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Volusia County Community Cultural Grant Calendar, Program Requirements & Application Instructions for 2012-2013

Grant calendar
What is the grant program?
Eligibility requirements
Regulations for this program
How to apply
 Application Requirements
New submission option for 2012-2013
Review criteria

Grant calendar

Applications Available

On Feb. 27, 2012, Grant Applications in Microsoft Word were be e-mailed to the address you provided on the sign-up sheet at the mandatory workshop.

Mandatory Applicant Workshops
The Cultural Council of Volusia County staff conducted two workshops  in February 2012 to provide program details to organizations wishing to apply for funding. Attendance at one of these workshops by a representative from the interested organization was mandatory in order to submit an application.

Grant Submission Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, April 20, 2012
Deadline for all applications is no later than 5 p.m. at the Volusia County Parks, Recreation & Culture Division Office, 202 N. Florida Avenue, DeLand, FL 32720
Staff will review all applications for eligibility, compliance and completeness of necessary documentation. Applicants will be notified immediately upon review of any discrepancies or incompleteness and will be given 10 working days from date of notification to make required corrections or provide missing material. If the discrepancies are not corrected within the 10 days provided, the application will be considered ineligible and will not be distributed to the Cultural Council members for review.

Grant Review - Friday, June 8, 2012, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Grant Review (attendance by applicants is mandatory) County Council Chambers, 2nd floor, Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center, 123 W. Indiana Avenue, DeLand. Presentations by applicants and scoring of applications by the CCVC.

Final Approval by County Council - September 2012
The County Council will hold public hearings on budget recommendations, including funding levels of arts and heritage organizations prior to September 30, 2012. Award notifications will begin on or about October 1, 2012. All applicants will receive written notification of funding after final budget approval by Volusia County Council.

Funds Disbursement – Quarterly Payments Begin Oct. 1, 2012
Funds will be dispersed on a quarterly basis beginning October 1, 2012. Each disbursement will be for one fourth of the total grant amount awarded. After the initial request letter, recipient organizations that retain their eligibility status will automatically receive subsequent payments in the months of January, April and July.

What is the Grant Program?

The Community Cultural Grant is a program funded by Volusia County Government to assist nonprofit cultural and heritage organizations with general operating support funding. The program is available to 501(c) organizations having been in operation at least two years and having as their primary mission the provision of visual art, performance art, literary art or heritage based programming to the citizens of Volusia County.

Eligibility Requirements

  • The organization must be incorporated in the State of Florida and registered with the Department of Agriculture Consumer Services as a non-profit corporation and be classified as 501(c) tax exempt under Federal Internal Revenue Service regulations for two years prior to the date that the application is due. Additionally, the organization must be able to demonstrate two consecutive years of public cultural programming history since designation as a 501(c) and immediately prior to the date of the grant application. Qualifying 501(c) organizations must have an active board of directors that meets regularly and oversees the policies of the organization and monitors the performance of the organization’s management. qualifying organizations must demonstrate that its programs are made available or presented directly to the public within Volusia county.
  • No individuals may apply for grants.
  • Divisions of State agencies, city and county government, public /private schools, and their affiliate organizations are not eligible for support.
  • The organization must indicate diverse support within the community and include Volusia County residents among its Board of Directors.
  • The organization must be in existence primarily to present, produce, or exhibit cultural or heritage based programming within Volusia County.
  • The organization must comply with ADA standards as it relates to persons with disabilities.
  • A qualified organization is only allowed to receive operating support funding for cultural or heritage programs from one Volusia County grant program. This is the only Volusia County grant for which organizations requesting operating support for cultural or heritage programs should apply. This does not apply to organizations requesting capital acquisition, construction or expansion funding through the Volusia County ECHO Grant program.

General Submission Requirements

  • Organizations whose total projected operating budget is $40,000 or less are eligible to apply for appropriations of up to 20% of the proposed operating expense budget. Organizations whose total proposed operating expense budget exceeds $40,000 may apply for appropriations of up to 20% of the first $40,000 of their budget and 10% of all amounts in excess of $40,000. The basis to use to calculate the eligibility amount is the Total Cash Expenses of the last completed fiscal year as reported under Section A of the Financial Information Page #5 of the Grant Application.
  • Expenses proposed to support facility operations, activities or programs to be presented outside of Volusia county should be excluded from the cash budget basis used to determine eligibility level.
  • The maximum amount that any one organization can request or receive under this grant is $85,000.
  • The minimum amount to be applied for is $2,500.
  • Organizations whose operating budgets exceed $500,000 will be required to submit a certified financial audit, current within 12 months of the grant application date, with their application. Those organizations whose operating budgets are under $500,000 are required to submit a copy of their most recent year’s IRS Form 990, Return of Organizations Exempt from Income Tax.
  • A representative from each organization must attend one of the two Applicant Workshops in order to apply. Additionally, a representative authorized to speak for and answer questions on behalf of an applying organization must attend the grant review by the Cultural Council scheduled for June 8, 2012.

