Community Impact Arts Grant Workshop Download program guidelines, sample application and instructions at: http://lacountyarts.org/ciag.html Online application: http://lacounty.culturegrants.org @LACountyArts #CIAGArts
HISTORY $50,000 in NEA seed funding Support from the LA County Board of Supervisors Three-year, $1.5 million program Community Impact Arts Grant
PROGRAM GOAL To recognize and support the complex arts ecology of LA County by increasing access and strengthening the quality of arts programming wherever it happens. Photo by Flickr user lcrf, Creative Commons license.
OVERVIEW CIAG provides financial support for exemplary arts projects by nonprofit organizations whose primary mission is outside the arts.
Examples of current CIAG projects Asian Americans Advancing Justice To support Flourishing Together / Floreciendo Juntos, a mural and community engagement project. Lamp Arts Program for a diverse population of homeless residents of L.A.'s Skid Row to learn and hone arts skills for self-expression, healing and communication.
CIAG ELIGIBILITY Three Layers of Eligibility Basic Eligibility Eligible Organizations Eligible Projects Photo Fierce Fledgling, Flickr Creative Commons license.
BASIC ELIGIBILITY Tax exempt status (501c3) OR Municipal Department Operating budget of $25,000 or more Principal offices in LA County Functioning Board of Directors
BASIC ELIGIBILITY At least two consecutive years of arts-based services or activities in Los Angeles County Produce or host at least four (4) arts-based workshops, classes, performances or presentations each year.
Primary mission - provide services other than arts programming ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS Municipal departments Social and human services agencies and organizations Religious organizations providing services to the broader community that are not religious in purpose College or university departments, centers or institutes whose primary mission is to provide services other than arts programming
FISCALLY SPONSORED ORGANIZATIONS Fiscal Sponsors may apply on behalf of multiple projects, as long as those projects meet the following requirements: Photo credit: Flickr, Creative Commons license. Project budget of $25,000 or more Principal offices in LA County Two consecutive years of providing arts services or activities in LA County Less than 50% of their overall budget focused on arts-based programming. If more than 50%, project is NOT ELIGIBLE to apply. The fiscal sponsor is the applicant of record.
Organizations NOT eligible to apply Nonprofit arts organizations Individual artists Los Angeles County departments Local and municipal arts agencies Private membership organizations not open to the general public K-12 schools, both public, private and continuation
ELIGIBLE PROJECTS Arts-based and take place in LA County. Occurs between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018. Projects can be a combination of various types of activities. A project does not have to be a new activity. Existing projects looking to expand in scope are just as competitive.
ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS Can both partner organizations submit an application for the same project (double your chances)? Can an organization or municipality submit multiple projects?
INELIGIBLE PROJECTS Scholarly research Projects held, performed or exhibited outside of LA County Programs for private member communities or clubs Purchase of major equipment, land, buildings or construction, maintenance of existing facilities or other capital expenditures
INELIGIBLE PROJECTS Con t. Travel or housing costs (Including field trip or other constituent bussing) Hospitality or food costs Funds going directly into trusts, endowments or cash reserves Projects with religious or evangelic purposes that specifically serve only church membership or proselytize General funding for university presenting series, museums or galleries
GRANT AWARD DETAILS Reimbursable Grants Project Based Funding not operating support 1:1 Cash Match required Applicants may request $5,000 - $20,000 Final grant awards may be less than the amount requested
IMPORTANT DATES + DEADLINES October 12, 2016 (Wednesday) at 11:00 PM Deadline to submit application. No Extensions. April 2017 Organizations notified of grant award decisions. May 17, 2017 All contracts executed. July 1 2017 June 30, 2018 Projects take place. May 2018 Project report and invoice due.
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ONLINE GRANT APPLICATION How to Complete the Online Grant Application Image by Abdullah Al-Zaidan
ONLINE GRANT APPLICATION ALL materials are submitted through Go! the online grants portal http://lacounty.culturegrants.org Google Chrome is recommended. Microsoft Explorer Cut+Paste from a Word Document. Recommend submitting 5 days prior to deadline.
ONLINE APPLICATION Getting Started Create one account per organization and make sure everyone has access to it Yes! You would like to associate this user account with an organization.
