Project Grant Program — Organizations: Video Information Session

Perpetual Atife: Hello everyone, welcome to the online information session for the 2026 Project Grant Program for Organizations. And this is a pre-recorded session with no live audience, so if you have questions, please e-mail program staff. Our contact information will be on the next slide. 

The purpose of this session is to go over the Program Guidelines and to offer context about the Project Grant Program for Organizations for the 2026 year. The info session will address eligibility timelines, share some observations from past years of running this program that should be helpful to applicants, but please note that the most complete and concise information about this program is already included in the Program Guidelines and the Assessor Terms of Reference. So please take time to read through these documents before applying and reach out to us if you have questions or need support. 

The primary contacts for this program are myself, Areum and Van. Our roles and contact information are on this slide, so if you have questions about the program itself, eligibility or need feedback for your drafts, please contact the program specialists, that’s myself and Areum. But if you have questions about the online grant platform, your account or any technical matter, please contact Van. We will be happy to support you through this process, we simply ask that you reach out early enough. 

Land Acknowledgment  

Before we proceed any further, please allow me to take this moment to acknowledge the land in which we gather to host this information session and on which we continue to do our work. 

We acknowledge that the land we gather on, Mohkinsstsis, is the ancestral territory of the Siksikaitsitapi — the Blackfoot people — comprising the Siksika, Kainai and Piikani Nations, as well as Treaty 7 signatories, the Tsuut’ina Nation and the Îyârhe Nakoda Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney First Nations. Today this land is home to the Otipemisiwak Métis Government Districts 5 and 6 as well as many First Nations and Inuit from across Turtle Island. 

We acknowledge that there has been art, music, dance, storytelling and ceremony on this land since time immemorial and it is in the spirit of this land and its people that we do our work. 

Our CADA office, as well as the home from where we’re joining this call, is situated on this great land, and as you continue to view this session, I encourage you to consider ways that you personally or as an organization, steward or contribute to preserving unique and impactful art, culture, creative practices that enrich our lives, and I want to personally thank you for the work that you do empowering the next generation as they find their way. 

I honour the incredible work that our stakeholders, artists and community arts leaders play in enriching, preserving and advancing our collective creative economy and the arts ecosystem. These contributions help to ensure that the beauty of art, storytelling, creativity and gathering continues to make our communities and city worth living in. 

Our Commitment to Equity. Very quickly, let me touch on CADA’s Commitment to Equity. We acknowledge that the work on equity is not a one-time effort. It is rather an ongoing commitment to continuous learning and improvement for us at CADA. As a public funder, we are responsible for ensuring equitable access to public funding as we envision a city where all artists and organizations have freedom and agency and platform to share their stories, art, cultures and experiences. We envision a city where Calgarians of all backgrounds can access, create and participate in art as part of their everyday lives. We aim to address and eliminate institutional inequity in our programs, in our policies, in our practices. 

My colleagues and I are accountable for ensuring that lines of communication are welcoming, clear and open, and that our application and assessment processes are fair and deeply considerate. 

While we have been continuing to expand and improve our processes and policies around equity, accessibility and accommodation, we know that we still have a long way to go, so we aim to continue learning from our communities about the specific challenges in granting as we continue working to create more equitable systems for everyone. 

That said, we understand that our programs and processes can create barriers to access for many artists and organizations who want to apply, and so in recognition of these barriers, our Applicant Support and Accessibility Policy is available for those who may need support from program staff or financial assistance to access support from someone outside of Calgary Arts Development. 

This could be support for any part of the granting process, whether that be understanding our programs and who’s eligible and deciding if you want to apply, creating and submitting a grant application or support after receiving a grant, such as understanding the agreement, sharing project updates or submitting final report. 

Some examples of accommodations are: translation of written materials into languages, transcription of verbal meetings or audio and video recordings into a reading document, video language interpretation for phone or video meetings or audio applications, general grant writing assistance. 

We will work one-on-one with applicants and develop accommodations. Our team can assist you over the phone, in person or online. You may receive accessibility support and still choose not to apply this to this program and that is okay, but if you need help or have any questions about accessibility and the support available, please contact our team by e-mail or phone as shown on the slide. 

Quick program overview. Here’s a quick overview of our program. 

