Grants & Services for Organizations
Grants Guidelines › Policies for All Applicants
The GCAC/City of Columbus Grants Program awards funds from the city's hotel/motel tax for quality arts presentations for the citizens of Columbus. Professional artists, arts organizations, and Columbus residents receive direct, primary benefit from this program.
First-time Project Support applicants are strongly encouraged to contact GCAC Grants Program staff and to attend a GCAC grants writing workshop at least six weeks prior to the project application deadline. First-time Operating Support applicants are strongly encouraged to make an appointment for an interview with staff prior to application.
Successful applications show evidence of:
First-tier Funding Priorities
Artists and Programming
High Quality Artistic Programming
GCAC awards grants to organizations that produce or present artistic programming that represents high achievement in the art form.
Payment to Artists
The vitality of the arts community depends upon stable organizations that have policies to compensate all artists -- including all visual, performing, and technical artists -- through a salary, fee, honorarium or commission on the sale of work. Payment to participating artists in creation phases of an art activity, including rehearsals and installations, is indication of an arts organization's intent to support professional artists.
Community participation and accessibility
Community Participation
Audience attendance, board composition and a breadth of funding sources all contribute to an organization's profile of community participation. An applicant's board of trustees should represent residents of Columbus and actively govern the organization through policy oversight for management, fiscal health and artistic mission. A policy of rotation of board membership is recommended.
Accessibility to Residents of Columbus
Programming that actively and innovatively provides access to the arts for people of all cultural backgrounds, economic status, sexual orientation, age and physical ability will receive high priority in funding decisions. GCAC requires applicants to guarantee accessibility and non-discrimination.
Accessibility. Applicants must give assurance that all grant-supported activities will be accessible to all individuals. For help in understanding how your program or facility meets federal compliance standards, refer to Information and Technical Assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice, Americans with Disabilities Act, Businesses and Non-profit Service Providers.
Non-discrimination. Applicants must guarantee that they comply with local, state, and federal laws and regulations regarding civil and human rights and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, physical ability, age or veteran status.
Financial Management
Financial Management
Good financial management demonstrates an arts organization's commitment to long-term stability and health. The financial management plan -- a part of the long-range plan -- sets prioritized, targeted goals for the total organization.
Financial plans for large organizations should include targets for unrestricted positive current liquidity (which allows an organization to meet its obligations on a timely basis), and a working capital reserve (which enables the organization to cover cyclical cash needs through internal borrowing).
Clear and Accurate Financial Records
Clear financial reports play a big role in successful grants.
Reports about past financial performance, present budgets, and future expectations are required. We prefer concise, one or two page reports each fiscal year.
Ability to Raise Matching Funds
An organization should not be dependent upon a single source of income, particularly government support. Contributions from individuals and non-governmental sources indicate a broader base of community support. Earned income (for example admissions, memberships, contracted services, and concessions) may provide matching dollars for Project Support grants. However, projects that include private sector cash donations are considered to have a stronger chance for success.
Operating Support recipients must match the total of all government grants with private sector contributions. For individual projects, GCAC may choose to take on full sponsorship of a project provided the above criteria are met for annual operations.
The Grants Program awards funds from the city's hotel/motel tax, and places a priority on professional, cultural programming that enhances the city's image and increases tourism.
Second-tier Funding Priorities
Recreation, Avocation, or Therapy
Opportunities for Amateur or Youth Artists
The Franklin County Neighborhood Arts Program aims to increase community participation in the arts throughout Columbus. This unique grants program assists neighborhood and community groups including amateur and avocational, traditional arts organizations, civic and neighborhood associations, guilds, social service organizations, youth centered, and cultural organizations with arts projects in all arts disciplines, provided they are offered to the general public.
Arts activities of an essentially recreational, avocational or therapeutic nature are valuable to the community but do not receive funding through the Grants Program since projects for professional artists are a priority.
Education
The Grants Program may consider a limited number of arts education projects for funding. For eligibility, refer to Project Support.
Membership Organizations
Projects that require membership for consideration to exhibit or perform will receive lower funding priority. In the performing arts, organizations that do not compensate performers will not be funded. When participation in an artistic activity is based on invitation or a jury process, applicants must explain the means to ensure systematic, unbiased selection. Requests from membership organizations must emphasize service to the general public.
Funding Restrictions For All Programs
Agencies of Government
Agencies of government are not eligible for support.
Capital Expenditures
GCAC does not award grants for capital improvements, construction or purchase of equipment with a useful life of over three years and a fair market value exceeding $1,000, or real property. In the case of design projects (including public art projects), funding may be awarded for the research, planning and conceptualization of these projects, but not for construction, reconstruction, landscaping or other activities that can be considered capital expenditures. In determining eligible expenses for a grant, GCAC will not recognize expenditures for capital improvements, or for maintenance and repairs that increase the life of an asset.
Instructional Programming, Colleges and Universities
Funding will not be granted to purely instructional or training activities or to programming designed primarily to benefit students enrolled in public or private schools or universities. Organizations that offer educational programming through the GCAC Artists-in-Schools program may not seek grants to offset expenses for those activities.
Religious Programming
GCAC will not fund projects sponsored by churches or other institutions when the purpose or content of the project is to advance a religious ideology. Projects held at sites owned by religious institutions and those sponsored by colleges, hospitals and other service institutions with a religious affiliation will be considered for funding if the presentation and purpose of the projects are secular in nature, if the project is promoted to the public, and if the general public proves to be the primary audience for those works or activities.
Service to Columbus
GCAC awards are made with revenue from the city of Columbus hotel/motel tax. For that reason, GCAC will generally not fund organizations or projects with primary impact outside the city of Columbus.
Fundraisers
Projects that are produced as benefits or fundraisers are not eligible for grants. Projects may, however, contain a fundraising component.
Operating Deficiencies and Previously Completed Activities
Awards will not be made to cover operating deficiencies or to pay for previously completed activities.
Documentation For All Programs
Applicants should demonstrate the ability to successfully complete the grant for which they are applying. Organizational management and governance records, artists' credentials, audience statistics, and financial reports are excellent ways to document the organization's significance in the community and ability to complete a grant successfully.
Financial Documentation
Organizational Budgets and Financial History
GCAC's Grants Program supports organizations that make informed financial decisions, demonstrate fiscal accountability, and establish a broad base of financial support. Clearly presented financial documents are the first step in communicating fiscal accountability to GCAC and other potential funding agencies. It is the organization's responsibility to create and maintain an accurate accounting system. (Refer to Technical Assistance for more information.) New organizations and first-time applicants should discuss existing financial documentation with a Grants Program staff member.
Budgets. All organizations are required to submit a comparative financial statement. This statement summarizes current financial status and contains four columns:
- Actual income and expenses for the most recently completed fiscal year
- Budget for the current fiscal year
- Year-to-date actual income and expenses
- Projected actual income and expenses for the current fiscal year
When the activity represented in the application occurs in the organization's next fiscal year, a budget for the next fiscal year will be required.
Financial history is determined by an organization's size.
- Annual income less than $25,000: submit modified comparative financial statement and next year budget.
- Annual income $25,000 - $250,000 (average of three years): submit a copy of the most recent Federal Form 990 (annual federal tax return).
- Annual income $250,000 or greater (average of three years): submit annual audited financial statements prepared by certified public accountants.
Audited statements are due 90 days after the close of the organization's fiscal year. Audits are required for organizations to receive Operating Support.
Failure to provide timely audited financial statements will disqualify an applicant from Grants Committee review and may terminate the grant.
