Community Cultural Grant
Volusia County Community Cultural Grant Calendar, Program Guidelines & Application Instructions 2024-2025
- Upload completed application
- View / Download applications
- Community Cultural Grant application template
- Eligibility requirements
- General submission requirements
- Regulations for this program
- How to apply
- Application requirements
- Review criteria
- Previously awarded Community Cultural Grants 2017-2023
Mandatory Applicant Workshops – January 2024
Volusia County cultural staff and Cultural Council of Volusia County (CCVC) members will conduct two workshops to provide program details to organizations wishing to apply for funding. Attendance at one of these workshops by at least one representative from the interested organization is mandatory to submit an application.
Please note the update regarding the Community Cultural Grant workshops.
The Cultural Council of Volusia County has postponed the upcoming Community Cultural Grant workshops, on Jan. 22 and 29, for organizations wanting to apply for the grant. These workshops will be rescheduled in the future and cultural organizations and the public will be notified of the dates when they have been selected. For questions regarding the Volusia County Cultural Council, contact Cultural Coordinator Robert Redd at 386-736-5953, ext. 15872, or rredd@volusia.org.
- Monday, January 22, 2024, Postponed
- Monday, January 29, 2024, Postponed
Application Deadline – Friday, May 17, 2024, 5:00 p.m.
THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING COMPLETED APPLICATIONS DETERMINED BY THE CULTURAL COUNCIL OF VOLUSIA COUNTY IS FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2024, AT 5:00 P.M. AFTER THIS DATE AND TIME THIS LINK WILL BE CLOSED AND THE SYSTEM WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS. An authorized representative must also attend the Cultural Council of Volusia County Grant Review Session, currently scheduled to take place on Friday, July 19, 2024.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT ROBERT REDD IN THE PARKS, RECREATION & CULTURE DIVISION OFFICE AT (386) 736-5953 ext. 15872. E-MAIL rredd@volusia.org
Volusia County Community Cultural Grant Calendar, Program Guidelines & Application Instructions 2024-2025
2024-2025 Cycle Calendar
Mandatory Applicant Workshops – January 2024
Volusia County cultural staff and Cultural Council of Volusia County (CCVC) members will conduct two workshops to provide program details to organizations wishing to apply for funding. Attendance at one of these workshops by at least one representative from the interested organization is mandatory to submit an application.
- 10:00 a.m. Monday, Jan. 22, 2024: Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center, First Floor Training Room, 123 W. Indiana Ave., DeLand
- 10:00 a.m. Monday, Jan. 29, 2024: 2nd Floor Conference Room, City of Daytona Beach Shores, 3000 Bellemead Drive, Daytona Beach Shores
Applications Available – April 2024
The 2024-2025 Community Cultural Grant (CCG) Application will be available in Microsoft Word on or about April 1 , 2024. Download the application at: https://volusia.org/services/community-services/parks-recreation-and-culture/art-and-culture/grant.stml.
Grant Submission Deadline – Friday, May 17, 2024
The deadline for submitting all applications is a hard deadline. All applications must be uploaded online and be in the system by 5 p.m. AFTER THIS DATE AND TIME THIS LINK WILL BE CLOSED AND THE SYSTEM WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS.
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 5 business days from date of notification to make required corrections or provide missing material. If any eligibility related discrepancies are not corrected within the 5 days provided, the application will be considered ineligible and will not be forwarded to the Cultural Council for review.
Grant Review –Friday, July 19, 2024
Location TBA. Attendance by at least one representative of the applicant organization is mandatory. Cultural Council members will review and score the applications, offering applicants an opportunity to answer questions. This year the review will be conducted in reverse alphabetical order by applicant organization name.
Final Approval by County Council – September/October 2024
The County Council will hold public hearings on budget recommendations, including funding levels of arts and heritage organizations prior to Sept. 30, 2023. Award notifications via engagement letter will begin on or about Oct. 1, 2023. All applicants will receive written notification of funding after final budget approval by Volusia County Council.
Funds Disbursement – Quarterly Payments – Early December 2024
Funds will be dispersed quarterly beginning approximately early December 2024. 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.
