Another “no” arrived this week, this one from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. It was polite and professional, and it came with a number: more than 700 applications to its Community Partnership Grants program. Mine was one of them, and it was not funded this cycle.
I want to say thank you, and I mean it.
The Foundation is the nonprofit behind the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and its grants support the music and culture that make this city what it is. More than 700 applications means more than 700 people who believe New Orleans culture is worth building on. That says a great deal about how much the Foundation matters here, and it is good company to be in.
I learned the value of things early. As a boy, I sat behind a pawn shop counter on South Rampart Street and watched how gold and diamonds were weighed, how people saved, and how real value appreciates when you hold it long enough. The Foundation’s office sits at the other end of that same street, on North Rampart. The rest of my childhood happened in record stores, music equipment stores, recording studios, and in front of an audience. None of it came with a guarantee, and all of it came with lessons.
But a rejection letter does not tell you what you learned. It tells you what a funder could support this time. Those are two different things, and confusing them is how good work gets abandoned.
Therefore, every “no” goes into the record. It is tuition at the School of Hard Knocks, and it earns The Black Eye: what you earned but did not deserve. The lesson stays, the work continues, and the next application will be sharper than the last.
Questions People Ask After a Grant Rejection
What does a grant rejection actually mean?
Usually, the money ran out before the good projects did. When hundreds of applicants compete for a limited pool, many strong projects go unfunded.
Who funds community music and culture projects in New Orleans?
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation runs the Community Partnership Grants program, and it invites applicants who are not funded to apply again in the next cycle. Details are at jazzandheritage.org.
Should you ask the funder for feedback?
Yes. Many foundations will share reviewer comments when asked respectfully, and that feedback is the most valuable thing a rejection can give you.
Should you apply again?
If the funder invites you back, take them at their word. Fix what the feedback points to, and check whether another program they run fits your work better.
What is the best response to rejection?
Keep building. A rejection pauses funding. It does not stop the work.
So to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, and to every program that has told me “not this time”: thank you for the review, thank you for the practice, and thank you for the push. If you are building something for this city, look at their programs and apply.
What has a “no” taught you that a “yes” never could?
— Byron Jupiter
Rendered with Renaissance Instruments.
Facts, story, and final edit by Byron Jupiter.
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