NON-PROFIT EVENT/ATTRACTION GRANT FUND GUIDELINES (June 2014)

Transcription

1 NON-PROFIT EVENT/ATTRACTION GRANT FUND GUIDELINES (June 2014) PURPOSE: The City Council of Lincoln City established a grant fund within the budget of the Lincoln City Visitor & Convention Bureau (VCB). The purpose of the fund is to provide assistance to nonprofit organizations, even if they are not local, that produce special events or festivals that attract visitors to Lincoln City primarily in the shoulder and off-seasons (September through June) and extend their stays, to provide quality experiences to encourage repeat visits, and to contribute to the development and improvement of the local economy by means of the enhancement, expansion, and promotion of the tourism industry. Funds will be given in the form of grants for all expenses and may include special event insurance expenses required by the City. 1 MATCHING GRANT AMOUNT: A match of at least 100% of the amount requested in the application is mandatory and may be provided in-kind through such items as volunteer labor directly to the project or to the organization in general. Notwithstanding any other provisions in these guidelines, the following are non-negotiable requirements: 1. Applicants must be qualified tax-exempt organizations, e.g. government or private nonprofits, recognized officially by the state or federal government. 2. The proposed projects must comply with the requirements of ORS and (See text below.) Specifically the proposals must target visitors to the area, defined minimally as those living more than 50 miles from Lincoln City. 3. Any award exceeding $25,000 must be approved by City Council. 4. Any award $25,000 or less must be approved by the City Manager. Awards made by the Visitor and Convention Committee (VCC) are recommendations only and not official until approved by the City Manager and/or City Council. 5. Generally, 33% of the funds awarded will be paid upon execution of the contract. 33% will be paid after receipt by the VCB Director of a comprehensive marketing plan. End project reports are required within 60 days of completion of the project for applicants to receive the remaining 34% of the funds. The VCC may recommend other contractual payment arrangements if appropriate. 1 If a special event requires a permit, ordinance will require the organizer of the event to provide insurance coverage for the event in an amount deemed sufficient by the insurance agent of record for the city. The city shall be named as an additional insured, with the coverage provided being primary coverage. The cost of that insurance may be included in the funds requested. NON-PROFIT EVENT GRANT FUND GUIDELINES WITH APPLICATION 1

2 An end project report will not be considered complete unless it includes evidence of payment of funds for actual expenses. ( In-kind expenses or exchanges are not reimbursable.) Evidence of paid expenses can include canceled checks, receipts from vendors, invoices marked paid in full by the vendor, or similar written documentation. After receipt of that evidence, the City will, within 60 days, perform an audit of the award and expenses. Any expenses not properly documented shall not be considered. Any grant funds not spent will be retained by the City and the balance paid to Applicant. At any time, the VCC may recommend or the City Manager or City Council may require expense receipts to support payment of all or a portion of the funds. 6. The deadlines for applications are January 2 and July 1. Applications will be considered by the VCC (Visitor & Convention Committee) at its January and July meetings. Applications will be reviewed by the VCC and forwarded to the City Manager and/or City Council with a recommendation of approval or denial. Meetings are generally held the third Monday of the Month. Applications for events occurring less than 90 days after the deadlines (i.e. before April 2 or October 1) will not be considered for lack of adequate time for processing and meaningful marketing. Incomplete applications will be returned to applicant for correction and may not be considered if the delay creates a late application. It is advisable but not required that the applicant be present at the VCC meeting in which the application is considered. Applicants may submit supplemental material up to 5 business days prior to the committee meeting considering the application. Information submitted less than 5 days prior will not be included in the committee packet and thus not considered in determining if any award should be made. Additional material may be submitted at a later date if requested by the committee. Every reasonable effort will be made to determine awards within 60 days of the deadlines. 7. All applicants requesting more than $2500 but less than $10,000 must submit their plans and requests for review by the Executive Director of the Visitor & Convention Bureau prior to submission to the Visitor & Convention Committee (VCC). Failure to do so will result in the application s not being considered by the VCC. A pre-application conference with the VCB director will be required for any application for funds in excess of $10,000. See below for details of the requirements and recommendations for the conference. 8. Acknowledgement must be given to the City of Lincoln City and the Visitor & Convention Bureau in all promotional materials and programs associated with the event/activity. At a minimum, if there is an event website available, there must be a link to and and the VCB logo featured. 9. The event for which marketing funds are being requested must be held within 5 miles of the city limits of Lincoln City unless the event is in the nature of a trade show displaying promotional materials in geographical markets like Portland or is of a nature that will attract tourists who likely will stay, eat, and play in Lincoln City or will garner tourism publicity for Lincoln City. The marketing activity itself must target visitors from more than 50 miles outside of Lincoln City. 10. Applicant must provide insurance indemnifying and holding harmless the City of Lincoln City, as required in , evidence of which must be provided with the marketing plan and prior to receipt of the second payment as described in paragraph 5 above, or at such other time as may be agreed upon between the parties, but no later than 1 week before the event, if the project is a special event. 2 NON-PROFIT EVENT GRANT FUND GUIDELINES WITH APPLICATION

