Final Application Due Date: Friday, January 27, 2012
Maximum Request: 12% to 7% of total income from last adjusted operating income based on budget size for basic GOS
Maximum MAP Request: 5% of the average of the last three completed years' total incomes up to $75,000 for MAP GOS
Request Match: 2:1 cash match with total artistic expenditures
Contact: Grant Programs Manager
Click on this link for more specific information about the MAP GOS program:
FY13 MAP GOS Introduction
The General Operating Support (GOS) program helps fund administrative operating expenses of established nonprofit local arts agencies or single discipline organizations with a budget equal to or greater than $50,000. The online Guide to Grants for General Operating Support Fiscal Year 2013 includes information and application materials for this program.
For purposes of the GOS program,
- a local arts agency is a community organization that has a permanent administrative facility, a representative board, at least a part-time executive or artistic director, and that provides financial support, services, or other programs for a variety of arts organizations and/or individual artists and the community as a whole
- a single-discipline arts organization is primarily a producing/presenting agency in one art form with a permanent administrative facility, a representative board, and at least a part-time executive or artistic director.
Grant awards for FY13 will be made for projects, programs and activities occurring between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013.
Grant awards are based on anticipated Arkansas Arts Council revenues and can be reduced at any time during the grant period.
Grant funds are viewed as supplementary to the budget of any grantee. Applicants are encouraged to secure and demonstrate broadly based financial commitments for the proposal submitted.
An organization is eligible to apply for General Operating Support if it
- received a GOS award for FY12 as a 501(c)(3) arts organization with a total operating budget equal to or greater than $50,000
OR
has been approved as a newly eligible GOS applicant after filing a Letter of Intent by December 2, 2011
- employs a full-time executive director if its annual budget total is $150,000 to $999,999
OR
employs at least a part-time paid executive director if its annual budget is $50,000 to $149,999
- has an independent audit of its most recently completed fiscal year on file with the Arkansas Arts Council if its annual budget is $500,000 or more
OR
has an IRS tax form 990 on file with the Arkansas Arts Council if the annual budget is less than $500,000.
Potential new or previous GOS applicants who were not funded in FY12 and wish to return to the program must send a Letter of Intent to apply by December 2, 2011.
All Letter of Intent organizations applying for a General Operating Support grant must first consult with the Arts Council’s Grant Programs Manager, and then submit
- A one-page letter describing the organization’s history, stating that its annual budget equals or exceeds $50,000, and that it employs at least a part-time Executive Director
- A copy of the first page of the organization’s IRS Letter of Determination
- A completed copy of Sections 1-6 of the application form for General Operating Support (GOS) Fiscal Year 2013
- A copy of the GOS Excel Budget form used for General Operating Support (GOS) Fiscal Year 2013 with only Column A of Section 7 completed.
The Council has established a weighted scoring scale that the panels are instructed to use in evaluating the different grant categories:
GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
(ROTATION CYCLE YEAR 1)
To acknowledge the importance of broadly based community involvement with organizations requesting General Operating Support, the review criteria are scored on the following scale:
- Organizational history and program description - 15 points
- Community interaction and accessibility - 30 points
- Educational outreach - 25 points
- Long-range planning and evaluation - 30 points
The agency staff reviews applications in the second and third year of the established General Operating Support rotation cycle. The grant recommendation for those years is determined from the eligible request percentage of the last completed fiscal year's total income adjusted by the panel score determined in Year 1 of the organization's funding cycle. An increased grant recommendation in Years 2 and 3 will generally be based on a larger eligible percentage determined by operating growth as reflected in the organization's larger actual total income at the end of its last completed fiscal year.
Eligible GOS applicants may also submit a total of two Arts in Education grant requests in different categories. Major Arts Partner GOS applicants may submit only one MAP AIE request.
Organizations will be panel reviewed for General Operating Support in the first year of a three-year cycle. Years 2 and 3 will be staff reviewed. The FY13 requests for Year 2 and Year 3 applicants will be determined from a percentage of each organization's Total Income from FY11 factored by the ranking the organization received during its Year 1 panel review.
Applicants entering or returning to the GOS program through the Intent to Apply process are panel reviewed regardless of the discipline or budget category the organization fits into. These new organizations are panel reviewed again in the next Year 1 of their particular rotation cycle group, whenever it falls in the rotation review schedule.
Arts Council funds may be spent only for non-programmatic, administrative expenses. These can include, but are not limited to, administrative staff salaries, general marketing and fundraising costs, facility rental, utilities, maintenance of the facility, staff travel, or other expenses associated with the general operation of the organization.
These funds may not be used for artistic or technical staff, or for contracted administrative or artistic costs. Any question on the appropriateness of a proposed budget line item should be referred to the list of
Standard Definitions.
General Operating Support applicants may request a percentage of the adjusted operating Total Income of their last completed fiscal year. The amount of percentage is based on budget size:
$50,000 - $149,999 - 12 %
$150,000 - $499,999 - 10 %
$500,000 - $999,999 - 7 %
For example, if the calculated total income at the end of an organization’s FY11 were $235,000, it would be eligible to request an FY13 GOS grant of 10 percent of that amount, or $23,500.
GOS requests for administrative support must be matched 2 : 1 by the applicant’s expenditures on artistic programming. The cash must be from sources other than the Arkansas Arts Council, the Mid-America Arts Alliance, or the National Endowment for the Arts. Other portions of the proposal not involved in the specific Arts Council request and its match may be funded by government sources. Matching funds that are anticipated at the time of application must be received and obligated no later than June 30, 2013.
In-kind contributions may not be used as matching funds on applications or counted as matching funds on final reports. They may, however, be included in applications as evidence of the commitment of other resources to the applicant.
FY13 GOS Instructions to Complete Application
FY13 GOS and MAP Rotation Cycle
- FY13 GOS Checklist and Authorization Signatures for Year 1 (Panel Reviewed)
- FY13 GOS Checklist and Authorization Signatures for Year 2 and 3 (Staff Reviewed)
- FY13 GOS Application Form
- FY13 GOS Excel Budget Page and Ratios
- FY13 GOS Narrative Outline