Letter of Intent

• A Letter of Intent to Apply is highly RECOMMENDED for First Year Applicants
• A Letter of Intent to Apply to change categories is REQUIRED to Change Levels
• Include time and date of organization's next board meeting, so a Commission staff member can attend and discuss the guidelines and goals of the General Operating Support Grant program.
• Postmark Deadline: Thursday, February 23, 2006
• Send to: Arizona Commission on the Arts, 417 W. Roosevelt St., Phoenix, AZ 85003

Multi-year Funding for all General Operating Support Grants

All GOS Applicants Apply on a Two-Year Cycle

All organizations which received GOS funding in FY05 and FY06 apply on a staggered two-year cycle. Click here for information on your organization's application requirements this year. In the alternate year application year of the process, applicants will submit only an application form, cultural diversity plan and update, new budget and a paragraph reporting on any key staff/leadership or programmatic changes and the impact on the organization. If there is a significant change of scope of programming or key/staff leadership, the Commission staff may require an organization to do one or more of the following:

• Submit a letter describing the change and its impact, for staff and/or panel review
• Undergo a management audit with a Commission Peer Consultant
• Submit a full application in a year when they otherwise would be on the alternate year schedule

Those applicants that have only received one year of funding or were not recommended for funding in the previous year are required to submit a full application.

Applicants retain the same rating in the second year as the panel determined in the first year.

Applicants not recommended for funding in the previous year apply each year.

The dollar amount and formula for funding may change a little each year depending on the amount of funding that is available to the Arts Commission to grant out and change in size of the organizations' budgets, but the rating of each applicant stays the same for two years.

Not Eligible for GOS Levels I, II, III, Basic/Locals Aid

Cultural Diversity Plan/Arizona Arts Trust Fund

In 1989, the Arizona State Legislature established the Arizona Arts Trust Fund with monies collected from the filing fee of Arizona's for-profit corporations. These funds support the General Operating Support Grants awarded by the Arizona Commission on the Arts. Part of the legislation requires that organizations awarded General Operating Support Grants serve the needs of the community, including efforts to reach artists and audiences from culturally diverse groups. Grant conditions, which must be met before an organization's funding is distributed, include representation by racial/ethnic community members on their board of directors, and submission of a current Cultural Diversity Plan with the grant application.

You must mail a hard copy of your organization’s current Cultural Diversity Plan, assuring racial and ethnic participation on your board, along with any other supplementary materials. This Cultural Diversity Plan must:

• List goals and strategies to identify representatives from racial or ethnic communities

• Evaluate past efforts to reach racial or ethnic board members

• List resources to be contacted to increase racial or ethnic representation on your board

• Be current, and be approved by the Board of Directors at a recent meeting, and signed and dated by the Board Chair

The panel will consider this information, and the board chart you completed, in relation to this section’s review criterion. The Commission can provide assistance as you explore diversifying your board, and examples of strong diversity plans that might help you generate ideas; for information, click here www.azarts.gov/guide/org_effectiveness.htm. Some organizations have submitted Cultural Diversity Plans which are broader in scope; e.g. they address gender, age, orientation, disability, geography, or other diversity issues; describe artistic programming, staffing or advisory councils that connect to the organization’s diversity goals; or relate the board’s policies, or holistic organizational approaches, that address building diversity. Such information is not requested or required by the Commission, but organizations may certainly submit Diversity Plans that are broader in nature.

Applying for Project, Arts Learning Project and Arts Link to Tourism and the Economy Grants in addition to GOS

Organizations and Local Arts Agencies applying for GOS Grants Levels I, II and Tribal Museums may also submit ALTE/Project Grant applications with no special requirements.

GOS Grant applicants Levels III and Basic/Locals Aid who also wish to apply for an ALTE/Project Grant MUST submit a statement of up to 200 words with their application which makes the case for how the project is "special or unusual" relative to ongoing programs. The Commission defines "special or unusual" as a project that possesses some characteristic or unifying principle that makes it distinguishable from an organization’s entire season or overall operation.

Use the following questions as a guide when preparing your "special or unusual" statement:

• How is this project outside the scope of your regular season offerings?

• If this is an existing project, how will it be changed or refined during this application cycle?

• How does this project take your programming in new directions?

• How does this project take your audiences in new directions?

How To Apply