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ARTSFAIRFAX.ORG ARTS COUNCIL OF FAIRFAX COUNTY YOUR VOICE FOR THE ARTS

Arts Council of Fairfax CountyOperating Support Grant Program

Grant Preparation WorkshopGrant Deadline: May 22, 2013 by 5 p.m.


Today’s Discussion

1. FY2014 Timeline

2. Eligibility for Operating Support Grant Program

3. Operating Support Grant Program purpose and goals

4. Grant restrictions

5. Matching requirements for the Operating Support Grant Program

6. Grant review process

7. FY2014 Operating Support Grant Program application materials

8. Recent Changes to Application materials

9. Grant writing tips


General Operating Support FY2014 Timeline

Guidelines and Application available …………………………………. December 2012

Technical Assistance …………………………………………………… Ongoing

Grant preparation Workshop ………………………………………….. March 16, 2013

Application Deadline ……………………………………………………. 5:00pm May 22, 2013

Panel Review ……………………………………………………………. late July 2013

Grants Committee determines grant amounts ………………………. September 2013

Board approves awards and initial payments dispersed…….……… late October 2013

Final reports due ………………………………………………………… August 1, 2014

Final payments dispersed ……………………………………………….September 2014

Grant Period is July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014


Eligibility – Who can apply for a Grant?

1. The applicant must be an arts organization, whose mission is the creation, exhibition, production, performance, or education in an arts discipline.

2. The applicant must have regular activity in four months of the year or 120 days of the year.

3. The organization must comply with all local, state, an federal laws.

• Multidisciplinary/arts services• Theatre• Visual arts• Vocal music/opera

• Arts education • Dance• Film• Instrumental music• Literature


4. The organization must be a nonprofit organization:• Hold current or pending status under IRS code 501(c)(3)• Operate as an arts division or program within a larger nonprofit 501(c)(3)

organization• If an organization does not hold 501(c)(3) status in its own right, a fiscal agent

that holds 501(c)(3) status may apply on its behalf. The fiscal agent must manage all grant funds and ensure compliance with the terms of the grant if an award is made.

5. The organization cannot receive line item funding from Fairfax County in FY2014.

6. The organization must have an address of record within Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax, or the City of Falls Church.




7. The organization must meet TWO of the following four criteria:• Present at least 51% of public artistic activities within Fairfax County, the City of

Fairfax, or the City of Falls Church.• Meet, rehearse, exhibit, and operate within Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax, or

the City of Falls Church.• Have 51% of board of directors’ members work or reside in Fairfax County, the

City of Fairfax, or the City of Falls Church.• Verify that 51% of attendees at performances, exhibits, events, and activities

reside in Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax, or the City of Falls Church.

8. The organization must have independently prepared financial statements such as an audit or a treasurer’s report.

9. The organization must have submitted all final reports due on or before the date of the application deadline for grants previously received from the Arts Council.


Purpose of the Operating Support Grant Program

The purpose of Operating Support Grants Program is to maintain

stability and encourage the development and advancement of the arts

in Fairfax County while serving the artistic and cultural needs of Fairfax

County residents and their families.


Goals of the Operating Support Grant Program

Operating Support Grants should:

• support established and new arts organizations.

• promote opportunities for individual artists and arts organizations to create, present, and celebrate their artistic endeavors.

• be a catalyst to increase private sector support for arts organizations through leveraged public funding.

• encourage wide participation in the arts through diverse cultural programming available to all residents of Fairfax County.


Operating Support Grants

• Are flexible funding for arts organizations.• Support activities, programs, or projects occurring within Fairfax

County, the City of Fairfax, or the City of Falls Church;• Have qualified artistic or scholarly, administrative, and management

leadership (either professional or volunteer) capable of completing any grant-supported activities, programs, or projects;

• Support both established and developing arts organizations.


Operating Support Grants

Operating Support grants support activities that occur at any time

between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014.

