Fiscal Year 2016 Overview & Guidelines Introduction In 2016 the Philadelphia Cultural Fund (PCF) celebrates 23 years of grantmaking. Established as a nonprofit corporation by Philadelphia s Mayor and City Council in 1991, the Fund has consistently worked to support and enhance the cultural life and vitality for the City and its residents. Funds distributed as PCF grants come from the City s annual budget allocation. Applicants are evaluated through peer review panels involving artists and professionals from the region s arts and culture community. Grant amounts are then determined through the use of a funding formula. PCF grant recipients are organizations dedicated to creating, preserving and/or exhibiting visual, literary and performing arts, architecture, science, history and the humanities located within the City of Philadelphia. In 2012, reflecting upon the PCF s role and impact as a grantmaker the board of directors engaged in a strategic planning process which included a review of the PCF s first 20 years, a survey of its grantees and a plan to move forward embracing the changes and challenges in Philadelphia s current ecology. The response to our survey was an amazing 87%. We learned a great deal about what our grantees valued and where they felt they needed the most assistance. The changes that PCF has made to its grants policies and processes are in direct response to the information obtained from the survey results, as well as, other observations from the application process. In addition to using survey feedback, the PCF board asked various members of the grantee community to join the Grants Committee of the board to help design the changes. This enlarged Grants Committee reviews the guidelines annually. You may be applying for the first time since these changes were made due to the shift to multi-year grants you may not have needed to apply last year. The 2016 Philadelphia Cultural Fund grant cycle includes: Multi-year grants for established organizations (3 years) One year grants for organizations that work on a program/project basis. This is designed to meet the needs of: o Organizations that have a broader mission that then arts but sponsor valuable arts programming in their communities o Organizations with an arts mission that operate on a project by project basis Grant categories defined by budget size (rather than by discipline)
No budget limit for organizations requiring fiscal sponsors (previously $50,000) Other forms of incorporation, such as LLC and Partnerships, are eligible for funding with the use of a fiscal sponsor (arts and culture must be primary purpose of applicant) Right sized applications for o New & Emerging, small, medium and large organizations o Organizations using fiscal sponsors o Program/Project Support CDP Report (attached to application, mandatory for all applicants) The Project Support stream has been renamed Program Support How does this affect my organization? Multi-Year Grants: Beginning with the 2013 grants (the grant you received in March 2013) and moving forward into this year, your organization will be on one of three application tracks. Track A organizations will apply the summer of 2015 and if approved for funding will receive a grant spring 2016. The score you receive during your application review winter 2015 will be carried over for two years, 2016 and 2017. Your grant will be newly calculated each year. We cannot tell you the amount of your grant for 2016 and 2017 but we can confirm that you will receive a grant as long as PCF receives its allocation from the City Budget. Track B organizations will not apply again until the summer of 2017. The score you received during your application review winter 2014 will be carried over for two years, 2015 and 2016. Your grant will be newly calculated each year. We cannot tell you the amount of your grant for 2015 and 2016 but we can confirm that you will receive a grant as long as PCF receives its allocation from the City budget. Track C organizations will not apply again until the summer of 2016. The score you received during your application review winter 2013 will be carried over for two years, 2014 and 2015. Your grant will be newly calculated each year. We cannot tell you the amount of your grant for 2014 and 2015 but we can confirm that you will receive a grant as long as PCF receives its allocation from the City budget. One Year Grants: Some organizations should apply annually. New & Emerging organizations (groups up to five years old) will be required to apply annually. If you are uncertain, please contact the PCF staff. Organizations that work on a project by project basis can apply annually for Program Support. Applications for project based work may submit project budgets rather than operating budgets; for example, an event which occurs once a year and needs only a few weeks preparation may submit a project budget with a one year grant application. Organizations that sponsor valuable arts programs for their constituents although they do not have arts at the core of their mission can apply annually. For example, a hospital that has an exhibition program. Applications for a discreet arts and culture program within a larger organization may submit project budgets rather than operating budgets.
