• Fast track grants can buy you time to write a book or build a new invention.Cash image by Greg Carpenter from Fotolia.com
  
  Fast track grants fund a wide array of programs, projects and causes. The common factor among fast track grants is the goal of promotion. Whether a fast track grant supports a filmmaker or an artist, scientific research or a community-sponsored event, the grant's purpose is to jump-start a career, speed up the research process or promote an event to a wider audience. Fast track grants all have specific eligibility requirements, annual deadlines and guidelines. Make sure to research each opportunity before taking the time to apply.
  
  

Challenge America Fast-Track

• The National Endowment for the Arts offers the annual Challenge America Fast-Track grant program. The program funds projects that "extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations--those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics or disability," according to grant guidelines. Eligible projects include festivals, exhibits, readings, performances, recitals or broadcasts that feature one or more guest artists; professionally directed public art projects such as murals, sculptures or environmental art projects; renovation, transformation or redesign of structures into civic-use facilities; or promotion of arts events and resources to the community. Grants award $10,000.
  
  National Endowment for the Arts
  
  1100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
  
  Washington, DC 20506
  
  202-682-5400
  
  nea.gov
  
  

Fast Track and Alfred P. Sloan Grant

• Each year, Film Independent offers the Fast Track and Alfred P. Sloan Grant program. Recipients receive $10,000 grants through the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and access to the Fast Track program, part of the annual Los Angeles Film Festival. Fast Track connects filmmakers with producers, financiers and other industry professionals. Grant funds must be used toward the creation of a film with a "scientific, mathematical and/or technological theme and storyline (and) a leading character who is a scientist, engineer or mathematician," according to grant guidelines.
  
  Filmmakers with feature-length, narrative fiction or documentary films are eligible to apply.
  
  Film Independent
  
  9911 West Pico Blvd.
  
  11th Floor
  
  Los Angeles, CA 90035
  
  310-432-1275
  
  filmindependent.org
  
  

Artist Fast Track Grant Program

• The Ohio River Border Initiative offers annual grants through the Artist Fast Track Grant Program. Fast track grants support short-term projects that advance recipients' careers, such as increasing access to venues, learning new skills and exploring new approaches and ideas, according to the grant guidelines. Grants award up to $500. Artists and craftspeople with professional experience who work in 44 selected Ohio and West Virginia counties are eligible to apply.
  
  Ohio River Border Initiative
  
  P.O. Box 3
  
  Chloe, WV 25235
  
  304-655-8255
  
  orbi.org