CFDA 45.024

To Work on Your Application

1. Access the Our Town application package on Grants.gov by clicking on the link below:

   

   [Funding Opportunity Number: 2012NEAOT]

2. Then follow the link to "How to Prepare and Submit an Application." This link will take you to the instructions and requirements for Design applicants that are applying under the Art Works category in the FY 2012 Grants for Arts Projects guidelines. Follow these instructions -- as modified below -- for your Our Town application. Include only the following items:

   •  Application for Federal Domestic Assistance/Short Organizational
      Form (SF-424).

   •  Project/Performance Site Location(s) Form

   •  NEA Organization & Project Profile Form

   In the "For this application, the applicant is serving as" field, select the "Lead Member of a Consortium" box and list your one required partner in the space provided.

   For the "Intended Outcome" field: Select the following outcome as your primary outcome:

   Livability: American communities are strengthened through the arts.

   •  Attachments Form to which you have attached:

  l. Attachment 1: Organizational Background Statement

This one-page document should describe the lead applicant and its primary partner. Other partners can be described in the project narrative and in the statements of commitment.

II. Attachment 2: Details of the Project Narrative

Do not follow the outline in the Art Works instructions. Instead, use the outline below.

To this button attach a Project Narrative of no more than 3 pages. (Excess pages will be removed and not be reviewed.) Please organize your response a), b), c), etc., and use the boldfaced language below as a heading for each item. For example, "Budget. The ABC city requests..."

If any of this activity is included in a current NEA application or award, include the applicable application or award number, and clearly state that you are not requesting funding for the same activity. NOTE: You may not receive more than one Arts Endowment grant for the same expenses. There can be no overlapping project costs within the submitted budget with other federally sponsored projects.

Include information on:

1. Budget. State the amount that you are requesting ($25,000, $50,000, $75,000, $100,000, or $150,000). If your project budget is more than your operating budget, discuss your capacity to undertake the project. Provide a general outline of the project budget, and describe community funding support for the project and your sustainability strategy. Remember that all grants require a nonfederal match of at least 1 to 1, which must be reflected in your total project budget. For example, if you request a $50,000 grant, the total eligible project costs must be at least $100,000 and you must provide at least $50,000 toward the project from nonfederal sources.

2. Major project activities. Begin your narrative by stating one project type or activity from the list below that best describes your project:

   • Creative asset mapping.
   • Cultural district planning.
   • The development of master plans or community-wide strategies for public art.
   • Creative entrepreneurship.
   • Creative industry cluster/hub development.
   • Spaces for artists.
   • Cultural facilities.
   • Public spaces.
   • Wayfinding systems.
   • Community engagement design activities.
   • Innovative arts programming that fosters community interaction.
   • Festivals or performances in spaces not normally used for such purposes.
   • Public art.

   Follow your project type with a detailed description of the project activities that will take place during the requested period of support. Be as specific as possible about actual activities. Do not merely describe the vision or long-term goals for the project. Discuss your action plan and the creative placemaking strategies that will be implemented, including the approach to civic development. Include information on the location(s) of the proposed activity and any special resources that will be used. Describe the process and criteria for the selection of artists, design professionals, organizations, and, where relevant, artworks. You may present information about a broader initiative, if applicable, but be very specific about the phase(s) of your project that are included in your request for funding (e.g., "funding is being requested for 'B' of 'ABC' activity").

3. Outcome(s) and Measurements. Discuss how your project directly addresses the NEA outcome for Livability: Strengthening communities through the arts. You may also address a secondary NEA outcome (Creation, Engagement, or Learning) and/or any additional outcomes of your own that you have established for the project.

   Detail the performance measurements that you will use to provide evidence that the NEA outcome was achieved.

4. Schedule of key project dates by month, quarter, or year. Include benchmarks or deliverables as appropriate to your project. A grant period of up to two years is allowed.

5. Partners, key organizations, individuals, and works of art that will be involved in the project. Begin by identifying the two primary partners and provide details on how you will work together to provide leadership for the project. State which of the two primary partners satisfies the cultural (arts or design) requirement. List additional partners for the project and note whether they are committed to or merely proposed for the project. Describe the responsibilities of your other partners and the resources that all partners will provide. Indicate any artists, design professionals, other individuals, or nonprofit or commercial organizations that will be involved in the project, and note whether they are committed to or merely proposed for the project. Where relevant, describe their involvement in the development of the project to date. Where key individuals or organizations remain to be selected, it is critical that you describe the selection procedures that you plan to follow and the qualifications that you seek.

6. The target community. Describe the target community that will benefit from the project. Provide population data for the target community; if actual figures or reasonable estimates can be secured, indicate the number of people the project will serve. Ensure that your estimates are consistent with the information that you provide on the NEA Organization & Project Profile form. Discuss in detail the ways you plan to engage the target community. Have you worked with this target community before? Has the target community been or will they be involved in the planning for and implementation of the project? Describe any underserved groups or areas that will benefit.

7. Plans for promoting and publicizing the proposed project during the period of support. Be specific about the audience(s) that you want to reach and the strategies and tactics that you will use to communicate your project to them.