ONLINE APPLICATION Getting Started
REVIEW CRITERIA Review Criteria Points Artistic Merit 40 Organizational Readiness 20 Managerial Excellence/Fiscal Responsibility Quality of Project Plan 15 Quality of Project Evaluation 5 Knowledge of Target Constituents and Needs 20 TOTAL 100 Detailed descriptions of each review criteria are found in the guidelines.
GRANT REVIEW PANELS Who are the panelists? Artists Nonprofit professionals in the arts and broader field doing cross-sector work Social service providers Community members People interested in supporting arts in community
APPLICATION TIPS Photo credit: Flickr, Creative Commons license.
APPLICATION TIPS Remember - Not all panelists are specialists in every sector Panelist may not already know about your organization. Use clear, concise descriptive language. Address what the project is and why it is important There are character limits - not word limits Detail in specific terms why the goals of project are important to the mission. Solid artistic documentation will boost the application. Don t use marketing info for project narrative. Photo by Flickr user Flood G., Creative Commons license.
APPLICATION TIPS Panelists like seeing the following: Artists being paid Details about how the project works What happens during a workshop? What are your hiring requirements for arts staff? What kinds of questions are in your evaluation? If you have data from previous evaluation, they are curious. Artistic documentation that tells the story of the program Video gets a better reaction for media, music and dance. Share your photos in a PowerPoint (limit 10 slides).
APPLICATION TIPS Evaluation Make sure you discuss the evaluation of the arts-based program you are applying for, and not just the (amazing) evaluation you already do. Example - Compare those who receive arts program with those who don t. Photo by Flickr user morecoffeeplease, Creative Commons license. Photo by Flickr user Flood G., Creative Commons license.
COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION How do you describe your community/constituents? Geography Age Economic Characteristics Cultural Characteristics Demographics Other Who are you serving? How do you identify their needs and develop programs to meet those needs?
PROJECT BUDGET - EXPENSES
PROJECT BUDGET - INCOME
ARTISTIC DOCUMENTATION Descriptions of artistic samples are an important part of the documentation. Criteria 1 - Artistic Merit.
SUPPORT MATERIALS REQUIRED OF ALL APPLICANTS Artistic Documentation Letters of recommendation Federal Form 990, 990-EZ or 990-N Filed on or after December 31, 2014 and organization s most recent tax filing. REQUIRED OF SOME APPLICANTS Financial Audit (Organizations with budgets of $2,000,000 and above) Religious organizations and Municipal departments submit a reviewed financial statement or annual profit/loss and balance sheet information in lieu of 990 OPTIONAL One piece of promotional material
HOW GRANT AWARDS ARE CALCULATED Request: $20,000 Requesting the maximum amount is recommended. Score: 97% Fundable Request: $19,400 Grantees will not receive 100% of the amount requested After cut off scores are determined, request is reduced by available funds for program: $500,000/51 Grantees in FY 16/17
FREE UPCOMING WORKSHOPS ALL WORKSHOPS TAKE PLACE AT THE OFFICES OF THE LA COUNTY ARTS COMMISSION For more info, visit: http://www.lacountyarts.org/grantsworkshops.html WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 Part I: Building Capacity in Arts Education Designed to introduce the Visual and Performing Art Standards and how to apply them to in-school and out-of-school projects. Learn about best practices in program development and how to design curriculum samples that show off your strengths. 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Part II: Using Surveys and Data Mining to Better Understand Your Audience How well do you know your audience and community? This workshop will teach basic, free or low-cost data and evaluation strategies that will empower you to better understand the demographic and geographic qualities of the communities you serve. 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5 Part III: Writing Effective Grant Proposals Want to up your grantwriting game? Learn the 101 of proposal writing and dive beyond the application to better understand the grant process, with an opportunity to step into a grant panelist s shoes. You ll walk away being able to identify the characteristics of strongly written applications, with new ideas for how to make your proposals pop. 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Part IV: Tips and Tricks for Artistic Documentation Eager to document your artistic processes, but struggling to do so on a budget? This workshop is designed to help you gain confidence and develop strategies for documenting your artistic process and products in order to create artistic samples and digital collateral that highlights your strengths 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
QUESTIONS? Contact Arts Commission grants staff any time: CIAG@arts.lacounty.gov or 213-202-5858 Download program guidelines, sample application and instructions: http://lacountyarts.org/ciag Online application: http://lacounty.culturegrants.org