The Major Cultural Institution (MCI) category provides operating support to well-established arts organizations chartered in Tennessee that represent the highest level of quality programming and administration.
Donor Name: Tennessee Arts Commission
State: Tennessee
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/09/2023
Size of the Grant: $150,000
Grant Duration: 11 months 15 days
Details:
Funding will depend upon an organization’s application rating from the review process, circumstances that could affect services provided to the community and the total amount of funds available to the Commission for grant allocation. This category is competitive.
Organizations are required to have sustained 3 consecutive years of annual operating revenue in excess of $1 million. Organizations eligible to apply for Major Cultural Institution funds must maintain this operating revenue annually or forfeit inclusion in this category. Organizations will not be permitted to request re-entry (through a Letter of Intent) until they have sustained 3 consecutive years of annual operating revenue in excess of $1 million.
Organizations may request 10 percent of their total annual cash operating expenses in their most recently completed fiscal year at the time they submit their application up to, but not exceeding the maximum grant of $150,000. The total annual cash operating expenses, verified by an audit submitted by the applicant, will be determined by the sum total of:
- Salaries, Benefits & Taxes,
- Professional Fee, Grant & Award,
- Supplies, Telephone Postage & Shipping, Occupancy, Equipment Rental & Maintenance, Printing & Publications,
- Travel, Conferences & Meetings, and
- Other Non-Personnel
In determining a request, the following operating expenses are not allowed: capital expenses, endowment funds expenses, penalties payments, in-kind expenses, bank penalties, or furniture and fixture expenditures. Other expenses may be deemed unallowable by the Commission.
Funding Requests
10% of the organization’s total annual cash operating expenses not to exceed $150,000. This grant requires a dollar-for-dollar match.
For Operations Occurring
FY2024: July 1, 2023-June 15, 2024
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicant must be either a single-entity organization responsible for its own programming and primarily dedicated to one art discipline, or an arts council which serves a broad population and interacts with local arts organizations. (Arts festivals, arts centers and presenting organizations are not eligible for this grant category.) Year-round public activity and arts programming that significantly impacts Tennesseans and their communities must be evident.
- Applicant must have existed as an arts organization or arts council in Tennessee for a minimum of six (6) years prior to the date of application and have received a minimum of three (3) consecutive years of Commission funding in the Partnership Support Grant category.
- An organization is eligible to apply for funding if the organization is legally chartered in Tennessee and has its headquarters and home season, or activities equivalent to a home season for non-producing organizations, in Tennessee, and meets either of the following qualifications: active IRS 501(c)3 status or public arts council that serves a broad population and interacts with local arts organizations. A significant amount of year-round public activity and programming must be evident that significantly impacts Tennesseans and their communities. Organization must have a board approved long-range plan covering at least the current and next fiscal years.
- The existence of professional management, which is defined as employing a full-time paid administrative or artistic director, must be evident. Additionally, a commitment to compensating (in salaries, wages, fees, and/or benefits) the administrative, artistic, and technical/production personnel whose services contribute directly to the organization must be evident.
- The organization must demonstrate ongoing fiscal responsibility through an audit conducted externally by a certified public accountant (CPA) for its most recently completed fiscal year at the time of application. Organizations in this category should use an accrual accounting system. Note: failure to submit a single entity audit of the most recently completed fiscal year will jeopardize eligibility and funding.
- Organizations must have a board approved long-range plan covering at least the current and next fiscal years.
- Unique Entity ID (UEI): All applicants are required to have a Unique Entity ID.
For more information, visit Major Cultural Institution (MCI) Grant.