The Project Grant for Organizations is intended to provide one-time funding to support organisations with a project or a phase of a project. By one-time, we mean that this funding is not renewed each year. To get another grant in the coming year, you would have to go through this same process again, bearing in mind that while your previous project adds to your organization’s track record, it does not guarantee future success. 

This program is open to registered nonprofit arts organizations serving Calgary. By this we mean nonprofit arts organizations with a core arts artistic mandate. 

Applicants may apply for up to $30,000 towards their activity. It simply means that if your project requires the entire $30,000, you can ask for that. If your project requires only $4000, you can ask for that. 

In the same vein, if your project requires over $30,000, say $50,000, you should show how you intend to fund or raise funds to support the remaining part that is not covered by the CADA grant if your application is funded. This could be from other grants or maybe organization is contributing that portion, or a mix of sources. 

The total grant funding available through this program is $800,000. 

Deadline for applying for this program is May 6, 2026, and if you need program staff to review your draft application or ask questions, please reach out. We are available and we’ll be happy to review your draft applications if you request that support at the latest by April 22. 

Assessment will run through May and June. Notification of results will be sent out in early July. Funds will be released in July and August, depending on when investment agreements are signed and returned. 

During this period, your investment agreement will have to be reviewed, completed and returned to receive funds. 

Final report will be due 60 days from the end date of your project as indicated in your application. 

Feedback meetings will also be offered to organizations whose funding requests were not successful. Here we review notes, take questions, share comments that came up during assessment and maybe have impacted the outcome of your grant application or could help improve your next application should you choose to apply again. 

Who can apply? This program is open to registered nonprofit arts organizations in Calgary. Our definition of arts organization is an organization whose primary mandate is the creation, preservation, development, education or sharing of artistic work. 

Arts organizations may be formally registered as nonprofit societies or charities. Provincial arts service organizations are also eligible. This refers to nonprofit organizations registered and operating across the province of Alberta who have a core arts mandate and whose artistic offerings benefit Calgary citizens. 

Who Cannot Apply? This program is not open to individual artists, collectives, nonprofit organizations that do not have a primary arts mandate, registered for-profit businesses, post-secondary institutions and civic partners. 

In previous years, we accepted applications from registered nonprofit arts organizations for projects that are created in meaningful partnership with artists, communities and other arts organizations, however, we no longer accept applications from organizations whose primary mandates is not arts focused. This change was made to prioritize support for the arts sector for which these grants were created. 

Who cannot apply continues. Organizations may apply to this program for one project or one distinct phase of a project. Projects should have a clear start and end date with a specific set of activities and goals. Organizations can apply for activities such as research, creation, development or production of work, presentation or dissemination of artistic work, experimentation or development of new or adapted approach to how the organization operates. Operational, administrative or governance practices are all examples. Cross-sector collaboration, creative economy and neighbourhood level initiatives. 

If you have concerns about eligibility of your project or the activities within your project, we encourage you to please reach out to discuss with program staff in advance. 

OK, when can your project take place? These details appear different than what you’re used to because we’re constantly reviewing feedback, suggestions and notes from surveys. This enables us to serve you and our communities better. 

Please take note of these dates: Projects can start before the program opening dates of April 7, 2026, and must be completed by January 31, 2028. Projects funded through this program cannot be completed before the program opening date of April 7, 2026. If your project ends before the program deadline of May 6, 2026, then your application, must be submitted before the project is fully completed, and if your project will be completed before grant results are released in July, you must complete the contingency section of the project to show how you will complete the project as planned without the funds. 

More of this will be shared when we get to that section in this presentation. 

Clarifications about one-time funding. By one-time funding, again we do not mean this grant is only available for new projects or new initiatives. Our investment into your project is one-time, and that the funds you will receive from CADA for that project will not be renewed in the coming year. 

To receive another round of funding for your project you will have to apply with an eligible project and be successful in assessment. 

So, unlike our Operating Grant that is a multi-year agreement, the funds for the Project Grant is a one-time investment for that specific project or the phase of that project. 

For example, if an organization received a Project Grant for 2026 for the production of their annual film festival, they are welcome to apply again for that same festival in 2027. 

A theatre company can apply for another iteration of their emerging theatre artist residency or program. 

A music-centred organization can also apply this year for a music concert, and next year even if they received the grant the previous year. 

