Criteria for Funding

Abilene Cultural Affairs Council Grants Assistance Program

Promotion of Tourism

• Project promotes cultural tourism and preserves and enriches the diverse cultural resources of the community

Quality

• High artistic merit as perceived by peers, critics and the public
• Innovation and creativity in programming and artistic content
• Vision and leadership of artistic staff
• Activity furthers applicant's stated artistic mission
• Responsiveness to community art needs

Community Involvement

• Evidence of efforts to reach a diverse audience
• Evidence of leadership and board representation involving different social, economic, and racial groups
• Innovation in programming to reach new and special audiences, including collaborative programs with other groups
• Evidence of legitimate efforts to involve minority individuals on artistic, technical administrative, policy and audience levels

Administrative and Fiscal Responsibility

• Evidence that organization has ca continuing history of growth, stability and vision
• Evidence of leadership of administrative staff
• Evidence of organization's ability to accomplish proposed goals
• Evidence of efficiency and effectiveness of organization
• Evidence of effective board/staff interaction
• Accuracy and completeness in financial reporting

Contribution to Local Economy

• Effectiveness of marketing efforts
• Evidence of effort to secure financial support from both private and public sectors
• Diversity of funding sources, earned and unearned
• Evidence of audience growth

Distribution of Funds and Amount of Funding Available

• Evidence that artistic programming is not a duplication of other local efforts
• Evidence that the applicant's financial resources are experiencing appropriate growth in relation to Council funding

(Peer review panelists rate each application on these six criteria)