Deadline: 10-Jan-22
The Tennessee Arts Commission has launched the Major Cultural Institutions (MCI) Grant Program to well-established arts organizations headquartered & chartered in Tennessee, with a history of significant year-round arts programming.
Funding will depend upon an organization’s application rating from the review process, circumstances that could affect services provided to the community and the total amount of funds available to the Commission for grant allocation.
Funding Information
Organizations may request 10 percent of their total annual cash operating expenses in their most recently completed fiscal year at the time they submit their application up to, but not exceeding the maximum grant of $150,000.
The total annual cash operating expenses, verified by an audit submitted by the applicant, will be determined by the sum total of:
- Salaries, Benefits & Taxes,
- Professional Fee, Grant & Award,
- Supplies, Telephone Postage & Shipping, Occupancy, Equipment Rental & Maintenance, Printing & Publications,
- Travel, Conferences & Meetings, and
- Other Non-Personnel
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicant must be either a single-entity organization responsible for its own programming and primarily dedicated to one art discipline, or an arts council which serves a broad population and interacts with local arts organizations. (Arts festivals, arts centers and presenting organizations are not eligible for this grant category.) Year-round public activity and arts programming that significantly impacts Tennesseans and their communities must be evident.
- Applicant must have existed as an arts organization or arts council in Tennessee for a minimum of six (6) years prior to the date of application and have received a minimum of three (3) consecutive years of Commission funding in the Partnership Support Grant category.
- An organization is eligible to apply for funding if the organization is legally chartered in Tennessee and has its headquarters and home season, or activities equivalent to a home season for non-producing organizations, in Tennessee, and meets either of the following qualifications: active IRS 501(c)3 status or public arts council that serves a broad population and interacts with local arts organizations. A significant amount of year-round public activity and programming must be evident that significantly impacts Tennesseans and their communities. Organization must have a board approved long-range plan covering at least the current and next fiscal years.
- The existence of professional management, which is defined as employing a full-time paid administrative or artistic director, must be evident. Additionally, a commitment to compensating (in salaries, wages, fees, and/or benefits) the administrative, artistic, and technical/production personnel whose services contribute directly to the organization must be evident.
- The organization must demonstrate ongoing fiscal responsibility through an audit conducted externally by a certified public accountant (CPA) for its most recently completed fiscal year at the time of application. Organizations in this category should use an accrual accounting system.
- Note: failure to submit a single entity audit of the most recently completed fiscal year will jeopardize eligibility and funding.
- Organizations must have a board approved long-range plan covering at least the current and next fiscal years.
For more information, visit https://tnartscommission.org/grants/major-cultural-institutions/
