Project Grant Guidelines for projects taking place in Fiscal Year 2020 (July 1, 2019 June 30, 2020)

Transcription

1 Project Grant Guidelines for projects taking place in Fiscal Year 2020 (July 1, 2019 June 30, 2020) Deadline: Friday, February 15, 2019, 5 p.m. EST Contact: Dana Parsons Director of Grants & Professional Development Maryland State Arts Council 175 W. Ostend St., Suite E Baltimore, Maryland dana.parsons@maryland.gov (O) Chad Edward Buterbaugh Director, Maryland Traditions Maryland State Arts Council 175 W. Ostend St., Suite E Baltimore, Maryland chad.buterbaugh@maryland.gov (O) (C)

2 Table of Contents Accessibility 3 About Us 4 About the Maryland Traditions Project Grant 5 Preparing Your Project Grant Application 7 Application Checklist 9 Disclaimer 10 2

3 Accessibility If you do not use conventional print and wish to obtain this publication in an alternate format, contact the Maryland State Arts Council at or If you are deaf or hard of hearing and have questions about this publication, contact Maryland TTY Relay at or 711. For technical assistance on deadlines, formatting, requirements, or other operational questions, please contact the Director of Grants and Professional Development using the information on the first page of this document. For technical assistance on narrative, strategy, or other content questions, please contact the Maryland Traditions Director using the information on the first page of this document. 3

4 About Us Maryland Traditions is the folklife program of the Maryland State Arts Council. Since 1974, state-employed folklorists have worked to identify, document, support, and present Maryland folklife also known as living cultural traditions through grants, awards, festivals, and other programming. Maryland Traditions comprises an infrastructure of folklorists and folklife specialists headquartered in Baltimore City and conducting folklife programming and research through regional collaborating organizations across the state. The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) is an agency of the Maryland Department of Commerce. The mission of MSAC is to support artists and arts organizations in their pursuit of artistic excellence and ensure the accessibility of the arts to all citizens. MSAC consists of an appointed council, or board, of 17 citizens and a professional staff charged with administering grants and programs. Each year, the council convenes several grants review panels consisting of discipline-specific arts experts whose duty is to evaluate applications and offer funding recommendations. In accordance with the Open Meetings Law set forth in Sections through of the State Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, all grants review panel meetings are open to the public. The dates, times, and locations of grants review panel meetings may be obtained by contacting MSAC at or msac@msac.org. To learn more about Maryland Traditions or MSAC, visit 4

5 About the Maryland Traditions Project Grant Purpose Project Grants support short-term research and programming focused on folklife, or community-based living cultural traditions handed down by example or word of mouth. Successful Project Grants fund the project-based activities of professionals, community scholars, organizations, and artists as they identify, document, support, and present Maryland folklife. Project Grants do not support operational expenses or provide sustaining funding for long-term folklife programming. Eligibility Eligible Project Grant applicants are nonprofit organizations, as well as colleges, universities, and units of government. Nonprofit organizations must have been both incorporated as such in Maryland and received tax exempt status from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service by July 1, Colleges, universities, and units of government are exempt from this requirement but must provide evidence of their legal status with their application materials. All applicants must have operated for one full fiscal year prior to the date of application. In addition, eligible applicants must comply with the following legislation: Title VI, Section 601, of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which states that no persons, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin, shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination related to, the arts; Title IV, Section 1681, of the Education Amendments of 1972, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Section 6101, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex or age; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which state that no otherwise qualified person shall, solely by reason of his or her handicap, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination related to, the arts. Failure to comply with this legislation will compromise eligibility and could require the organization to return disbursed funds to MSAC. Successful grantees must file a final report after the granting period and in accordance with deadlines provided by the MSAC grants office at that time, credit Maryland Traditions and MSAC wherever credit is being given, and notify the MSAC grants office directly if a significant change is made to the project during the funding period. Failure to adhere to these guidelines is grounds for the return of funds. Finally, proposed projects between two or more organizations are eligible, as long as a single-nonprofit organization completes and submits the application on behalf of the partnership. Funding Project Grant funding is based on a matching structure. Applicants may request between $1,000 and $5,000 from Maryland Traditions but must provide a matching amount from another source. In-kind expenses (e.g., donated space, supplies, and volunteer services) are 5

6 permitted but must total no more than twenty-five percent of the project budget. Project Grants are paid in a single disbursement. Project Grant funds must be used for direct project expenses occurring between July 1, 2019, and June 30, Funds may not be used for capital improvements, acquisition of capital assets, activities for the exclusive benefit of an organization s membership, travel outside Maryland, deficits, loan principal payments, contributions to endowments, academic conferences, scholarships, or folklife programming taking place beyond the granting period. Organizations may receive or partner in one Project Grant per fiscal year. Organizations receiving Grants for Organizations (GFO) or Creativity Grants funding from MSAC may apply for or partner in a Project Grant application, but the proposed project must be a new initiative distinct from the organization s ongoing folklife activities. Review Project Grant application reviews involve a number of steps. After an application is received, MSAC staff review it for completeness and adherence to eligibility guidelines. Completed applications are forwarded to a grants review panel for evaluation. This panel meets formally to evaluate each application on its evidence of engagement with folklife, artistic and cultural significance, quality of project design, logistical and financial feasibility, and community impact. The panel s ratings serve as the basis for funding recommendations, which are voted on at a spring meeting of the full arts council, or board. All applicants are notified of the council s decision as soon as possible. Successful applicants receive grant agreement forms (GAFs) from the MSAC grants office. GAFs must be completed and returned before funds are disbursed. Appeals Maryland Traditions and MSAC work to ensure fair and equitable distribution of funding. Simple dissatisfaction with the denial of an application or the amount of an award is not sufficient reason for an appeal. However, an application may be reconsidered if a procedural error has affected its review. Grounds for such reconsideration include decisions based on review criteria other than those stated in these guidelines or decisions based the review of incorrect application materials by staff, panelists, or council members despite the applicant having initially provided correct application materials. To initiate an appeal, the applicant must discuss the problem with the Maryland Traditions staff members who received the application. To pursue an appeal, the applicant must write an appeal letter to the MSAC executive director requesting a reconsideration of the decision and stating the grounds for the request. The letter must be sent no more than 60 days after receipt of the grant award or denial letter. The applicant will be notified about the result of the appeal within 90 days of the receipt of the appeal letter. 6

