In 2007, MCWC was awarded a $20,000 grant from the Arts for Our Future program at the Community Foundation of Mendocino County for a jumpstart program to build national recognition of the conference.

The Community Foundation's Arts for Our Future program is made possible through a grant from the James Irvine Foundation, with a mutual recognition that the arts can be a powerful force in bringing communities together and in engendering economic activity.

Poets & Writers, Inc., through its Readings/Workshops program, helps fund summer conference events that are open to the general public. They have also provided support for MCWC's "Soundings" readings and workshops in spring and fall.