- For two years prior to the date the application is due, the organization must be:
- incorporated in the State of Florida;
- registered with the Department of Agriculture Consumer Services as a nonprofit corporation; and
- classified as 501(c) tax exempt under federal Internal Revenue Service regulations.
- 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 available or presented directly to the public within Volusia County.
- Qualifying 501(c) nonprofit corporations that have created limited liability company(s) for the purpose of obtaining federal tax credits for rehabilitation of a facility, in which they are operating, may utilize the expenses from the limited liability company(s) and the 501(c) nonprofit corporation to calculate the amount of community cultural grant funding requested.
- Individuals may not 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 for persons with disabilities.
- An organization that has received a prior year CCG grant award must have completed the End of Year Accountability budget detail and have it included as a part of the current application.
- 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. Applications for the “State of the Arts” License Plate mini-grant are also exempt from this requirement.
- In a year that Americans for the Arts, Inc. implements its “Arts and Economic Prosperity” (AEP) Impact Survey (approximately every 5 years), an applicant organization must have completed the survey program in order to be eligible for the next respective CCG Cycle. First-time applicants in that cycle will be encouraged but not required to meet this requirement. (The next AEP Survey is expected to begin in 2026 or 2027)
General Submission Requirements
- Organizations whose most recently completed fiscal year’s total cash expense operating budget (Section A, Page 5) is $40,000 or less are eligible to apply for of 20 percent of this budget total. Organizations whose most recently completed fiscal year’s total cash expense operating budget exceeds $40,000 may apply for 20 percent of the first $40,000 of this budget and 10 percent 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 used to determine eligibility level.
- The CCG Program supports general operations and programming activity expenses. Capitalized expenditures, including acquisitions, building projects, renovations and depreciation should be excluded from the cash budget used to determine the organization’s funding eligibility level. A capital expenditure is an amount spent to acquire or improve a long-term asset such as equipment or buildings; the expense is depreciated over the useful life of the asset.
- The maximum amount any organization can request or receive under this grant is $85,000. Organizations whose most recently completed fiscal year’s total cash expense operating budget is $40,000 or less may apply for 20% of their budget total with no minimum threshold.
- Organizations with operating budgets 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 along with a current balance sheet and a profit and loss statement (samples of a balance sheet and a P&L statement are available if needed). In addition to these documents, organizations with an operating budget in excess of $500,000 must also submit a certified financial audit current within 12 months of the grant application date.
- At least one representative from each applicant organization must attend one of the two mandatory applicant workshops in order to apply. Additionally, at least one representative authorized to speak for and answer questions on behalf of an applying organization must attend the Cultural Council grant review session.
- 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 a 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 which is Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
- In advance of any distribution of county funds, the applicant must verify the accuracy of its Volusia County vendor account (including any updates to its corporate name, FEIN number, business address, contact information) in the Volusia County Vendor Self-Serve (VSS) System.
- In advance of any distribution of county funds, the applicant is required to file an End of Year Accountability budget detail of the previous year’s grant funding expenditures. This accountability document will be a part of the grant application and must be submitted with the application.
- Applicants must certify that they are in good standing with the County of Volusia. They must not owe the County of Volusia any money or have any outstanding violations of Volusia County Code of Ordinances. Staff will conduct a “clean hands” search of all applicant organizations prior to presenting recommendations for award to the County Council for approval. Failure to resolve clean hands situations prior to final recommendations being made to County Council will result in applications being disqualified for consideration.
A copy of the application in Microsoft Word may be downloaded from https://volusia.org/services/community-services/parks-recreation-and-culture/art-and-culture/grant.stml any time after February 5, 2024. It should be filled out completely and include all support material and financial support documentation. In submitting the IRS 990 Tax Return as financial Support documentation, only the basic Form 990 document needs to be included. Supplemental IRS Schedules are not required unless specifically requested by Volusia County staff.
Once the application is complete and ready to be submitted, the entire application should be saved as a PDF document, preferably OCR text recognized, and uploaded to: https://vcservices.vcgov.org/CommunityCulturalGrant/.