7 Preparing Your Project Grant Application egrant Project Grant applications must be submitted through egrant, the online system that MSAC uses to manage many of its grants and awards. Applicants submit applications through egrant, and successful grantees submit final reports through egrant. Creating an egrant account is free. To do so, visit the MSAC website at msac.org. In the black bar at the top of the page, click the egrant.net link. On the new page, scroll to the bottom and click the Register link. The steps for creating a new egrant account will proceed from there. Existing egrant users may log in to their accounts and click on the Maryland Traditions Project Grant link on the left hand side of the page. For new and existing egrant users: the egrant account is a primary point of reference for MSAC grant applications and reports. Please bookmark it, and be sure to update the relevant contact information with any staff changes that would affect communication between MSAC and the applicant organization. During the application period, applicants may consult MSAC staff members for technical assistance during regular business hours using the contact information at the beginning of this document. The deadline for submitting applications is Friday, February 15, 2019, at 5 p.m. EST. Upon completion of an application, applicants will be able to download a PDF version of the application for their records. Upon submission of an application, applicants will receive an confirmation that MSAC has received their materials. Budget information The budget for each proposed project must be submitted on the Project Grant Budget form, which is available as a.docx download from egrant. Applicants complete this form offline and upload it as one of the documents required during the egrant application process. Proposed project budgets should reflect only those expenses and income that would be incurred between July 1, 2019, and June 30, Typical allowable expenses include salary; consultant fees; artist fees; honoraria; contractual services; access accommodations; office expenses; travel; transport; and space or equipment rental. Note that salary expenses incurred in connection with fund-raising are not allowable and may not be included in the proposed project budget. Typical allowable income includes cash donations; grants; revenue; and in-kind contributions. Note that in-kind contributions may not come from the applicant organization and must also be listed as expenses in the Project Grant Budget form. The value of in-kind income and expenses should be calculated at a verifiable fair-market value. Proper documentation must be maintained for all items listed as in-kind. 7

8 Required documents A number of documents must be uploaded to egrant as part of the application process. These include the Project Grant Budget form, described above; a financial summary statement for the applicant organization s most recently completed fiscal year, signed by the applicant organization s fiscal officer or a professional accountant; a single PDF containing one-page resumes or biographies of each of the proposed project s key personnel; a single PDF containing letters of support from each of the proposed project s partners, which must describe partners proposed roles and responsibilities; and a letter of determination from the IRS certifying the applicant organization s status as a nonprofit organization incorporated in Maryland and in good standing. In lieu of the latter requirement, applicant organizations that are colleges, universities, or units of government should submit documentation of the enabling legislation establishing them as such. Optional documents Applicants are invited to submit supplemental documents that, while they are not required, might strengthen their applications. Supplemental documents should be uploaded as a single PDF containing printed materials or links to non-printed materials. Typical supplemental documents might include additional letters of support; media coverage that speaks to the applicant organization s success in carrying out project-based work; and audio, video, or literary examples of past work. The applicant is responsible for ensuring the legibility and playability of all supplemental documents. Members of the grants review panel will receive all printed supplemental materials in advance; these should not exceed ten pages. Non-printed supplemental materials will be shared during the meeting of the grants review panel; these should not take more than two minutes to review. 8

9 Application Checklist A completed Project Grant application must contain the following: Completed and submitted egrant application Required documents, uploaded via egrant: o o o o o Completed Project Grant Budget form Financial summary statement for the applicant organization s most recently completed fiscal year, signed by the applicant organization s fiscal officer or a professional accountant A single PDF containing one-page resumes or biographies of each of the proposed project s key personnel A single PDF containing letters of support from each of the proposed project s partners, which must describe partners proposed roles and responsibilities A letter of determination from the IRS certifying the applicant organization s status as a nonprofit organization incorporated in Maryland and in good standing (if the applicant organization is not a nonprofit organization, it must include documentation of the enabling legislation establishing it as a college, university, or unit of government) A completed Project Grant application may contain the following: Supplemental support materials not exceeding ten pages and including: o Additional letters of support o Media coverage that speaks to the applicant organization s success in carrying out project-based work o Literary work samples o Links to audio or video work samples not exceeding two minutes in length To begin a Project Grant application, access egrant using the instructions on Page 7 of this document. 9

10 Disclaimer In accordance with Executive Order , the Department of Commerce advises that certain personal information requested by the Department of Commerce is necessary in determining eligibility for grants. Failure to disclose this information may result in the denial of one or all of these benefits or services. Availability of this information for public inspection is governed by the provisions of the Maryland Public Information Act, State Government Article, Sections et seq. of the Annotated Code of Maryland. This information will be disclosed to appropriate staff of the Department, or to public officials, for purposes directly connected with administration of the program for which its use is intended. Such information is routinely shared with state, federal, or local government agencies. Applicants have the right to inspect, amend, or correct personal records in accordance with the Maryland Public Information Act. 10