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APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY

Nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3), U.S. organizations; units of state or local government; or federally recognized tribal communities or tribes may apply. Applicants may be arts organizations, local arts agencies, arts service organizations, local education agencies (school districts), and other organizations that can help advance the goals of the Arts Endowment.

To be eligible, the applicant organization must:

  • Meet the Arts Endowment's "Legal Requirements" including nonprofit, tax-exempt status at the time of application. (All organizations must apply directly on their own behalf. Applications through a fiscal agent are not allowed.)

  • Have a three-year history of programming prior to the application deadline.

  • Have submitted acceptable Final Report packages by the due date(s) for all Arts Endowment grant(s) previously received.

See "How to Prepare and Submit an Application" for the documentation that is required to demonstrate eligibility.

The designated fifty state and six jurisdictional arts agencies (SAAs) and their regional arts organizations (RAOs) may serve as consortium members and participants including consortium lead applicants. However, all grant funds must be passed on to the other consortium members. Each SAA or RAO may serve as the lead applicant for only one consortium project. SAAs and RAOs are eligible to apply on their own behalf through the Partnership Agreements guidelines.

Ineligible applications will be returned.

Application Limits

An organization may submit only one application under these FY 2011 Grants for Arts Projects guidelines, with few exceptions as listed below.

" '' Access to Artistic Excellence and Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth

For these two funding categories, exceptions to the one-application rule are made only for:

  • Parent (and Related) Organizations

    A parent organization that comprises separately identifiable and independent components (e.g., a university campus that has a presenting organization and a radio station) may submit an application for each such component. In addition, a parent organization also may submit one application on its own behalf for a distinctly different project. The parent organization must meet the eligibility requirements for all applicants. NOTE: A related organization that performs grant administration duties for a parent organization (e.g., a college foundation that administers grants awarded to a college and its components) may submit applications for components and the parent organization in lieu of such applications being submitted by the parent. The related organization must meet the eligibility requirements for all applicants.

    An independent component must be a unit that is both programmatically and administratively distinct from the parent organization, have its own staff and budget, and generally have an independent board that has substantial responsibility for oversight and management. To qualify as independent, a component should be equivalent to a stand-alone institution with a separate mission.

    The following do not qualify as independent components:

    • Academic departments of colleges and universities.
    • Programs and projects of organizations.

    For example:

    • An art museum on a university campus serves the general public and does not grant degrees. The museum board, not the university trustees, manages the museum's budget, staff, and programming. In this example, the art museum essentially is a stand-alone organization and qualifies as an independent component.

    • A symphony association sponsors a youth orchestra in addition to its professional orchestra. Some symphony musicians serve as faculty for the youth orchestra; there is some overlap of membership between the symphony trustees and the youth orchestra's advisory board; and the executive director for the symphony association serves as CEO for both the professional and youth orchestras. In this case, the youth orchestra is an important program of the symphony association, but it is not equivalent to a separate institution and therefore does not qualify as an independent component.

    A parent organization should consult with Arts Endowment staff to verify the eligibility of its component before preparing an application.

  • Consortium applications

    In addition to submitting an application on its own behalf, an eligible organization may serve either as the lead applicant or as the primary consortium partner in one consortium application for a distinctly different project. If an organization chooses not to submit an application on its own behalf, it may serve either as the lead applicant or as the primary consortium partner in two consortium applications for two distinctly different projects. NOTE: If you apply to the Challenge America Fast-Track category, you may not submit a consortium application to the Access to Artistic Excellence or Learning in the Arts categories.

    A consortium is a partnership of organizations that undertake a shared project that requires combined resources of capital and/or human talent. The members jointly conceive, execute, and expend resources on the project. For the purposes of these guidelines, consortium applications should list two members only: a lead applicant and one primary partner. Other organizations may participate in the project.

    Both consortium members (i.e., the lead applicant and its one listed partner) must meet the eligibility requirements for all applicants. A parent organization and its component(s) may not apply as a consortium.

    • In addition to meeting all of the eligibility requirements, the lead applicant must submit the application; accept administrative, programmatic, financial, and legal responsibility for the grant including all reporting and monitoring activities; act as the payee for the receipt of federal funds; and, as applicable, distribute the federal funds to other project participants. Arts Endowment grantees that are currently placed by the agency on Alternative Methods of Funding (Certification, Cost Reimbursement, or Working Capital Advance) are not eligible to serve as lead applicants for consortium applications. Organizations that have questions about their status should contact the Grants & Contracts Office at grants@arts.gov.

    Organizations that are considering serving as the lead applicant of a consortium are strongly advised to consult with Arts Endowment staff before preparing an application.

    NOTE: A consortium application should be used only as an exception to the one-application rule. If your organization is submitting only one application under these guidelines -- even if it is for a collaborative project for which your organization is the lead partner -- do not designate your application as a consortium application.

If an organization applies to the Challenge America Fast-Track category, it may not submit another application to the Access to Artistic Excellence or Learning in the Arts categories.

" ''Challenge America Fast-Track

For this category, exceptions to the one-application rule are made only for parent organizations that have separately identifiable and independent components; this includes city or county governments. See the bullet on "Parent (and Related) Organizations" above. A second application from an organization as a lead applicant for a consortium or as a primary consortium partner is not eligible.

If an organization applies to the Challenge America Fast-Track category, it may not submit another application to the Access to Artistic Excellence or Learning in the Arts categories.


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