The document should be titled to identically match the organization name on Page 1 of the application form (excluding “The”) and the FY 2024-2025 cycle designation. For example, Museum of Arts and Heritage 2024-2025. Instructions for submitting supplemental materials that cannot be included in the PDF document are included below under Application Requirements.
A password will be necessary to upload the application and will be provided to the individual identified as primary grant contact prior to the application deadline date. If you upload a version prior to the deadline and realize you need to make a change, please first notify the grant administrator by email at rredd@volusia.org, and submit another version clearly identified as a subsequent version. The old version will be deleted from the system. It is highly recommended that a copy of all versions be saved on your computer until the final closing date. Changes will not be accepted after that time without approval of the grant administrator if necessary to correct an identified discrepancy or provide missing information. If you provide an email address when you upload the grant, you will receive a confirmation by email that your application was successfully received.
ALL APPLICATIONS ARE TO BE UPLOADED ONLINE AND MUST BE IN THE SYSTEM BY 5 P.M. May 17, 2024. AFTER THIS DATE AND TIME THIS LINK WILL BE CLOSED AND THE SYSTEM WILL NOT ACCEPT ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS.
A signed certification page containing the original signatures of two principals of the organization, 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 primary grant contact person must be embedded into the designated space within the uploaded online application. Please keep the original on file for future reference. (It is no longer necessary to submit the original hardcopy signature page to the grant office.)
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 and Culture staff to ensure their eligibility prior to beginning work on the grant application.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT ROBERT REDD IN THE PARKS, RECREATION AND CULTURE OFFICE AT 386-736-5953, ext. 15872 or rredd@volusia.org.
All pages of the application must be typewritten. Handwritten pages are not acceptable. No font smaller than Times New Roman point size 11 should be used.
Applicants are encouraged to scan in and include all supporting material into the uploaded PDF application. Supporting material that cannot be incorporated in the uploaded PDF application may be submitted by providing a cover sheet indicating the organization’s name and the 2024-2025 cycle year along with 10 sets of material, separated by color paper, to the grant administrator at Volusia County Parks, Recreation and Culture Division, 202 N. Florida Ave., DeLand, by a date to be determined.
Separate support material must be three-hole punched or placed in 8 1/2” x 11” clear, heavy-weight plastic sleeves with closable tops to prevent material from sliding out. Please do not include bulky items such as books, magazines, etc., in the sleeves. CDs or DVDs may be included, but only in paper sleeves (no plastic cases please). Please limit supporting material to three three-hole punched documents or plastic sleeves.
This material must be hand delivered or mailed in time to arrive by the application closing date of Friday, May 17, 2024, at 5:00 p.m.
Applications received by staff are 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 the following criteria within seven key areas of evaluation. Organizations must receive a minimum score of 80 out of a total of 100 points in order to be recommended for funding.
Organizational strength: (15 points maximum)
- Program description and purpose of grant
- Strength of administrative personnel
- Mission statement
- Professionalism of board of directors and officers
Financial data: (15 points maximum)
- Income
- Expenses
- Contributed expenses (In-kind)
- Supporting financial documentation (Financial audit, IRS 990, etc.)
Program quality: (20 points maximum)
- Organizational experience and performance history
- Strength of program providers
- Feasibility of implementation
- Past, present and future program schedules and description
- Supporting collateral documentation (marketing material and samples of media coverage.
Public exposure and benefit: (20 points maximum)
- Admissions and memberships
- Events
- Estimated audience served
- Audience diversity and service to special populations
Performance evaluation: (10 points maximum)
- Performance measures
- Demonstration of last year’s goals being met
- Growth strategy
Quality of application: (10 points maximum)
- Clarity and ease of understanding
- Completeness
- Value of supporting materials
Administrative compliance: (10 points maximum)
- Submission requirements followed – (per staff report)
- Previous year’s grant End of Year Statement (if applicable) and payment request procedures followed – (per staff report)
- Attribution of county support and/or use of county logo on marketing materials, advertising and website
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT ROBERT REDD IN THE PARKS, RECREATION AND CULTURE OFFICE AT 386-736-5953, ext. 15872, or rredd@volusia.org