8. Plans for documenting and evaluating the project. Describe the methods you will use to measure progress and deliverables during the project period. If applicable, include the metrics or indicators that you will use to identify and evaluate the project's short-term and long-term impact on your community's livability.

9. Goals and impact. Describe your goals in undertaking the project and what you hope to achieve. Discuss the anticipated impact on the community's livability, and, if possible, how the project can serve as a model for other communities. If this is a continuing project, include evidence of the impact achieved for the community. Include any social, cultural, and/or economic impact data so far collected and analyzed.

10. Plans for making the project accessible to individuals with disabilities in compliance with federal law and regulations. This includes access accommodations for both facilities and programs, such as audio description, sign-language interpretation, closed or open captioning, large-print brochures/labeling, etc. See the Nondiscrimination Statutes in "Assurance of Compliance" for more information. (For technical assistance on how to make your project fully accessible, contact the Arts Endowment's Accessibility Office at 202/682-5532 or 202/682-5496 Voice/T.T.Y. or the Civil Rights Office at 202/682-5454 or 202/682-5695 Voice/T.T.Y.)

11. If your organization received a Mayors' Institute on City Design 25th Anniversary Initiative grant and your Our Town request is for a different phase of the same project, provide a status report on the project to date and state when completion is expected. Include your grant number. (NOTE: Your final report must be submitted by June 1, 2012, before you may receive an Our Town grant.)

III. Attachment 3: Project Budget Form


REMINDER: All costs included in your Project Budget must be expended within your period of support.

Amount requested from the Arts Endowment: State the amount that you are requesting: $25,000, $50,000, $75,00, $100,000, or $150,000. If you are recommended for less than the amount that you request you will be asked to revise your project budget. The Arts Endowment reserves the right to limit its support of a project to a particular portion(s) or cost(s).

Total match for this project: The Arts Endowment requires each applicant to obtain at least half the total cost of each project from nonfederal sources. For example, if you receive a $50,000 grant, your total project costs must be at least $100,000 and you must provide at least $50,000 toward the project from nonfederal sources. Matches of more than dollar for dollar are encouraged. These matching funds may be all cash or a combination of cash and in-kind contributions.

You may include matching funds that are proposed but not yet committed at the time of the application deadline. Be sure to asterisk (*) those funds that are committed or secured. If you use in-kind contributions as part of your match, you need to maintain proper documentation. For help in doing this, see our sample format for recording in-kind (third-party) contributions.

No matching funds can be from federal sources. This restriction includes state or locally distributed funds that originate from a federal agency (such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or the U. S. Department of Transportation). While these funds may be leveraged for related activities or phases of your project, they can't appear in your Our Town project budget as either income or expenses.

Costs associated with other federal funds, whether direct or indirect (e.g., flow down through a state arts agency) can't be included in your Project Budget.

For line items greater than $100,000, provide details of what is included. You may do this by listing a larger heading, followed by a breakdown of what is included in the total. For example. "$100,000 for X (includes a, b, c, d, e, f, etc.)”

NOTE: The Arts Endowment does not fund the construction, purchase, or renovation of facilities. Do not include these costs in the Project Budget Form as either income or expenses.

Examples of unallowable costs:

• The purchase costs of facilities or land.
• Costs to prepare land for a facility, park, or streetscape.
• Physical construction or renovation, unrelated to the installation of public art.
• Equipment rental to build a facility or park.

Examples of allowable costs:

• Community planning
• Design fees.
• Artist fees.
• Costs to prepare a site for an art work such as slabs or pedestals and landscaping.
• Equipment rental to set an art work.

IV. Attachment 4: Financial Information Form

This document should reflect the financial information of the lead applicant only. In the case of a city, limit this information to the department or office that will oversee the proposed project.

V.  Attachment 5: Biographies of Key Project Personnel

Key personnel can be staff, consultants, advisors, artists, designers – anyone who will be a key contributor to the success of your proposed project, regardless of their organizational affiliation. It is up to you to determine which individuals will best represent your project.

VI. Attachment 6: List of Current Board Members

This item is not required where the local government is the lead applicant. A list of board members for the primary partner may be submitted if relevant to your proposed project, but is not required.

VII. Attachment 7: Consortium Partner Information Form

Have the required partner complete this form as the consortium member.

All applications must have partnerships that involve two primary partners: a nonprofit organization and a local governmental entity. One of the two primary partners must act as the official applicant (lead applicant). This form is used to provide us with information about the primary partner who is not the lead applicant.

Example:

A nonprofit organization is the lead applicant and one of the two primary partners. A local government is the required second primary partner, and not the lead applicant.

In this case, the nonprofit organization as the lead applicant will complete the majority of the application. The local government as the required partner will fill out the Consortium Partner Information Form.

VIII. Attachment 8: Optional Project Budget

There is no form or format for this optional attachment

 IX. Attachment 9: Programmatic Activities List

You may include a collective history of programming by all partners for the proposed project. This history can include past work or activities that are relevant to your proposed project, and does not have to be arts programming in the traditional sense (exhibition, performance, lecture, etc.). Think of this attachment as an opportunity to show that you and your partners have the experience and capacity to carry out the proposed project.