3 11. To the extent possible awardees must make provisions for the event to be accessible to individuals with disabilities and will promote the availability of those amenities. 12. If funds are awarded, applicants will be required to enter into a contract with the City of Lincoln City through the Visitor & Convention Bureau. Any insurance coverage required pursuant to paragraph 11 above will be a condition of the contract for the funds. Awards may be conditioned upon receipt of information requested regarding previous grant awards to the recipient. 13. Applicant will be solely responsible for meeting deadlines set forth in these guidelines and any subsequent contract. Applicant understands the City will not remind Applicant of deadlines or documents due. Applicant further understands that its failure, however slight, to file appropriate documents in a timely fashion or meet other deadlines contained herein, will cause Applicant to lose the right to further processing of the application or any payments due pursuant to any subsequent funding contract. GENERAL GUIDELINES: 1. The kinds of projects which will be considered include but are not limited to special events, facility development or improvement, program development, signage, video production, attraction development, hospitality training, promotional materials, advertising or operations expenses which further tourism to Lincoln City, directly benefiting the economy, culture, and image of the City. Funding for special events includes new activities or events or new marketing strategies for ongoing events that can be directly related back to new or increased room nights, quality experiences that encourage repeat visits, or an annual event with introduction of new or expanded attractions, or to sustain an already existing event that meets the above mission and is in need of financial support to continue marketing the event, evaluated annually. The VCC should consider reassessing an award after 3 years if there is no growth in attendance or quality. 2. Funding is for actual out-of-pocket expenses only and cannot include things like theoretical compensation for services or sponsorship exchanges of value, i.e., in-kind expenses or exchanges are not reimbursable. 3. The City reserves the right to approve all, or a portion of, the request, or deny a request altogether, regardless of availability of funds. Denials by the VCC or the City Manager of all or a portion of the request may be appealed to City Council by application to the City Recorder within 60 days of denial. Applications are good for one year, except where applicant demonstrates the need for multi-year application. Funding is contingent upon available monies, and the process is competitive. There is no guarantee that funding, if granted, will be available for an event/activity in subsequent years. 4. The VCC may also consider need when determining whether or not to award funds. 6. Applications for activities occurring between July 1 and August 31 may be considered even though the funds are used primarily for shoulder and off-season activities. 7. Applicants should consider sponsorship or packaging relations with local businesses to promote those businesses through the event. 8. Applicants shall, wherever possible, obtain attendee information to create and mailing lists and shall share those with the VCB. NON-PROFIT EVENT GRANT FUND GUIDELINES WITH APPLICATION 3

4 9. Applications for special events permits are different from this procedure and must be separately obtained if required by LINCOLN CITY MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER Those permit applications are available from the Lincoln City Finance Department. DETERMINATION PROCEDURE AND APPLICATION: 1. PRE-APPLICATION CONFERENCE WITH VCB DIRECTOR: If the request is greater than $10,000, a pre-application conference with the VCB director is required, outlining promotional activities and a marketing plan. Failure of applicant to request the conference will result in rejection of the application. That plan must be submitted with the application to the VCC. To accommodate busy schedules, request for the pre-application conference should occur 30 days prior to application to the VCC. Applicants and the VCB Director shall include in the plan the details of survey data collection from event attendees for post-event financial analysis of community benefit. The VCB director will make every reasonable effort to reach a proposed joint plan that favors supporting and funding the event. Applicant should bring to the meeting, in writing, a general description of how award funds will be spent to enhance the event s out-of-market messaging, a description of existing out-of-market (outside of Lincoln City) messaging plans/advertising (e.g. online, print, social media, PR, promotions) and suggestions for incorporating the VCB and into the event s marketing material. 2. If applicant has more than one project application, the applicant must prioritize them in order of preferred funding. 3. Applicants will be required to provide information to the VCC to support accountability for use of the funds, including the following: a project description, detailed budget, a description of attempts made to find other funding sources, a description of the target market, a plan for future sustainability without continued City funds where possible, a description of how the event will support Lincoln City s tourism brand and sub-brands, the advertising and promotion plan, business plan, an analysis and a plan for tracking and evaluating the success of the program and its compliance with the requirements of ORS and below, as well as its potential financial impact on the City Definitions for ORS to As used in ORS to : (6) Tourism means economic activity resulting from tourists. (7) Tourism promotion means any of the following activities: (a) Advertising, publicizing or distributing information for the purpose of attracting and welcoming tourists; (b) Conducting strategic planning and research necessary to stimulate future tourism development; (c) Operating tourism promotion agencies; and (d) Marketing special events and festivals designed to attract tourists. (8) Tourism promotion agency includes: (a) An incorporated nonprofit organization or governmental unit that is responsible for the tourism promotion of a destination on a year-round basis. (b) A nonprofit entity that manages tourism-related economic development plans, programs and projects. (c) A regional or statewide association that represents entities that rely on tourism-related business for more than 50 percent of their total income. (9) Tourism-related facility : (a) Means a conference center, convention center or visitor information center; and 4 NON-PROFIT EVENT GRANT FUND GUIDELINES WITH APPLICATION