Grant amounts range from $500 to $50,000. An organization can

request no more than 15% of the expenses from its most recently

completed fiscal year as described on the application budget form.

For FY2013, $376,364 was allocated to Operating Support grants to

42 organizations. This is the Arts Councils largest grant program in terms of the number of applications received and the amount awarded.


Grant Restrictions

Operating Support Grant grants cannot be used for:• fundraising activities, such as capital campaigns or endowment

campaigns.• construction or renovation projects.• pre-grant costs.• activities not open to the general public.• political advocacy costs.• debt retirement.


Matching Requirements

• Applicants must provide a 2:1 match. • The matching funds may come from any source except the Arts

Council or the Fairfax County government. • Potential sources of your matching funds include foundation grants,

private donations, ticket sales, and member dues.• Most organizations will not need to use in-kind contributions to meet

the two to one matching requirements.


Matching Requirements

• In-kind contributions may only consist of donated goods.• The value of all in-kind contributions shown as income must be

offset by line item expenses in the total budget.• The value of in-kind goods must be documented with invoices,

billing statements, or donation letters. • To the extent possible, documentation about the donor and the value of

in-kind goods should be provided with the application.

• If the grant is awarded, this documentation must be provided with the final report required at the end of the grant period.


Grant Review Process

1. Staff checks all applications for eligibility and for completeness.(If an organization is not eligible, the application will be rejected without evaluation.)

2. All eligible applications are evaluated by panel review. The panel meeting is open to the public.

3. The panelists scores are averaged and the ranking is presented to the Grants Committee. The Grants Committee recommends awards based upon funds available, the overall goals of the Arts Council Grants Program, and a percentage which is directly tied to the average score.

4. The Arts Council’s Board of Directors makes the final funding decisions based upon the Grants Committee’s recommnedations.


The Review Panel

• Panelists tend to serve on the panel for two to three years.• There will be 3 panels of four-five volunteers.• Panelists are drawn from throughout the region• Panelists have:

• Expertise in an arts discipline and arts administration

• Diverse backgrounds

• Knowledge of Fairfax County’s arts community

• Arts Council’s Grants Committee provides representation at the panel meeting.


Evaluation Criteria

The Panel uses specific evaluation criteria to judge each application.

1. Quality of Programs

2. Community Outreach

3. Organizational Effectiveness

4. Appropriateness of Budget

Each of the criteria is equally weighted and should thread through your entire application. Use all components of your application (narrative, financials, and support materials) to demonstrate the commitment. Organizations of any size and discipline can achieve exceptional scores in ach of these areas.


The Operating Support Grant Criteria:

Quality of Programs•Do the programs effectively fulfill the applicant’s mission?•Do the programs demonstrate support and stimulation of artistic growth and excellence for Fairfax County artists?•Do the programs offer the public greater availability to under-represented artists and art forms?•Does the applicant demonstrate artistic excellence as shown by the qualifications, background, and experience of the artists?•Does the applicant offer public artistic activities that reflect the diversity of the population of Fairfax County? •Have previous programs been received positively?

Consider how the organization fills a gap or takes programmatic risks, creates work that is evolving creatively, inspires the community by stretching imaginations or challenging the status quo.

One panelist recently described this criteria as creating “value.” Has the organization gained community, regional, national or international recognition for it’s programming? Do you set standards for artistic quality and measure against these criteria? How does the organization contribute to the vibrancy of the community?

Community Outreach •Is there community support for the applicant? •Does the applicant respond to community needs? Do you collect and use feedback from the community?•Does the applicant make efforts to provide access to the arts for all residents of Fairfax County, especially the traditionally underserved populations (youth, the elderly, the disabled, minorities, ethnic communities, and those in underserved areas not reached by existing programs)?•Does the applicant contribute to the community’s quality of life and cultural vitality and show a clear understanding of Fairfax County’s cultural diversity? •Does the applicant attempt to reach underserved populations and broaden community involvement through its mission driven outreach activities?

