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Creative Community Support Grant guidelines

Please review these guidelines for objectives, eligibility and assessment criteria.

Objectives

These quick turn-around grants aim to benefit the Northern Beaches creative community by:

  • providing support for artists and creative workers
  • connecting with the community in new ways
  • facilitating local development of new work and new ways of working
  • facilitating partnerships and collaborative opportunities across the community
  • contributing to the sustainability of small-medium creative sector businesses

Outcomes

This program seeks to address the following outcomes of the Arts & Creativity Strategy:

Outcome 2: Innovative and creative industries

  1. Enable creative sector vitality
  2. Collaborate to innovate

The program is aimed at:

  • increasing capacity and skills to adapt to changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic
  • ongoing community engagement and connection to arts and culture
  • innovation in diverse platforms and ways of community participation in arts and culture
  • creative development of work for the future
  • increasing sustainability of the local creative sector

Funding Available 

From $500 - $3,000

Criteria

All grant requests must relate to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on your arts practice and/or creative business activities.

Applicants may apply for grants to support:

  • creative solutions to help communities reconnect and rebuild following the COVID-19 pandemic
  • the digital presentation of creative work and performance, or delivery of creative programming online
  • development of networks, partnerships and resources for the sector to adapt to change and build resilience
  • research, creative development and presentation of new small-scale arts projects or performances (delivered within the prevailing social distancing guidelines)

Program Structure & Timeline

  • To ensure grants are directly supporting individual artists and small arts organisations/groups impacted by COVID-19, funds will be allocated to projects deliverable by 31 December 2020 (unless otherwise agreed).
  • Applications open Monday 18 May and close on Sunday 31 May. Applications will subsequently be reviewed and assessed, with applicants being notified as soon as possible as to the outcome of their application. Successful applicants will be provided with a funding agreement and payment details.
  • Funding will be provided as a one-off payment to successful applicants. A program evaluation and financial acquittal will be required at the end of the project, or by the end of March 2021.
  • Applying for the Creative Community Support Grants does not exclude applicants from eligibility for Council’s annual Arts & Creativity Grants Program.

Eligibility

Individual artists, sole traders, not-for-profit artist collectives, or small businesses with up to nine employees, based within the Northern Beaches Local Government Area, are eligible to apply. Eg. professional creatives across all disciplines, arts workers, creative producers, performing arts organisations, arts festivals, arts support organisations, galleries, collaborative design studios and other arts spaces.

Ineligible activities include competitions and prize money, or non-arts related initiatives.

General Exclusions

Council does not provide grants to projects that:

  • Duplicate existing services or programs unless there is a demonstrated additional need.
  • Have already occurred (no retrospective funding).

Funding is not provided for:

  • Operational expenses (such as rent, ongoing staff wages, insurance, utilities, day-to-day general office supplies etc.)
  • Built infrastructure proposals which require development consent.

Assessment and Application Process

Assessment Criteria

You will need to demonstrate:

  1. The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on your income, employment status and / or business operations and how the grant will provide support
  2. Innovation, experimentation or creative imagination in your response and how you’ll develop and share your project with the Northern Beaches community
  3. Skills and professional experience within the local cultural and creative sectors and your connection to the local government area
  4. Alignment between your project and the aims of this program
  5. The capacity to manage the funds requested and budget details

Attachments and Supporting Documents

Individuals and organisations must submit the following to support your application (where applicable):

  • Quotes for equipment, material and courses over $1,000 (minimum of 2 quotes)
  • Annual Financial Report or most recent BAS statement
  • Single Touch Payroll Report or Letter from Accountant - to verify your number of full-time (or full time equivalent) employees and / or employment status
  • Public Liability Insurance Certificate of Currency (if relevant)
  • CV and evidence of online presence (eg website/linkedin/artist profile)

Assessment

All eligible applications will be reviewed and assessed by an internal assessment panel following close of applications on 31 May 2020.

Funding is limited, and while an application may meet the criteria, it may not be competitive against other applications.  Applications that best meet the assessment criteria will be recommended for approval to the CEO for final sign-off.  

Submitting a Grant Application

Applications must be submitted online via SmartyGrants, which can be accessed once the grant round opens. Your application must be well-developed and address all the criteria and respond to all compliance questions.  It must include documentary evidence and support as required. Applications open Monday 18 May and close at midnight Sunday 31 May 2020. 

Notification and Approval

Assessments will be made within three weeks of the closing date of 31 May 2020, and applicants will be advised of the outcome of their application as soon as possible.

Funding Agreements

Successful applicants and Council must sign a Funding Agreement with terms and conditions prior to any funding being provided. The Agreement will include:

  • Project ID and title of the project for which the funding is being provided
  • The amount of cash funding to be received
  • Arrangements regarding completion of the project and submission of the project acquittal
  • Terms and conditions for the implementation, evaluation and reporting on the project.

Payment Arrangements

Funding will not be provided until a signed copy of the funding agreement and a valid invoice has been received by Council.

Applicants must finalise the agreement before 22 June 2020. Failure to sign the agreement and submit a valid invoice by this date may result in Council withdrawing the grant offer.

Program Reporting and Acquittal

A program evaluation and financial acquittal will be required at the end of the project, or by the end of March 2021 at the latest. A reporting template will be provided by Council.

Contact Details 

For questions regarding the Creative Community Support Grants, please email creative@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au or call 02 99422560