5 (b) Means other improved real property that has a useful life of 10 or more years and has a substantial purpose of supporting tourism or accommodating tourist activities. (10) Tourist means a person who, for business, pleasure, recreation or participation in events related to the arts, heritage or culture, travels from the community in which that person is a resident to a different community that is separate, distinct from and unrelated to the person s community of residence, and that trip: (a) Requires the person to travel more than 50 miles from the community of residence; or (b) Includes an overnight stay Tax moratorium; exceptions; uses of revenues. (5) Subsections (1) and (2) of this section do not apply to a new or increased local transient lodging tax if all of the net revenue from the new or increased tax, following reductions attributed to collection reimbursement charges, is used consistently with subsection (6) of this section to: (a) Fund tourism promotion or tourism-related facilities; (b) Fund city or county services; or (c) Finance or refinance the debt of tourism-related facilities and pay reasonable administrative costs incurred in financing or refinancing that debt, provided that: (A) The net revenue may be used for administrative costs only if the unit of local government provides a collection reimbursement charge; and (B) Upon retirement of the debt, the unit of local government reduces the tax by the amount by which the tax was increased to finance or refinance the debt. (6) At least 70 percent of net revenue from a new or increased local transient lodging tax shall be used for the purposes described in subsection (5)(a) or (c) of this section. No more than 30 percent of net revenue from a new or increased local transient lodging tax may be used for the purpose described in subsection (5)(b) of this section. [2003 c ] DISTRIBUTION SCHEDULE, PROJECT REPORTS, AND PROJECT COMPONENTS: 1. End project reports are required within 60 days of completion of the project for applicants to receive 100% of the funds. Failure to meet the deadline will result in forfeiture of unpaid amounts. The reports must include financial and program information and results, evaluation of the impact on the City or its residents, and a discussion of what went well, what did not, and what changes will be made in future years to address the results. At the request of the applicant, the VCB director will supply a sample format for project reports. 2. If an applicant has previously received funds, consideration will be given to the organization s compliance with procedures in the earlier award. If the final report was not filed in the previous year, additional funds will not be awarded for at least one year, unless the project has been taken on by an entirely new organization. 3. A project providing evidence of equal matching resources, in the form of in-kind donations or cash, and/or which shows financial need may be favored. 4. Consideration will be given to the uniqueness and quality of the project. EVALUATON CRITERIA Applicant will further be considered for funding and ranking based upon characteristics of the whole project, including but not limited to the following criteria, as viewed by each member of the committee as meeting the characteristic, failing to meet it, or meeting it in part: NON-PROFIT EVENT GRANT FUND GUIDELINES WITH APPLICATION 5

6 GRANT APPLICATIONS WILL BE JUDGED BY THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA: * Asterisks indicate those criteria that do not apply to requests under $ Previous Tourism Projects (10 Points) Projects not completed on time, including final evaluation criteria, will be deducted points. 2. Relationship to Tourism Marketing Plan and Degree of Long Term Impact (50 points) Ability of project to attract tourism to Lincoln City (15 points) Ability of project to increase transient room tax revenues (measured by increasing overall revenues from room tax by generating overnight visitor stays) (15 points). Ability of project to encourage repeat or future visitors, or help encourage visitors to extend their stay (10 points) Measurable indicators and objectives (10 points) Bonus (up to 15 points) Demonstrates emphasis to attract tourists to Lincoln City rather than a primarily local event that draws the occasional tourist (5 points); Ability to increase room tax revenues during the tourism shoulder for projects/events occurring October April (5 points) 3. Applicant s Ability to Undertake the Project (10 points) Is the plan and budget realistic? What is applicant s potential to succeed? Are there any previously demonstrated management and administrative successes? 4. Demonstrated Community Support and Public Involvement (10 points)* Is there evidence of in-kind support? Endorsement by community groups? Were there any public workshops, meetings, or other methods to gain citizen involvement and input on the proposed project? 5. Application Presentation (5 points)* General overall quality of proposal Is the presentation clear and concise? Points will be deducted for vague, unclear, or rambling responses. VCC Member Evaluation (10 points) The VCC represents the interests of all of Lincoln City, including the hospitality industry, persons with disabilities and the general public. This criterion allows VCC members to give an individual score based on a variety of factors, including their own personal knowledge and expertise. 1. Need: What resources are available to applicant and what is the total budget? 2. Viability: Is the project unrealistic? Does it comply with ORS ? Is it sustainable? 3. Economic impact on Lincoln City: Is the project going to generate tourism in a new or enhanced way? Will it produce significant lodging room nights in the shoulder and off-seasons? 4. What is the purpose of the project? Does it fit the current brand of Lincoln City: Does it offer a new learning experience for the visitor? Does it offer visitor participation rather than just spectator opportunity? 6 NON-PROFIT EVENT GRANT FUND GUIDELINES WITH APPLICATION