A quick run on the program timeline. Applications open on April 7. This means that the program will be available in our grant platform online and you can begin working on your application. Staff can provide feedback on your application draft if you reach out by April 22. After this date, staff cannot guarantee that your request for review will be addressed. 

Please keep in mind that requesting staff feedback is optional and does not guarantee success within the program. However, it may help ensure that your application is clear, eligible and complete. 

May 6 is the application deadline. We do not accept applications after 4:30 pm. We make our deadlines at 4:30 pm instead of midnight so that it is during office hours and program staff are available to help with any last-minute technical issues or questions that you may have. Staff will do their best to answer questions up till the application deadline. 

Please see our Deadline Extension Policy for more information about extending the deadline. 

Between May and June, the grant will be reviewed and evaluated by a peer assessment committee and staff. More on this will come later. 

Notification of results will be shared over e-mail by early July. Funds will be distributed after results and investment agreements assigned, and this will take place during July and August. 

And finally, this application checklist before we move on to the next section of this info session. Here is an overview of the grant application. 

You will include a brief one sentence description of your proposed activity in 25 words or less. For example, it can be to develop a new play called Grand Zaphon or to conduct audience development research. This overview will be used when we publish grant results as well. 

In the funding amount section, you will indicate the amount you’re requesting from this grant, and then you will indicate the start and end date of your project. You will select an artistic discipline, a program stream that best describes the focus of this application. There are three written questions in the applications which more details will be shared soon. 

There will be a budget section where you can show your relevant expenses and revenues and then you will also be invited to upload support materials to support your application. 

Over to you Areum. 

Areum Kim: Applications may be submitted to one of the three streams. 

Applicants should select the stream that best fits the core goal and purpose of their project. 

Create and Develop Stream is focused on the creation, development or research of an artistic work. Select this stream if your project will not be shared with an audience or the general public at this time. It may eventually be shared publicly, but it is not part of the project timeline and goals for this grant application. For example, it could be a research project or a pre-production development. 

Program and Present Stream is focused on sharing your artistic work with the public. This can start from research and creation all the way to the presentation to an audience. Examples include exhibitions, presentations, performances, album releases, touring, publishing, distribution, marketing, etc. 

Grow and Adapt Stream is focused on the experimentation or development of new approaches to how you work, including artistic, operational, administrative or governance practices. You must demonstrate that the projects of this nature are distinct from the work typically considered to be part of your regular operations. This can support staff training or community building clear that clearly results in area of truth and reconciliation, equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility. 

This project may not have an artistic outcome, but there should be a case made for learning and meaningfully transforming how you work. Examples include strategic planning, business adaptations, developing policies related to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility, and/or truth and reconciliation or an audience development project. 

So, the first written section is called Organization Introduction. This program receives applications from art organizations of many different sizes and operating models. Not only that, this is a multi-disciplinary program so we see a mix of different disciplines and art forms. 

Your organization’s context matters when assessors try to understand and evaluate the application. There is an organizational mandate section in your profile that gets automatically ported over to the application. 

That section contains your vision, mandate and mission statements which are written in a very succinct way. 

Sometimes that is not enough for assessors to understand how your organization operates, so we created this question to give a chance for organizations to say more about themselves beyond the mandate statement. 

Imagine if the assessor doesn’t know anything about your organization. What would be relevant to include? For example, if your project is about developing a new play, in the intro, you can share that your organization is volunteer run, does two productions a year, and each production is created by your organization’s members. That helps contextualize the size of your organization, how artists might get compensated, or the potential impact of funding this production. 

Another example would be if your project is about developing a new emerging artist residency. You can share that your organization primarily works with exhibiting emerging artists and you have a history of supporting such artists. 

You can also share in this section what type of medium you support: Photography, sculpture, painting, all of those mediums. This is a short section of maximum 200 words. It’s not meant to be exhaustive, and you have the space to talk about this project’s artistic impact on your organization later in the application. This is a brief primer about your organization before assessors continue reading about your proposed project. 

In the Project Description section, you will describe your project, including what, when, where your activities will take place, and with who. We see many applications that are confusing to understand exactly what activities are being proposed and how the project will work. Make sure to break down your what, when, where, who and how in a way that is easy to understand, and remember this is a multidisciplinary program so if you have more technical, discipline specific information, stay away from jargon. 

