Deadline: 14-Mar-22
The City of Boulder is pleased to announce the 2022 General Operating Support (GOS) Grants to bolster the sustainability of the community’s cultural organizations.
Approaches
The approach to operating funding is derived from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, and is here modified to suit the circumstances of the Community Cultural Plan:
- Operating grants maintain the autonomy of grantees, allowing them to allocate the dollars to their most pressing needs.
- Operating grants tend to be more predictable over time, which helps organizations maintain continuity of services to their communities.
- Because Operating grants are flexible, grantees can use the funds in more opportunistic or entrepreneurial ways than project-restricted funds often allow.
- Operating grants come with stringent accountability and management requirements that incentivize and perpetuate good business practices among arts organizations.
- Because the grantee — not the grant maker — ultimately defines the activities for which Operating grants are used, this funding mechanism can reduce “mission drift” among grantees and can help to curtail the proliferation of programs designed solely to appeal to funders.
- Operating grants strengthen the non-profit arts infrastructure and deepen working relationships between funders and core grantees.
Funding Information
- Total Funds: $758,000
- Awards: In 2022 there will be four levels of GOS grants, based on the size of the organization’s budget:
- Extra Large Orgs (1M or more) with grants of $ 50K each
- Large Orgs (250k – 999k) with grants of $ 20K each
- Mid-sized Orgs (100k – 249k) with grants of $ 10K each
- Small Or gs ( 99k or less) with grants of $ 8K each.
Eligibility Criteria
- Contracted al Age. All applicants must be of legal contractual age as defined by the state of Colorado (18 years).
- City of Boulder Conflict of Interest Policy. City employees are not eligible to receive grant funding.
- Good Standing. Applicants must be in good standing with the Boulder Arts Commission having met agreed-upon deadlines for any previous BAC-sponsored project, and / or can demonstrate good faith efforts to comply with BAC requests regarding previous projects.
- Compliance with Law and Policy. All applicants, organizations, and the content of all projects must comply with the ordinances and policies of The City of Boulder.
- Service Area. The product (performance, piece of art, etc.) funded in whole or in part by the BAC must be provided to the Boulder community. Any product that receives other funding may be held in another municipality or area, provided that at least one performance is provided within Boulder Valley, as defined in the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, and is for the direct benefit of the Boulder community.
- Service area and programming. Must be able to demonstrate that a majority of the organization’s programming takes place in the City of Boulder and that the programming meets the criteria described in the Chapter 14-1-2 of the City of Boulder Revised Code. The organization must also demonstrate that they are headquartered in Boulder. For the determination of programming or organizational headquarters location, the term “Boulder” is defined in the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan. For additional information on the planning area and Comprehensive Plan visit this link. As a short hand, office staff use addresses with the zip code starting with 803— to determine if it is in the acceptable area.
- Governance, Non Profit Status. Applicants must either provide formal IRS documentation of their 501 (c) 3 status or, for organizations with revenues under $ 250,000, alternative means of proof.
- Emerging organizations with revenues under $ 250,000 that have not yet achieved not-for-profit status or community-oriented businesses may also apply for this grant. These organizations must be able to demonstrate the following:
- The organization has community-oriented mission and goals, services, and programming.
- The organization is currently active and has conducted programming consistently for at least two years.
- The organization has oversight from a board, advisory committee, or other stewardship group. That group must include community representation.
- In lieu of Non Profit Verification, the applicant is encouraged to provide a copy of their form CR0100 (Colorado Business Registration) and documentation of the criteria. This can take the form of strategic or business plans, year-end-reports, media clippings, letters of support, or other documents.
- Consistent Management. The organization must have consistent management with no planned or expected changes to leadership during the term of the funding. It is recommended, but not required, that organizations maintain a succession plan in their human resources policies in order to demonstrate fulfillment of this requirement.
For more information, visit https://boulderarts.org/2022-gos/