprofit organizations and the artists and communities they serve.
Taken together, these conditions have created a widening gap between the level of need we are seeing and the resources available to respond.
We know this news will be deeply disappointing, particularly for craft artists who were planning to apply for assistance. We share that disappointment.
This decision was not made lightly. Supporting craft artists through times of disaster and emergency is at the heart of our mission. Every instinct we have is to continue saying “yes” to artists in crisis. At the same time, we have a responsibility to steward this organization in a way that protects its ability to continue serving craft artists for years to come. Continuing our current grantmaking approach under today’s financial circumstances would place that future at risk.
This suspension applies through the remainder of our current fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2026. During this time, our focus will be on strengthening our financial foundation, rebuilding and diversifying our revenue base, and refining our emergency response model in light of today’s funding realities. Grantmaking will resume on October 1, 2026, with an updated approach that reflects both the evolving needs of craft artists and the funding environment in which we operate.
For more than four decades, the Craft Emergency Relief Fund has supported craft artists through times of disaster and emergency. While this decision changes what we are able to do today, it does not change who we are or the mission that guides our work.
We remain committed to ensuring craft artists have access to disaster and emergency relief for years to come. Thank you for your understanding, your trust, and your continued support as we navigate this difficult moment together. We will continue to share updates as our work progresses.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to CERF+ Executive Director Ruby Lopez Harper at [email protected]