There are two other questions, Artistic Impact and Community Connection, and those sections are directly tied to the program considerations and scoring. So, in the next slide, we will talk about the criteria and the corresponding written section. 

Program Considerations are what your applications will be evaluated on. The three considerations are: artistic impact, community connection and planning. I’ll be reviewing each category in-depth, but here is a brief note on the scoring process. Assessors will review applications and rate the level to which they agree or disagree with each program consideration based on the application. The four ratings are strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. Each program consideration will be weighted equally. 

On this slide, you can see the question in the application form and the corresponding evaluation criteria called artistic impact. This is a section where you will describe your organization’s artistic goals for this project and how you define success. Consider how this project might impact your organization’s artistic vision and mandate. For example, you can talk about the artistic goals you would like to achieve through exploring your artistic techniques. Then, how does the proposed project connect to your past work, or is it a new exploration? You can talk about how this project can create new models to operate your organization. How will this enhance your sustainability? You can talk about your organization’s discipline-specific goals, and impacts that the project may have on the artistic communities that you are a part of. 

Make sure to tell assessors why this project is important to your organization. Again, the assessment committee is multidisciplinary, so make sure to explain as you would to a non-expert. 

You should also include how you will measure success or learnings from this project. It’s crucial to define what success looks like to you on your own terms. Think about what your goals are, what you need to achieve them, and how you will know if you’ve achieved them. Developing your own systems of evaluation can be highly beneficial to your organization’s growth and development. 

The next question in the application form and the corresponding evaluation criteria is called Community Connection. 

Describe the people or communities that are connected to this project and why you’re working with them. What are your community-related goals for this project and what will success mean for your organization? 

I would encourage you to start by naming and specifying your community, whether an existing one or the one you would like to forge new relationships with. 

This is where you can describe how community will be engaged or considered throughout the project. The depth and quality of your relationships is just as important, if not more important, than the breadth or quantity of your relationships. We don’t expect you to be everything to everyone, but we do want to see how you’re considering community in a thoughtful, respectful and informed way. 

A reminder here that if your proposed project intends to make work about or for a specific community, it will be essential to talk about your current relationships and connections to this community. For example, are you a part of that community? If not, how are you engaging them? Are you including those perspectives in a meaningful way? Are those involved being equitably compensated? 

For the projects that don’t directly engage others or that don’t have a public facing element, this is where you might describe your organization’s general community and audiences. Who do you present to? Who accesses your programming or services? Why is this internal work important to the community you serve?  

Like artistic impact, consider what your own measures of success might look like. Evaluating the success of your community goals must be meaningful to you and those involved. While quantity and numbers can tell a meaningful story, you can also explore qualitative measures like audience responses. 

The next section in your application and corresponding criteria is Planning. Planning is crucial. Even if a project has strong artistic and community impact, insufficient planning may result in your application being unsuccessful. You need to provide a clear picture of how you intend to carry out your project through budget, timeline and support material. 

Planning will be evaluated on whether you have included enough information to show that there is an in-depth understanding of what it will take to carry out the project. 

In the application you will be filling out the budget form. In the budget you should include all expenses and revenues, and notes on how you came up with those numbers. Your budget needs to balance to 0, meaning the revenues and expenses must be the same. 

We strongly encourage you to utilize the Notes section for every single budget item to show how you derived those numbers. If there is a more complex breakdown, use the Support Material section to attach a budget sheet that shows how you calculated artist fees, travel costs, venue rentals, etc. 

In the Timeline section, you will upload a document that outlines all major tasks, events, activities, milestones and deadlines. You should include things like dates, locations and/or people involved in each step. Here you can also indicate what is confirmed or pending. Not everything can be confirmed at an application stage, so it’s helpful to also include components you have pending. 

Make it easy to read, clear and intuitive. Don’t upload a 10-page document with very binary details or long explanations. The purpose of the timeline is for the assessors to see how you’ve planned your project in a succinct way. 

In the Support Material section, you can include things to support your application. You’re highly encouraged to include examples of previous works presented by your organization. A good application is about show and tell, so if the written section is telling, visual support material is an effective way of showing what you do. 

You’re also highly encouraged to include quotes for any budget items, especially when contracting services, purchasing or renting equipment or venues, or if there are travel costs. 

You can include professional fee schedules like CARFAC, Canadian Actors Equity, etc. You should be specific about which section you’re referencing instead of attaching the whole fee schedule. 

