Guidelines: Organizational Access Program
Phase 1 Letter of Intent – Deadline: May 10, 2019, 4:30pm MST; Opens February 18
Phase 2 Application – Deadline: September 9, 2019, 4:30pm MST; Opens July 1
Download the Full Program Guidelines as a PDF
If you require any accommodations that would allow you to fairly access this process, please contact 403.476.2031 or email grants@calgaryartsdevelopment.com.
For more details see the Accommodation and Accessibly section below. If you have questions or concerns, see the Investment Program FAQs and Application Checklist.
Program Overview
This program is intended to provide equitable access to operational funding to those organizations who were not recipients of either the Operating Grant or the Cornerstone Program in 2018.
Funding & Timeframe:
- Minimum grants of $10,000, maximum requests of up to $50,000
- Total Pool of Funds: $300,000
Streams: 1) Community 2) Professional
Who Can Apply:
- Non-profit arts organizations registered as societies in the Province of Alberta.
- Un-incorporated or unregistered non-profit arts-based groups, collectives, and organizations that can at minimum demonstrate the following:
- Effective leadership and ongoing operations for at least one year.
- Clear lines of accountability and defined roles/responsibilities.
- Rigorous and sustainable basic financial practices/tools.
Process Overview:
- First Phase: Letter of Intent (online) submitted and peer-assessed with successful applications provided access to full application
- Second Phase: Full Application (online)
- Criteria: Artistic Impact, Public Impact, Organizational Resiliency
- Peer-led jury process
Notification of Results, Phase 1 Letter of Intent: Late June 2019
Notification of Results, Phase 2 Application: Mid October 2019
Accommodation and Accessibility
The Calgary Arts Development Community Investment team is available at any time to answer questions and to offer support and feedback at any time during the application process.
Staff can answer specific questions and/or provide feedback up to two business days before the application deadlines. Please contact the team as early as possible to ensure they can provide the best support possible.
Calgary Arts Development is committed to open, fair and transparent processes. We will work with applicants who experience barriers to access our granting programs to develop accommodations that suit their abilities, including but not limited to:
- Translation
- Braille transcription
- Physical access to meeting spaces
Please contact 403.476.2031 or email grants@calgaryartsdevelopment.com.
Program Information
This program is intended to provide equitable access to operational funding to those organizations who were not recipients of either the Operating Grant or the Cornerstone Program in 2018.
Organizations successful in this program will receive a base level of annual funding for 2019-2022 and will be streamed into the Operating Grant Program in 2020 with access to additional funding on an annual basis through OG+ (see Operating Grant Guidelines for full details).
For the first time we will allow non-profit arts groups and organizations who do not have registered society status to apply, acknowledging that the possibility that meaningful artistic experiences can be created at an organizational scale outside of the non-profit society model.
Streams
Community: Applicants that primarily support, present or produce the work of non-professional artists or volunteer professional artists. Organizations that do not intend to provide standard professional artist fees should apply to this stream.
Professional: Applicants that present or produce the work of professional artists (1) (whether emerging or established), and either provide or intend to provide standard professional artist fees. Applicants applying to this stream that are not currently able to offer standard professional artist fees will have to present a clear plan to do so, as well as demonstrate a level of professionalism in organizational and artistic practices appropriate to their discipline.
(1) A professional artist has specialized training in his or her artistic field (not necessarily obtained in an academic institution); is recognized as such by his or her peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition); is committed to devoting more time to artistic activity if this becomes financially feasible; and has a history of public presentation.” (Canada Council for the Arts)
Program Criteria
Organizations applying to this program will be assessed according to the following criteria:
- Artistic Impact: The quality of an applicant’s artistic programming and artistic operations
- Public Impact: The quality of an applicant’s public engagement and participation. “Public” should be understood as communities impacted by the organization, which includes audience, artists, arts professionals, volunteers, etc.
- Organizational Resiliency: The ability of an applicant to deliver on its mandate with respect to practices/policies/processes related to governance, financial management, planning, etc. This also takes into account an applicant’s adaptive capacity, or its ability to minimize risk and maximize opportunity by critically considering assumptions about how and why work is undertaken.
These criteria will always be considered within the context of each organization’s unique mandate and operations, as well as values of equity (2), diversity (3), and inclusion (4), and Truth and Reconciliation.
(2) An approach to diversity in which differences among all people in a community are accommodated on an individual basis and historical exclusions and systemic barriers that are unique to diverse peoples are taken into account.
(3) Describes the wide range of identities of the people that live in a community, including race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, physical and cognitive ability, class, etc.
(4) A sense of belonging, which allows people to engage with and contribute within a community or environment.