 X. Attachment 10: Letters of Support

1. Letter of endorsement from the highest ranking official for the local government

   The document should be a one-page formal endorsement letter, on appropriate letterhead, from the highest ranking official for the local government (e.g., mayor, county executive, or tribal leader). This letter should reflect the official's familiarity with and support for the project, and must designate your project as the only one being submitted for the community.

   Many organization systems for local government exist. Please provide in your letter a sentence explaining why this official is the leader of the local government. For example, "In the Village of XYZ, our city manager is the highest ranking government official.”

2. Statements of commitment from partners:

   • If the lead applicant is a local government: Include a statement from the nonprofit organization serving as the required partner reflecting its support for and involvement in the project. For verification purposes, include the name, phone number, and e-mail of a contact person with the nonprofit organization.

   • If the lead applicant is a public entity or a nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization: Include a statement from the relevant local government agency or department serving as the required partner, reflecting its support for and involvement in the project. For verification purposes, include the name, phone number, and e-mail of a contact person with the local government.

   • If you list an organization or individual as a partner in your Project Narrative, you must include a statement of commitment describing their support for and involvement in the project. There is no limit to the numbers of statement that you can attach. However, we encourage you to be selective in listing only the partners that are critical to the project's success.

   We strongly encourage you to submit your letter of endorsement and statements of commitment electronically through Grants.gov. If you submit these items as a scanned document:

   • Scan images at a resolution of 300 dpi. Resolutions over 300 dpi will result in unnecessarily large files.
   • Save the images as black-and-white JPEGs. Please be sure you are not saving them in color, as this significantly increases the file size.
   • Experiment with the JPEG quality settings. Saving the document as a "medium quality" or "low quality" JPEG will reduce the file size, and is not likely to reduce readability.
   • When you have scanned the images, combine them into a single PDF file. Submit a single file; do not submit a separate file for each scanned page.

   However, if you cannot submit these items electronically, you may submit hard copies with the items detailed under "Prepare and submit material to be mailed directly to the Arts Endowment."

XI. Attachment 11: National Environmental Policy Act and/or the National Historic Preservation Act Documentation

If your project will never physically change a building, site, landscape, or district, or you're not working on a plan or design for a building, site, landscape, or district, you probably do not need to submit anything as National Environmental Policy Act and/or the National Historic Preservation Act documentation. For example, if you are producing a poetry festival in an existing space and will not use the space for anything but temporary programming, you do not need to submit anything.

If you are proposing a series of public art projects, temporary or permanent, or you are designing or planning a building, site, landscape, or district, we need you to provide us with more information:

• Provide a very clear description of the building, site, landscape, or district in which you will be working, even if it is just planning or design activities. Include the address.

• If you think any element of the building, site, landscape, or district is historic and will trigger the need for review under the National Historic Preservation Act, describe that element in detail. For example, if you are working on a historic building or district, describe the age, whether or not it's landmarked, and the type of work being planned or designed.

• If you think that any phase of the project might now or someday require review under the National Environmental Policy Act, describe the activities in detail. Be specific. For example, if you will be doing cleanup of a site, describe exactly what needs to be cleaned.  Is it trash on the site or toxic waste?

If your project does have National Environmental Policy Act and/or the National Historic Preservation Act implications, provide any documentation you have on these issues. Every state is different and will provide different levels of follow up, so provide what is available to you and let us know about your efforts to obtain information. We may contact you for additional documentation.

XII. Attachment 12: Optional Permission to share application

If you wish to grant permission to the NEA to share your application with other funders, attach it to this button. The file name should indicate the name of your organization or a recognizable acronym followed by "Permission.pdf."

From time to time, the NEA receives requests from other funders who have interests similar to those of the agency. If you would like your application made available to be shared with other funders, the NEA needs permission from the person listed as the AOR (Authorized Organization Representative) on your application.

Submit a statement, on appropriate letterhead, from your AOR saying "I (Name of AOR) grant permission to share ABC Organization's application with other funders.” If this item needs to be scanned, follow the instructions under Attachment 10.

Please note:

• Your decision whether or not to grant permission will have no bearing on the review of your application. Other funders are not involved in the decision making process for the NEA.

• The sharing of your application in no way guarantees follow up or funding from other funders.

• The NEA is under no obligation to provide feedback from other funders on the information shared.

• By sharing your application with other funders, the information becomes available to the public, upon request, under the Freedom of Information Act.

XIII. Attachment 13: Work Sample Index

In addition to the material that you submit electronically, you are required to submit work samples directly to the Arts Endowment.

To this button, attach a Work Sample Index that serves as a script to accompany the required work samples. Label each page of the attachment clearly with the lead applicant's name. Provide the following information, as applicable, for each work sample submitted. Make certain that the order of your script corresponds to the order of your work sample.

• Number on the digital image.
• Name of the designer(s), artist(s), or key individuals involved.
• Date of work/activity.
• No more than one sentence describing the work and its relationship to the project for which you are requesting support.

 

National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20506