Diversity includes: socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, cultural identity, age, sexual orientation, educational attainment, geographic location, profession, gender, ability, and heritage.

Consider community partnerships , collaborations , and volunteers (Board and non-Board).

What strategies have you used to engage new people (partners, audiences, patrons, users, visitors)? Did these strategies work? If so, why?


Build Financial Strength – understand your financial situation, have a plan for continuous improvement, operate with a surplus, maintain unrestricted liquid net assets.


Staff’s Role in the Grants Process

Arts Council staff:• Recruits panelists and assigns applications to them. • Counsels panelists and applicants.• Compiles panelists’ scores.• Develops preliminary funding scenarios.

Arts Council staff does not serve on the review panel.


Application Materials1. Form A2. Organizational profile3. Narrative (cannot exceed three pages)4. Programs and Activities Form5. Budget Form6. Budget Narrative (cannot exceed one page)7. Eligibility Checklist 8. Addendum (to be turned in separately)9. List of key board members and staff with resumes/bios10.Treasurer’s Report or Audit11. IRS Letter of Determination12.Most recent IRS 990 submission13.Supplemental materials (include a cover sheet)


There are no changes to the application for FY2014. Please note:

1. Addendum: If there are substantial changes in the organization’s programming, staffing, and/or funding after the application has been submitted, the organization may submit a one page addendum explaining these accomplishments and/or challenges and how this effects the application. The addendum may be submitted during the time after the application deadline until 2 weeks before the panel meeting (6 week period).

2. In reporting the organization’s annual budget, carry forward Ending Balance from previous year.

3. You may include internet links to supplementary materials.


Panel Feedback

• Bios (not long resumes/CVs)

• Mission related community outreach through programming

• In Kind issues (include in budget, only goods for match)

• Indicate which events are free/ticketed

• Demographics should be specific to your organization/audience/participants/members (not just Fairfax, Reston in general)


Grant Process for FY2014

Three Separate Panels will be convened to evaluate applications from organizations with full-time non-artistic professional staff (equivalent of at least 1 FTE), volunteer organizations with budgets over $50,000, and volunteer organizations with budgets under $50,000.


Grant Writing TipsIn your narrative,• concentrate on the basics (the who, what, when, where, why and

how) of your organization. • assume that the panelists reading your application are unfamiliar

with your organization.• write clearly and concisely.• be upfront about issues and challenges. • check narrative for grammar and spelling errors. These details may

impact the panelists’ perceptions of your organization.• What distinguishes you from other similar organizations?• Look Forward and Back. • Ask someone who is not working on the proposal review it. A Board

member is ideal.


Grant Writing Tips

In your narrative:• Do not use jargon. • Do not repeat information in different narrative sections.• Do not include additional pages or reduce the type size.

In your budget:• Submit financial data using your organization’s fiscal year. • Check for math errors.• Financial information in the narrative should match the Budget Form

and the Budget Narrative.


Grant Writing Tips

Use the Budget Narrative to explain:• all elements of your Budget. • any unusual or atypical expenses.• any substantial (i.e. a change of 10%) increases or decreases to

your budget.• Consider using a footnote format.


Grant Writing Tips

Before you submit your grant application:• Verify that all contact information in your application is correct,

including e-mail addresses and phone numbers.• Remember that Arts Council staff does not participate in panel

discussions. Your application must stand on its own.


For More Information

Recommended Books:

Margolin, Judith B. (ed.); DiMaio, Elan K. (ed.) The grantseeker's guide to winning proposals. New York, NY: Foundation Center. 2008. xxii, 509 p.

Burke, Jim; Prater, Carol Ann. I'll grant you that : a step-by-step guide to finding funds, designing winning projects, and writing powerful grant proposals. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 2000. xviii, 269 p.

Clarke, Cheryl A. Storytelling for grantseekers : the guide to creative nonprofit fundraising. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. 2009. xxii, 192 p.

Lisa MariamGrants Manager(703) 642-0862, ext. [email protected]

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