Additionally, while all three core criteria are important for all streams, note that:
- Artistic Impact is weighted more heavily than Public Impact for the Professional stream.
- Public Impact is weighted more heavily than Artistic Impact for the Community stream.
Who can apply?
To be eligible for the Organizational Access Program, an applicant must:
- Operate under an arts mandate.
- Have been in operation for at least one full year.
- Maintain operations throughout the whole or majority of the year.
- Maintain a significant amount of activities that support Calgary artists or are accessible to Calgary citizens.
Additionally, this program is open to:
- Non-profit arts organizations registered as societies in the Province of Alberta
- Un-incorporated or unregistered non-profit arts-based groups, collectives and organizations that meet the following minimum organizational requirements:
- Effective leadership and ongoing operations for at least one year.
- Clear lines of accountability and defined roles/responsibilities.
- Rigorous and sustainable basic financial practices/tools.
Program staff review all applications for eligibility at the Letter of Intent phase of the application process. For applicants that also have non-arts-related programming or operate in areas outside of Calgary, Calgary Arts Development will determine eligibility through the organization’s commitment to the arts and the scope of its activities within Calgary’s arts community.
The following groups are ineligible for funding through the Operating Grant Program:
- Political, trade union or fraternal lodge organizations.
- Degree- and diploma-granting educational institutes such as colleges and universities.
- Organizations that receive operational funding directly from The City of Calgary.
Assessment Process
All applications to this program will be reviewed and discussed within the context of each organization’s mandate by arm’s-length assessment committees, who will then make recommendations to Calgary Arts Development.
The membership of all committees will be chosen to reflect a diversity of perspectives that reflect Calgary, Mohkinstsis:
- Artistic Peers: Artists and arts workers with experience and knowledge relevant to the arts sector
- Community Members: Individuals from Calgary, Mohkinstsis, who actively experience and participate in the arts and who have perspectives and a skillset transferable to the arts sector
Phase 1: Letter of Intent
- Three-member assessment committee.
- Determines which applicants will move on to the full application phase.
- Assessed based on potential alignment with all three program criteria (Artistic Impact, Public Impact, and Organizational Resiliency).
- Program staff will assess basic eligibility.
- Program staff may also move applicants to the second phase of the program based on factors related to values of equity, diversity, and inclusion, and Truth and Reconciliation.
- A pool of approximately 40 top-scoring applicants will be invited to complete Phase 2: Full Application. Applicants will be notified of Phase 1 results no later than June 30, 2019.
Phase 2: Full Application
- Five-member assessment committee.
- Determines which applicants will receive funding through this program based on all three criteria.
Group Agreements
All members of the assessment committee will be expected to honour the following group agreements when discussing applications:
- We commit to creating a safe space for everyone by:
- Respecting each person regardless of how they identify, including their gender, sexuality, age, religion, beliefs, nation, etc.
- Not interrupting others.
- Being mindful of how much time/space we each take up in discussions.
- Making time/space for others to speak.
- Using “I” statements (“I feel,” “I think,” “I wonder,” etc.).
- Replacing criticism with questions and encouragement.
- Respecting those who wish to listen silently.
- We will respect all art forms, traditional, contemporary or other.
- We will consider what the criteria mean for each applicant based on:
- How they define their own practice.
- What is appropriate within their artistic discipline.
- Their stage of career/practice/experience/expertise in their form.
- A respect for the unique traditions and rights of different First Nations, Metis and Inuit nations/communities.
- We will try to focus every conversation around what we appreciate about every project.
- We will remember that this is not a panel of experts:
- We will honour the knowledge and experience others share.
- We will not impose arbitrary standards or ideas on an applicant or their project/activity that are not appropriate to the specific context.
- We will acknowledge the experiences and values that may make each of us biased.
- We will allow others to help us check in with our biases in a respectful and productive way.
Please refer to the Assessment Committee Terms of Reference for further information about the assessment process.
How to Apply
Applications will only be accepted online through Calgary Arts Development’s grant interface. Please see the above Equity Statement for information on accessibility and accommodation needs.
New users must set up an account to access the interface. For instructions on how to use the online grant interface, please refer to the Granting Interface Questions in our Investment Program FAQ.
Applications must be submitted before 4:30pm MST on the day of the deadlines. Late applications will not be accepted. Extensions may be provided upon request in certain circumstances in advance of a deadline. Consult the Deadline Extension Policy for more information.
Please note that anonymized application information from both successful and unsuccessful applications may be used for program evaluation and research purposes.