7 Applicants are strongly encouraged to identify and explain any other characteristics they deem relevant to and important for the committee s consideration. SCORING ACCESS: The Visitor and Convention Committee shall attach to all applications the notes, scores, and any other evaluation criteria used by each individual member to rank the applications for approval or disapproval. Those shall be made available to applicants upon request. All questions should be directed to Sandy Pfaff, Executive Director of the Lincoln City Visitor & Convention Bureau, , sandyp@lincolncity.org. All correspondence, including applications, should be mailed to Sandy Pfaff, Lincoln City Visitor & Convention Bureau, 801 SW Hwy 101, Suite 401, Lincoln City, OR 97367, prior to the marketing partnership meeting. NON-PROFIT EVENT GRANT FUND GUIDELINES WITH APPLICATION 7

8 NON-PROFIT EVENT GRANT FUND REQUEST FOR FUNDING APPLICATION Date Submitted: Organization Name: Nonprofit Tax ID #: Contact Person: Address: Fax: Phone: 1. Date(s) of Activity/Project: 2. Name of event/project: 3. Amount Requested: $ 4. Project Type: Special Event Attraction Development Operations funding Other: 5. Description of Project: Be sure to include complete details of this project and the anticipated benefits to be received as it relates to hotel occupancy or other tourism benefits to Lincoln City, goals and objectives, marketing plan including a full budget, packaging opportunities, organizational structure, uniqueness of the project, timelines and readiness to proceed, relationship to the current hands-on learning brand of Lincoln City, sustainability, and compliance with the requirements of ORS (Attach additional pages as needed.) 6. Please describe the attempts you have made with other sources to secure the funding necessary for this project and your organization s financial need for this project. (Attach additional pages as needed.) 8 NON-PROFIT EVENT GRANT FUND GUIDELINES WITH APPLICATION

9 7. Describe in detail how you will track, evaluate and report the success of your program. 8. Describe the support of the community for this project, including partners, sponsors, volunteers or other contributors. 9. Number of new or increased Lincoln City hotel room nights expected to be generated: 10. Any other information you believe relevant and important for consideration in funding your project: AUTHORIZATION: We hereby certify that the facts, figures and representations made in this application, including all attachments, are true and correct to the best of our knowledge, and this application is made with the approval of the organization s board of directors: Signature of Project Director Date Print Name of Project Director Signature of Board Chair Date Printed Name of Board Chair All questions should be directed to Sandy Pfaff, Executive Director of the Lincoln City Visitor & Convention Bureau, , sandyp@lincolncity.org. All correspondence, including applications, should be mailed to Sandy Pfaff, Lincoln City Visitor & Convention Bureau, 801 SW Hwy 101, Suite 401, Lincoln City, OR 97367, prior to the marketing partnership meeting. NON-PROFIT EVENT GRANT FUND GUIDELINES WITH APPLICATION 9

10 FUND APPLICATION CHECKLIST: Read the guidelines carefully. The following checklist may be helpful to you but may not be exhaustive of desirable information, depending upon the kind of event/attraction. Fully-completed application form Application signed by appropriate authority Full budget for the project Attach marketing plan if the funds are used for marketing purposes Specific identification of target market Description of compliance with ORS and Analysis of the project s sustainability, potential economic impact on the city, plans for statistical analysis of economic impact post-event Submitted for review by VCB Director if request is for more than $2500 Appointment to review application with the VCB Director if request is for more than $10,000 Describe efforts to package with local businesses for joint promotion Describe efforts to make event/attraction accessible to persons with disabilities Is a Special Event application required? Compliance with signage regulations Plan for tracking success of the event/attraction Matching funds/volunteer time Efforts to secure funds from other sources 1 0 NON-PROFIT EVENT GRANT FUND GUIDELINES WITH APPLICATION