Organizations applying for multi-year funding that score poorly in their panel but are approved for funding will be awarded a one year grant and will need to apply the following year to receive a multi-year grant. If you are a first time applicant, you should apply this year with Track A. If you did not receive a grant in 2015 you should apply with Track A. If you have not received a grant recently but wish to apply, you should apply with Track A. 2016 PCF Applicant Pools: Click to confirm your track. If you have any questions about your track please contact PCF staff. What Is Project Based Work (working on a project by project basis)? Some organizations don t have offices, staff or year-round operations. They do one project at a time, and they only present the project if they have raised enough money to complete it. It s possible that they are working on more than one project at a time (for example, one for this year and one for down the line sometime), but they still only present projects when the money has been raised. If your organization works like this, you will prepare a stronger application using the specific information for your upcoming project rather than trying to invent or describe operations that don t actually exist. The Program Support category is designed for your needs. What is Program Support? Formerly known as Project Support, Program Support is general operating support that is restricted for specific arts programming or projects. Program Support addresses the needs of organizations that work on a project by project basis and organizations that do not have arts and culture at the center of their mission (e.g. a social service agency), however as part of their work in serving their communities they provide valuable arts and culture programming. These organizations may apply to PCF for Program Support on an annual basis. If your organization works like this, you will prepare a stronger application providing information specific to your arts programming rather than your entire operation. Categories By Budget Size: Beginning with the 2014 grant cycle, categories will be arranged by budget size. Budget size is determined by averaging the most recent four years of annual expenses as reported on the Pennsylvania Cultural Data Project (PACDP, CDP). To determine which category your organization belongs in, first update your CDP Data Profile to show your most recently completed fiscal year and the three previous. Next create a Philadelphia Cultural Fund Funder Report. When you generate the PCF Funder Report you will find your Average Annual Budget on the first page of the 8 page report. The categories are: Budgets under $50,000 Budgets $50,000 to $150,000 Budgets $150,000 to $400,000 Budgets $400,000 to $1,500,000 ($1.5 Million) Budgets $1.5 Million and over
Your organization will be reviewed with the other organizations of a similar budget size regardless of artistic discipline. The panelists will be multi-disciplinary. If you are an organization with a non-arts mission applying for Program Support please complete the CDP profile to reflect your arts programming budget and activities only. Fiscal Sponsors: In the past, only organizations with budgets of less than $50,000 could indefinitely use a fiscal sponsor. That limit has been removed and organizations of any size may indefinitely use a fiscal sponsor. However, the rules for fiscal sponsorship have changed. Organizations who wish to act as fiscal sponsors should contact the PCF office in advance to become an approved fiscal sponsor. Applicant Eligibility 1) Organizations located in the City of Philadelphia may apply for General Operating Support or Program support, if they meet the following eligibility requirements: a. Arts and culture is the primary focus of their mission. Arts and culture is defined as dedicated to creating, preserving and/or exhibiting visual, literary and performing arts, architecture, science, history and the humanities. At least 60% of the organization s activities or budget must be devoted to arts and culture. If an organization s budget does not meet this 60% threshold the group may still be eligible for program support. Please contact the PCF office before applying. b. Office and place of business operations must be located in the City of Philadelphia as demonstrated by the address used on the organization s official 990 document, information on the website, letterhead and printed public materials. Organizations that use P.O. Boxes as their official address will have to demonstrate that they qualify as a Philadelphia based organization. Please do not use the address of a board member or volunteer. c. A demonstrated commitment to provide arts and culture to the residents of the City of Philadelphia. At least 60% of programs must be presented in the City of Philadelphia. d. Incorporated as a not for profit in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and recognition of 501(c)(3) tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Unincorporated organizations, such as LLCs, regardless of size may apply using a fiscal sponsor if they can demonstrate that their organization has a mission which advances arts and culture, has a community benefit and they meet all the other criteria. e. Must have a Governing/Advisory Group (such as a board of directors, advisory committee, or programming committee). Ideally, the composition of this group represents the diversity of the broader community. f. Must have programs available to the public (it is OK to charge for them) and attended by a broad range of participants. Examples of unacceptable programs: a library collection of valuable documents not open to the public for study or research. g. Non-discriminatory employment and personnel practices.
h. Must be in compliance with IRS 990 regulations or IRS 1065 and 1023 regulations. i. Audited financial statements, if required, must be completed within one year of the filing of the 990 tax return. The Bureau of Charitable Organizations requires organizations that raise $300,000 or more in contributed income to obtain a financial audit. j. For-profit organizations with budgets of $300,000 and over must obtain audited financial statements. 2) New & Emerging Organizations (groups up to five years old) are eligible for one year General Operating Support or Program Support. Eligible applicants must have: a. Three or more people share the responsibilities. b. An articulated artistic or cultural mission and vision and demonstrated community benefit. c. The presence of a governing group of people who give guidance and advice (a board or committee). d. At least one person responsible for ensuring programmatic and fiscal accountability. e. A plan or planning process as to how to obtain the stated mission and vision. f. Arts and culture is the primary focus of their mission. Arts and culture is defined as dedicated to creating, preserving and/or exhibiting visual, literary and performing arts, architecture, science, history and the humanities. Sixty percent (60%) of the organization s activities or budget must be arts and culture related. g. The organization has a demonstrated track record of public programming. h. The organization has the capacity out carry out its stated programming goals through the support of staff, board and/or volunteers. i. Office and place of business operations must be located in the City of Philadelphia. j. Sixty percent (60%) of programs must be presented in the City of Philadelphia. k. Must have a Governing/Advisory Group (such as a board of directors, advisory committee, or programming committee). Ideally, the composition of this group represents the diversity of the broader community. l. Non-discriminatory employment and personnel practices. m. The organization may use a fiscal sponsor in lieu of having its own 501(c)(3) status. Organizations using fiscal sponsors or applying for Program Support are required to speak with PCF staff prior to applying. 3) Organizations with a mission that is broader than arts and culture, located in the City of Philadelphia may apply for Program Support, if they meet the following eligibility requirements: a. Office and place of business operations must be located in the City of Philadelphia as demonstrated by the address used on the organization s official 990 document, information on the website, letterhead and printed public materials. Organizations that use P.O. Boxes as their official address will have to demonstrate that they qualify as a Philadelphia based organization. Please do not use the address of a board member or volunteer.
