The Supporting Arts grant program provides general operating support to help Connecticut’s arts organizations and municipal arts departments cover programmatic costs associated with their mission-related work.
Donor Name: Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development
State: Connecticut
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/13/2023
Size of the Grant: $1,000
Grant Duration: 1 year
Details:
Funding Information
- For 2024, COA will award $1,050,000 in Supporting Arts grants.
- Grant awards will be proportional to organizational operating expenses and will be calculated based on a combination of operating expenses and available funds. The minimum grant award is $1,000. The maximum grant award will be dependent on available funding and the number of eligible applicants.
- Funding Period: October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2024
Eligible Expenses
Supporting Arts grants provide funds that may be used for a wide-variety of operational and program functions including but not limited to:
- Staff Salaries
- Payments to contracted artistic, technical or administrative professionals
- Telephone, shipping and postage costs
- Space rental; occupancy costs (maintenance, security, insurance, utilities, etc.)
- Printing, advertising and marketing costs
- Evaluation services and documentation (photo, video, audio, collection of statistical information, etc.)
- Travel and conference registration expenses for staff and/or volunteers to attend local, regional or national relevant industry conferences, workshops, retreats, clinics, etc.
- Production costs
- Materials and supplies.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be an arts organization or a municipal arts department. For the purpose of the Supporting Arts grant program, an arts organization and a municipal arts department are defined below.
- Arts Organization
- An arts organization is defined as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that has the arts explicitly stated as a center part of its core mission, vision, focus and legal purpose; creates, performs, presents or promotes artistic programming and/or services and at least 51 percent of its annual expenditures are allocated specifically to its artistic programming and/or services.
- Additional criteria required for an Arts Organization applying to the Supporting Arts grant program:
- Primary place of business and operations in Connecticut
- Have a designated Accessibility Coordinator
- Have minimum annual operating expenses of $5,000
- Have financial statements documenting the organization’s annual income and expenses
- Be registered with the CT Secretary of the State to do business in Connecticut as a legal nonprofit entity and be in Good Standing
- Be registered with the CT Department of Consumer Protection as a Connecticut Charity and have an active CT Charity Registration.
- Municipal Arts Department
- A municipal arts department is a Connecticut municipal government entity, such as a Commission on the Arts, Department of Cultural Affairs or other specifically designated office or entity with an official designation to conduct and/or support artistic programming and/or services for the residents of the municipality.
- Additional criteria required for a Municipal Arts Department applying to the Supporting Arts grant program:
- Have a dedicated allocation in the municipal budget for arts and cultural support, artistic programming, and/or services
- Have at least one (1) individual, employed by the municipality, who is responsible for the fiscal management and oversight of the arts budget, including the municipal allocation and outside funding sources (i.e. grants, private contributions)
- Have minimum annual operating expenses of $1,000
- Have a council/committee of residents assigned to and responsible for conducting artistic programming and/or services.
Ineligible Expenses
- Expenses incurred outside of the funding period
- Brick and mortar or capital improvements/construction
- Elimination or reduction of existing debt
- Benefits, fund-raisers and social events
- Scholarship assistance for academic or non-academic programs
- Political contributions
- Lobbying activities
- Legal fees
- Religious programming, activities or paraphernalia
- Expenses for programs that occur in spaces that are not ADA compliant.
For more information, visit CDECD.