If you have collaborators or partners, you should include support letters confirming their involvement.  

You can upload PDFs or audio/visual files in this section. If you want to include links, please save any links along with the description of the link as a PDF so that assessors can easily click the links in the PDF. Just keep in mind that assessors will only be asked to review up to five minutes of support material for each applicant. They are reviewing many applications, so please provide information that is directly relevant and easy to view.  

Because you’re eligible to apply for projects that end before the application deadline of May 6, by the time we are in assessment, some projects would have already been completed. We have seen assessors wondering how the organization fares without receiving the funds. There are questions whether the budget was followed and especially how artists were properly compensated without the confirmed grant funding. 

There is a section in the application that asks: Will your project be completed before the funding notifications and grants is released in July 2026? If you say yes, a new field will open up in the application called Contingency Plan. This is a short, written section where you are asked to explain how you intend to fund this project without doing this funding request is granted or not. 

It can be as simple as stating that you intend to pull from your organization’s general operating funds or reserve. Or, you can share that the projected ticket revenues can cover the expenses in the meantime, but usually, your ticket sales are directed to a different program, and you depend on the Project Grant funding to reimburse yourself.  

It doesn’t have to be elaborate; it’s a way to support your application without inviting in assumptions around how the project would have been completed. 

I will now go into how the grants are assessed and funding is determined. Applications to this program will be reviewed by committees made up of artistic peers. This can include artists and arts workers with experience and knowledge from a variety of artistic disciplines and organizational experience. 

Assessment committees are chosen to represent the broad diversity of Calgary and its artistic communities, including but not limited to artistic discipline, gender, sexuality, age, religion, beliefs, nation, physical and neurological identities. 

Assessors are kept confidential and anonymous until next year when a full list of assessors is posted as part of our annual report. 

Assessors are required to declare conflicts of interest according to the Conflict of Interest Policy, which means they will not evaluate applications where there is a real or perceived conflict. 

Assessors will read and evaluate the assigned applications in their own time, then we meet as a committee to discuss each application. This is a chance to flesh out any thoughts or questions about the applications and hear different perspectives. Assessors can change their scores after hearing from others. 

Applications will be granted from the highest scores going down the list until the funding runs out. The final 10 per cent of funding often shows many applications with tying scores. For a tie-breaking measure, we check to see if the organization has received a project grant in the last two years. We will prioritize those who have not received funding in prior two years. 

So where can we apply? We accept applications through an online grant platform called Smart Simple. This can be accessed through the CADA website under login, which is always in the upper right-hand corner, and it’s linked in multiple areas of the Program Guidelines as well. 

How do you apply? If you don’t already have an account with us, you will need to create an account and set up your user profile before you can apply. You will need an organizational account, not an individual or collectives one. 

In your portal, there is a section called My Organizational Profile. Please ensure that your profile is complete and up to date. This profile includes information that will be automatically ported over to your application, so please ensure it’s up to date before submitting your application. 

If you make changes to your profile after submitting, those changes will not be reflected in your application. 

When you log in, you will notice a section called Open Opportunities. This is where you will find any open grants currently available. There you should see Project Grants for Organizations. Click Apply and Begin Application to open a draft application form. Remember to save as you go. You can save and return to your draft application as much as you like. 

After you’ve opened the draft, you will see your draft on the homepage under the Drafts tab. When you’ve completed your application, you can hit Save and Validate. Then the platform will check your application to make sure you aren’t missing any required information. 

Once everything looks good to go, you can hit submit before the program deadline. If you are missing a required section, the system will not let you submit.  

You should receive an e-mail notification informing that we’ve received the submission. If you don’t, please reach out to confirm. 

The membership of the peer committees is chosen through public nominations and staff expertise. If you or anyone you know is interested in assessing any of our programs, there is a nomination form on our website. 

We invite you to e-mail any questions to us. You can also book a one-on-one meeting with the program staff to discuss any questions or receive feedback on your application. 

You can sign up for our weekly newsletter to get the most up to date views from Calgary Arts Development. You can learn about funding opportunities, explore public art, and discover artists in our community. 

Thank you for your time. We hope this information session was helpful, and we welcome any feedback or questions from you. 

Here is our contact information again so you can e-mail your questions. We look forward to connecting with you and staying in touch.