Regulations for this program

  • County funds may not be used for:
    • Endowments and/or escrow accounts
    • Contributions or donations to other organizations
    • Social activities or other related entertainment expenses
    • Penalty fees for violations of Federal, State, or Local laws
    • Debt payments for program expenses incurred in previous fiscal year
    • Interest payments or professional fees related to loans or refinancing
  • The entire amount of the grant must be spent within the fiscal year of the County of Volusia October 1 through September 30.
  • In advance of any distribution of County funds, the applicant is required to file a budget detail of the previous year’s funding with the End of Year Accountability Reports if applicable.

How to apply

A copy of the application in Microsoft Word will be e-mailed to the address provided on the sign-in sheet at the mandatory applicant workshop.

Submit one, typed and signed, original application and eleven (11) additional copies with all supplementary materials to the Volusia County Parks, Recreation & Culture Division Office, 202 North Florida Avenue, DeLand, Florida 32720, NO LATER THAN 5 P.M. APRIL 20, 2012. PLEASE NOTE THAT APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER 5 P.M. ON THE DATE OF SUBMISSION WILL BE RETURNED TO THE ORGANIZATION UNOPENED AND WILL NOT BE REVIEWED OR FUNDED THROUGH THE CULTURAL COUNCIL.

The original copy must be signed on the certification page by two principals of the organizations, i.e., the organization’s Executive Director, Board President, Chairman, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer or Secretary (or other such board member authorized to certify the grant request) and the individual primary grant contact person.

Applications deemed incomplete by the committee and/or staff will be considered ineligible for funding. Please follow directions carefully.
Organizations applying for the first time are encouraged to meet with Volusia County Parks, Recreation & Culture staff to insure their eligibility prior to beginning work on the grant application.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT MIKE FINCHER IN THE PARKS, RECREATION & CULTURE DIVISION OFFICE AT (DAYTONA BEACH) 257-6000, (NSB) 423-3300, OR (DELAND) 736-5953 ext. 5872.

Application Requirements

All pages of the application must be typed. Handwritten pages are not acceptable. No font size smaller than Times New Roman Size 12 should be used.

One (1) original (prominently marked ORIGINAL on the first page) and eleven (11) copies of the application and all supporting material must be provided. All pages should be three-hole punched. Sets should be separated by colored paper. No colored section divider pages or tabs should be used. The sets should not be stapled, clipped or bound in any way or put in notebooks or folders.

All supporting material must be either three-hole punched or placed in 8 1/2” x 11” clear plastic sleeves with closable tops to prevent material from sliding out. The use of heavy weight sleeves is preferred. Please do not include bulky items like books, magazines, etc. in the sleeves. CD’s or DVD’s may be included, but only in paper sleeves, (no plastic cases please.) Materials in plastic sleeves should be inserted at the end of each set after the final paper page.

Please limit supporting material to a total of five pages and no more than three plastic sleeves. All supporting material in sleeves needs to be placed behind the last page (signature page) of the grant in each set.

You may use the back side of all pages in the application to copy newspaper items or other publicity information about your organization with the exception of the Financial Information pages.

If you insert additional pages for expansion or clarification, please number them by adding a letter suffix to the number of the preceding page, i.e. 4A. Do not re-number the original application pages.

New submission option for 2012-2013
On a trial basis for this year, organizations may choose to submit their application on multiple disks rather than on paper. The application must still be completed in Microsoft Word and then converted to Adobe PDF format. Ten (10) copies of the disk (CD or DVD) containing the PDF file will be required. If this option is selected, an original signed certification page on paper will still be required. This option will be discussed in detail at the mandatory Grant Workshops.

Review Criteria

Applications are received by staff and reviewed for completeness and accuracy before they are submitted to the Cultural Council.

The Cultural Council will review and score each application on the merits of each of the following criteria.

Program Management (25 Points Max.)

  • Competent administration as shown through:
    • Resumes and experience of key administration and contact person
    • List of Board of Directors
  • Financial stability as shown through:
    • Complete and accurate budget
    • Most recent audit or comparative balance sheet
  • Previous administration of County grants (if applicable)

Program quality (40 Points Max)

  • Resumes of key program personnel
  • History of the organization
  • Mission statement
  • Programming in past, present and future
  • Creativity or uniqueness (where applicable)

Public exposure and benefit  (30 Points Max)

  • Geographic location of organization and or programs
  • Demographic statement including:
    • Estimated number of people served
    • Outreach services to diverse audiences
  • Goals for increasing public exposure

Administrative Compliance (5 Points Max)

  • Completeness of application, inclusion of requested support material, prior administration of grants, inclusion of County attribution logo.

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