Throughout the guidelines, the following symbols appear next to application
materials that are required in different quantities depending on your organization's
budget.
You will submit:
15 total copies of
the application materials (one original and 14 copies) if your organization's
last completed fiscal year's actual cash operating expenses were greater
than $50,000.
OR
5 total copies of the application materials (one original
and 4 copies) if your organization's last completed fiscal year's actual
cash operating expenses were less than or equal to $50,000.
The calculation on line 24A of your Total Arts Programming
Budget Page is your organization's last completed fiscal year's actual cash
operating expenses.
Organizations with which advisory panelists or Illinois
Arts Council members are affiliated are eligible to apply to the IAC. However,
a panelist or Council member may not be the authorizing official signing any
documents relating to an application or grant award.
MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS
With the exception of colleges and universities, multiple
applications are not accepted from an organization. However, more than one project
or program can be included in the application. This does not preclude an organization
from applying for a Special Assistance or other open deadline grant from the
IAC, in addition to the one Program Grant application.
COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY APPLICATIONS
Institutions of higher learning may apply to the IAC for
funds to support college and university sponsored arts activities. In addition
to the program guidelines, priority will be given to college and university
applicants that —
show how the project will involve the general community
beyond college/university students, faculty and staff
demonstrate a broad financial base of support and
contain the required cash match from outside sources for the specific project
applied for, i.e., a match beyond staff time and overhead provided by the
college and university
Note: Organizations whose “Last Year’s Actual
Cash Operating Results” exceed $150,000 must submit a financial statement
audited by an independent auditor with each proposal.
Organizations with cash operating expenses up to $50,000
may request no more than 15% of the organization’s last completed fiscal
year actual cash operating expenses for public arts programming.
Organizations with cash operating expenses over $50,000
and up to $100,000 may request up to 12% of the organization’s last completed
fiscal year actual cash operating expenses for public arts programming. Requests
may begin at $7,500 for all organizations in this budget level.
Organizations with cash operating expenses over $100,000
may request up to 10% of the organization’s last completed fiscal year
actual cash operating expenses for public arts programming. Requests
may begin at $12,000 for all organizations in this budget level but not exceed
$30,000.
Applicants may request less than the formula permits. However,
the minimum request amount is $500.
In-kind contributions will be considered as an important
part of community support and administrative strength in the review process
but not as a factor in the request amount.
The advisory panel reviews and evaluates applications. The
evaluation includes both a scoring system and written panel comments.
The bullets under each criterion are examples of issues
the Advisory Panel may consider. These bullets do not represent the only means
of evaluating the criteria but are provided only as a guide to the panelists.
They may not apply to every application and do not individually have a specific
point value. Each application is individually voted on and the resulting score
determines the application’s ranking in a given panel. Criteria for panel
scoring are the following:
I. Pursuit of Excellence: 1-5 points
artistic quality of the work or project and its
aesthetic or cultural impact on its audience
demonstrates movement towards artistic challenges
artistic mission expressed with clarity and purpose
innovation of proposed activities
II. Organizational Capability: 1-5 points
evidence of sound management and planning
demonstrates financial responsibility and evidence
of public and private financial support other than its request to the IAC
a demonstrated personnel support structure to implement
the project
appropriateness and adequacy of facilities and equipment
III. Community Involvement: 1-5 points
accessibility to the community, regardless of race,
gender, age, education or disability
service to areas of Illinois that do not regularly
have arts programs
participation of community in organization’s
activities
impact of project on the community
IV. Serving Illinois Artists: 1-5 points
provides services and/or support to Illinois artists
offers economic opportunities for Illinois artists
encourages Illinois artists to create new works
V. Evidence of Community Support: 1-5 points
impact of volunteer services on the organization
impact of in-kind contributions on the organization
evidence of Board support
other evidence of community contributions
Community is defined as the constituents served by applicant.
This community can be discipline, geographically or culturally based.
The following values are assigned to each numeric point:
One of the conditions an organization agrees to in accepting
a grant from the IAC is to make every attempt to ensure that the program is
accessible to persons with disabilities. According to state and federal law,
every organization receiving public funding must ensure that it is in a position
to provide accommodations when persons with disabilities make requests for services.
Accessibility involves both the location (the facility) and the content (the
activity or product) of the program. Thinking about accessibility issues, e.g.,
sign language interpreters, cassette recordings of printed materials, audio
describers or large-print labeling, in the early planning stages of a project,
is the key to ensuring that persons with disabilities will be able to participate
in the program.