Application Checklist
Phase One: Letter of Intent
Deadline: May 10, 2019, 4:30pm MST
- Organization Information (applicant contact information, organization mandate)
- Requested Amount (between $10,000 up to $50,000)
- Stream (Community or Professional)
- Summary of why the applicant is an ideal fit for this program (max 300 words). Consider all of the criteria of the program. It might be helpful to refer to the questions asked in the Full Application as a starting place.
- Statement of Minimum Organizational Requirements (only required for applicants that are not registered as societies in the Province of Alberta) speaking to how the applicant fulfils the minimum organizational requirements listed in the Eligibility Section above (max 300 words).
- Most Recent Financial Statements: Applicants must include a Statement of Operations (5), Balance Sheet (6), and two years of comparisons. If audited financial statements are unavailable, applicants must include the signatures of two board members not involved in creating the statements. PDF files only.
- Organizational Structure describing leadership and staff roles, including lines of accountability (uploaded in DOC, DOCX or PDF only).
- List of Board Members (can be uploaded in DOC, DOCX, or PDF format, or through the standard form).
- Support Material: Provide up to three pieces of support material showing recent work, projects or partnerships (assessors will read or view up to 10 minutes of material) (upload 2MB, PDF, JPG, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, or links).
(5) A summary of an organization’s revenues and expenses for a fiscal year.
(6) A summary of an organization’s assets and liabilities for a fiscal year.
Phase Two: Full Application
Deadline: September 9, 2019, 4:30pm MST
- Basic Reporting (only for those that have not already submitted them for reporting in 2019):
- 2019 Standard Programming List (XLX, XLXS)
- 2019 Standard Statistical Form (XLX, XLXS) or CADAC equivalent
- 2019 Standard Financial Form (XLX, XLXS) or CADAC equivalent
- Artistic Impact (typed directly into the application form). Demonstrate self-awareness and show what you have learned through both success and failure:
- Describe what is compelling about the artistic experiences you provide (max 200 words).
- How do your artistic activities contribute to your artistic discipline as a whole? What role does your organization play in the local, regional and national arts communities to which it belongs (max 200 words)?
- What are your organization’s short- and long-term artistic aspirations (max 200 words)?
- Public Impact (typed directly into the application form). Demonstrate a critical self-awareness and show what you have learned through both success and failure:
- How does your organization interact with the public (max 200 words)?
- What role do you see your organization playing in fostering creativity in Calgary’s communities? Consider the specific communities you work in and Calgary as a whole (max 200 words).
- What are your organization’s short- and long-term public impact aspirations (max 200 words)?
- Organizational Resiliency (typed directly into the application form). Demonstrate a critical self-awareness and show what you have learned through both success and failure:
- What current conditions, either internal or external to your organization, allow you to achieve and sustain your mandate? What have you done to help create those conditions (max 200 words)?
- What constraints are there, if any, to achieving and sustaining your mandate? How is your organization addressing those constraints? Keep in mind that this question is meant to show your awareness of challenges, not punish you for having them (max 200 words).
- What are the conditions necessary to achieve your artistic and public impact aspirations (as you’ve described above)? What is your organization’s plan to help ensure that these conditions exist (max 200 words)?
- Support Materials: Provide additional materials that help support your case for this program, such as text, digital images, audio or video. Limit your support material to a maximum review time of 10 minutes, or 10 pages of text. You may include up to four attachments with a maximum size of 1MB each. Please provide short descriptions of each attachment in the fields provided. Acceptable file formats are PDF, JPG, DOC, DOCX, XLS, and XLSX. For audio and video materials, please enter a YouTube or Vimeo link with specific instructions on which parts to review.
Unsuccessful Applicant Reporting
Unsuccessful applicants may be invited to participate in a focus group facilitated by an external facilitator and a short annual survey. Participants would be compensated for their participation.
Collection, Use, Disclosure of Grant Information
Personal information is received by Calgary Arts Development from people and organizations who apply for grants, members of committees assessing applications, and many others in the course of its activities. Calgary Arts Development will never reveal personal information to any third party without your prior knowledge and consent, unless required to do so by law.
Information provided in both successful and unsuccessful grant applications may be used to plan, evaluate and review programs, and for generating statistics for these activities: statistical reporting, studies, issue and trend analysis. Information shared when reporting in these ways will be anonymized and only shared in aggregate. No personal information provided in grant applications will be shared publicly without prior applicant consent.
Questions
Consult the Investment Program FAQ for answers to common questions about the program.
Our team is here to support you! If you have any questions about the program contact the Community Investment team at grants@calgaryartsdevelopment.com or 403.476.2031.
Download the Full Program Guidelines as a PDF