Ineligible Applicants b. Incorporated as a not for profit in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and recognition of 501(c)(3) tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). c. Must have a Governing/Advisory Group (such as a board of directors, advisory committee, or programming committee). Ideally, the composition of this group represents the diversity of the broader community. d. Must have programs available to the public (it is OK to charge for them) and attended by a broad range of participants. Examples of unacceptable programs: a library collection of valuable documents not open to the public for study or research. e. Non-discriminatory employment and personnel practices. f. Must in be in compliance with IRS 990 regulations or IRS 1065 and 1023 regulations. g. Audited financial statements, if required, must be completed within one year of the filing of the 990 tax return. The Bureau of Charitable Organizations requires organizations that raise $300,000 or more in contributed income to obtain a financial audit. h. For profit organizations with budgets of $300,000 and over must obtain audited financial statements. i. Completion of the Cultural Data Project s Philadelphia Cultural Fund Funder Report should reflect the organization s arts and culture programming. j. Organizations applying for Program Support are required to speak with PCF staff prior to applying. The following are not eligible for Cultural Fund grants: Individual artists Sole proprietorships without a pre-approved Fiscal Sponsor Religious institutions Agencies and departments of city, state and federal governments Public or private elementary or secondary schools, colleges and universities with some exceptions (please speak to PCF staff about these exceptions) Organizations that receive support from the City through Council Members offices, Mayor s office or any other City department Organizations that receive support from the Philadelphia Activities Fund Organizations whose offices and/or place of business are located outside the City of Philadelphia Organizations whose programs are held primarily outside the City of Philadelphia Organizations that have outstanding final or interim reports due to PCF Applicants applying through a fiscal sponsor or for Program Support that have not been approved by PCF staff.
How Your Application Will Be Reviewed Grant applications are reviewed by peer panel process. Panelists include artists and arts professionals in the Philadelphia area. Each panel will be multi-disciplinary. In evaluating grant applications, the peer panel will consider the following criteria: Program Merit and Strength (15%) Community Impact (25%) Leadership and Governance (15%) Operations and Managerial Capacity (15%) Integrity and Fiscal Responsibility (15%) Ability to Plan and Evaluate (15%) (Please refer to the Criteria Rubric later in the guidelines to understand each category and its meaning) FY2016 PCF APPLICATION AVAILABLE FROM JULY 15TH UNTIL SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2015 AT 11:59 PM. Applications will be checked by the staff to ensure the submission is complete. Applications that are missing required materials will not be reviewed. Applications that do not include the organization's CDP PCF Funder Report will not be reviewed. In the past, incomplete applications have been allowed in opportunity to "make up" and deficiencies. There will be no such opportunities this year. Cultural Data Project: THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN UPDATED FOR FY2016. PLEASE READ. The Philadelphia Cultural Fund partners with the Cultural Data Project (CDP). PCF, along with other funders in Pennsylvania, now requires applicants to complete a Data Profile annually through the CDP website. The CDP provides the cultural community with consistent, reliable, comprehensive data on arts and culture in Pennsylvania, and enables organizations to view trends in their data, benchmark themselves against peer organizations, and enhance their financial management capacity. The information you enter into the Data Profile will be used to produce the PCF Funder Report, which must be attached to your online application. Please make certain you generate the correct report! CDP is capable of generating many kinds of reports, so be careful not to get confused. If you submit the wrong report it may negatively impact your ability to get a grant. Complete the CDP first! Do this before you begin the complete your online application. The PCF Funder Report will provide a four year Average Annual Budget for your organization. Use the average annual budget to determine in which category your organization should apply. The Average Annual Budget calculation can be found on the first page of the PCF Funder Report in the top right hand corner. For more information about the Cultural Data Project, please see www.culturaldata.org.
Instructions For New Users of the CDP Go to www.pacdp.org in the log-in box, click on the word "Register" which takes you to "New User Registration." Create new Data Profile. Complete a Data Profile for each of the four most recently completed fiscal years; start with the earliest year. If your organization has not been in existence for four years, then enter the data that you have for two years or three years. If you have only one year of data, please contact the PCF office staff. Enter data using your 990 tax return, your board-approved financial audit/review or board approved year-end financial statements. If your organization is an arts program/department within a larger institution, enter data based on internal financial statements of the arts program/department and indicate that you have a parent organization in Section 1. DO NOT enter project budgets, budgets for future years, or data from incomplete or not-yet-approved audits, reviews or financial statements. When finished entering data, click on Submit/Error Check; address any errors and call the Help Desk if you have questions. Instructions For Those Who Have Used CDP In The Past Enter data for the most recently completed fiscal year using your 990, board-approved financial audit/review or year-end financial statements. You must have four years of consecutive data, unless your organization was formed three years ago or less. You must be IRS compliant. The most recent year entered into CDP must be the most recent year for which you have filed a 990. If your organization is not audited/reviewed, enter data based on board-approved year0end financial statements. If your organization is an arts program/department within a larger institution, enter data based on internal financial statements of the arts program/department and indicate that you have a parent organization in Section 1. DO NOT enter project budgets, budgets for future years, or data from incomplete or not-yet-approved audits, reviews or financial statements. Instructions On How To Generate The PCF Funder Report On "My CDP," go to the Funder Reports section, select the fiscal year for the report (this will be your most recently completed fiscal year for which you have a 990, audit or unaudited financial statements) and click "GO". Click on the link for the Philadelphia Cultural Fund to generate the report and print (or save and then upload the document to the PCF online application).
Review your Funder Report; if you need to make changes, call the Help Desk 877-707-3282. You do not need to submit the cover page. Please Note: As part of the effort to ensure the accuracy of your data, throughout the year the CDP Help Desk will review each of your submitted Data Profile(s) and contact you with suggested revisions. It is your responsibility to respond to the Help Desk and to make any necessary changes to the submitted Cultural Data Profile(s). This process will not interfere with your ability to run Funder Reports and apply for grants. Direct questions concerning the CDP Data Profile to: CDP Help Desk P: 877-707-3282 E: help@culturaldata.org The CDP Help Desk is available Monday-Friday from 9:00AM- 5:00PM EST **Applicants not currently enrolled in CDP are encouraged to attend a training session specifically for new users. Dates and locations are available on the workshop page. Site Visit: Your application will be assigned to a peer panelist who will contact your organization to schedule a site visit. A site visit should involve an interview with senior management and/or a board member. It may also include the panelist's attendance at a performance or program. Although one person is specifically assigned to make the site visit, all panelists will review and read your application. Meeting with your peer panelist is mandatory. It is an opportunity to present and discuss the organization's programs and accomplishments over the past year in the most positive and constructive way possible. Please make sure to respond promptly to the peer panelist when they are trying to set up an appointment. Please try not to forget your appointment, keep your peer panelist waiting (remember their time is valuable also), neither use the visit to complain about city funding nor previous grant amounts. Your peer panelist may ask to see additional organization documents, particularly if there is information in your application, ancillary materials or site visit which may be supported by these documents. Site visits are not required for organizations in their interim years. Panel Meeting: When the panel convenes, the visiting panelist will describe for the others the experience s/he had with your organization during the site visit. Each panelist will then share their impressions of your application, and any direct experience they may have had with your organization over the past year. Panelists who have a conflict of interest with the organization will be asked to leave the room prior to the discussion and scoring. Examples of conflicts of interest are: being an employee or paid consultant; being a board or committee member or volunteer. At the end of the panel discussion, each panelist will be asked to give the organization a score from 1 to 100. A score of 90-100 is superior; 80-89 excellent; 70-79 good; 60-69 fair; below 60 poor.
All the scores are added together then divided by the number of panelists, in order to get an average. This is the final panel score. At this point, all final panel scores go through a "normalization" process. Because each panel will have its own range of scores low to high, the panels are compared against each other (mathematically) and scores are adjusted up or down so that the mean score of each panel is normalized. The final normalized score is used by a statistician to calculate the grant amount for those organizations who receive awards. Appeals Process: Applicants are notified by email regarding the outcome of their application. No amount of money is identified at this point, just whether or not a proposal has been recommended for funding. At this point, unsuccessful applicants have an opportunity to appeal the decision. Panel comments are shared so that they can address specific issues that pulled their score down. An Appeals Committee of the Board of Directors reviews all the appeals in a face to face meeting and makes the final decision. Award Ceremony: Once the appeals process is complete, the scores are put into a funding formula to generate the amount of each grant. An Award Ceremony is held in the spring, with the goal of connecting members of City Council in honoring the recipients.