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Recap Grant Information Session

By March 8, 2019May 27th, 2024No Comments

Funding and sponsorship information session

Ausdance WA hosted a grant information session on Wednesday, 6 March with representatives from City of Perth, DLGSC (Culture and the Arts) and Creative Partnerships Australia. The night was extremely informative but unfortunately not as well attended as we hoped. The following re-cap will help cement some of the detail from the night and help inform those that could not attend. 

The representatives for the night were:

Pete Guazzelli, Investment and Development Officer, Culture and the Arts (DLGSC)
Jordan Nix, Sponsorship Support Officer, City of Perth
James Boyd, State Manager WA & SA Creative Partnerships Australia

Unfortunately Cecile Vuaillat was unable to attend the evening. If you do have enquiries about Propel Youth Arts  YCulture funding program, please contact Cecile directly: cecile@propel.org.au | (08) 9328 5855

Pete Guazzelli:

Pete is a part of the grants team for DLGSC. Together the team works on many facets of policy, infastructure and ministerial support.
The current grant programs offered by DLGSC include (but not limited to):

  • Arts U-15k
  • Arts15k-plus

Within these programs the categories are:

  • Aboriginal Arts
  • Commercial Development (think design, fashion & commercial enterprises)
  • Creative Development (‘traditional’ funding. Funding for creative development and activities that will have a strong career trajectory output. Not business as usual.
  • Sector Initiatives (Arts 15k-plus only) (See below)

Sector Initiatives is a new category for 2019 and prioritises applications that reflect WA content, contribute to WA jobs and provide WA tourism opportunities.

The U-15K program has a 25 business day turn around and is open year round. For this application the program must start at least 25 business days out from when the application is submitted but it is encourage to apply further out then that. 

The 15K-plus program has three application rounds in 2019. The next round will open on the 28th of May and close on the 27 of June. The project/activity start date must be after 1 October 2019. Each application is peer assessed against the following criteria: Quality; Reach; Good Planning; and Financial Responsibility.

In Pete’s discussion he stressed the importance of submitting an informed application. This means:

  1. Going through the Information for Applicants page: https://www.dca.wa.gov.au/funding/information-for-all-applicants/
  2. Reading the application manual that is readily available online: https://www.dca.wa.gov.au/Documents/Online_Grants/Applicant_Resources/2019_Application_Manual.pdf
  3. Reading the program guide for your grant program: U-15k https://www.dca.wa.gov.au/Documents/Online_Grants/Applicant_Resources/Arts_U15k_Grant_Program_Guide%20.pdf
    15k-plus https://www.dca.wa.gov.au/Documents/Online_Grants/Applicant_Resources/Arts_15K-Plus_Program_Guide.pdf 
  4. Then finally contacting a Grants Program Officer to discuss your application.
    Tel: (08) 6552 7400
    Email: grantsprogramsca@dlgsc.wa.gov.au 

A great tip Pete provided was to look up previously successful recipients of grants in your desired category to see what their program was like. This is a great comparison for you to see if your application is up to the required standard to receive funding.

Having a look through previously successful applications, for the last 2 years, the following dance programs/activities have been awarded funding.

Mitchell Harvey awarded $14,988 in 2018
Human Ape, Creative development 

Emma Fishwick awarded $14,339 in 2018
Dance, Quiet Riot, Creative development

Imanuel Dado awarded $14,930 in 2018
Performer/emerging choreographer career development.

Joshua Pether awarded $1,702 in 2017 – Aboriginal Arts
To present an excerpt of ‘Monster’ as a durational live performance at The Original People’s Party (TOPP) for APAM 2018.

Ochre Contemporary Dance awarded $39,990 in 2017 – Aboriginal Arts
This project builds on Indigenous dancer Michael Leslie’s highly regarded ten minute work, “2.5”, which was created in 2015. Using one hundred original steps described by words from Michael’s endangered Gamilaraay language, the work portrays a jailed Leslie using his personal dance repertoire to present his people’s history. This project allows the development of a full-length work of dance theatre, for a Perth season and international touring.

Annette Carmichael awarded $37,499 in 2017 The Beauty Index #2: Teenagers
The Beauty Index is a multi-art project that explores the power of beauty to act as an antidote to despair. This project represents Young Peoples contemplation of beauty as a potential force to provide balance in a world reacting to extremist politics.

If you have questions any questions about the above content and the grants available please contact a Grants Program Officer

Tel: (08) 6552 7400 Email: grantsprogramsca@dlgsc.wa.gov.au

 

Jordan Nix

Jordan works in the sponsorship team with the City of Perth (COP). The city offers a whole range of grants and sponsorship opportunities for business development, events, community enhancement and arts grants.

Jordan focused his discussion on the Arts grants which are either under $15,000 and between $15,001 – $40,000. In 2019, COP are trialling three rounds of grants annually instead of the previous two. This additional round is an attempt to spread events more evenly across the year. 

The upcoming grant rounds will be opened:

Arts grants round 2 > Open 14 May> Close 18 June > for programs between 1 November & 20 June

Arts grants round 3>Open 3 September> Close 8 October> for programs between 1 March 2020 & 31 October 2020

A key eligibility requirement for the COP is that project must occur within the city limits.

In 2019 two key focuses for COP is to provide artist development opportunities within the city and to activate the city with cultural activity. These focuses are derived from the larger Strategic Community Plan which can be viewed online: https://perth.azureedge.net/-/media/Project/COP/COP/COP/Documents-and-Forms/Council/Documents/Strategies/Strategic-Community-Plan-2029.pdf?la=en&modified=20180904005635

In applying to COP you can apply for the whole budget, however they do prefer a sustainably approach. They also do not require the applicant to specify exactly how the money will be used.

The City also likes applications that focus on under-utilised venues in the city. Taking the art directly to the areas that need activation.

Another grant program mentioned by Jordan was the Venue Support Grant, this provides grants to waive the venue and reserve hire fees of running a program on COP owned facilities. This activity or program could be held in community places like venues and reserves or in the Perth Town Hall. The grants will cover fees of up to $7,500 for venues and reserves and $2,500 for the Town Hall.

In reiteration to what Pete had spoken about earlier, Jordan stressed the importance of talking to someone in the sponsorship team directly about your application. Not only will they help you in informing the application process but they will also be your champion when the application is going through approval.

COP also have a wealth of resources available on their website for prospective applicants. These are available through this link: https://www.perth.wa.gov.au/live-and-work/grants-and-sponsorship

Resources to check out include:

  • 2019-20 Arts Grants and Sponsorship Guidelines
  • Event Grants and Sponsorship Program Guidelines 2019-2020
  • Venue Support Grant Guidelines

COP use SmartyGrants for the grant application process. There is a handy help guide available online for SmartyGrants:

https://applicanthelp.smartygrants.com.au/help-guide-for-applicants/

To contact the sponsorship team at the City of Perth please call the City directly and ask to be transferred through:  (08) 9461 3333

 

 James Boyd

Finally we had James Boyd from Creative Partnerships Australia to finish the evening reminding us that public funding is not the only option.

For those not familiar with Creative Partnerships Australia, their primary mission is to build the capacity of arts through engagement with the private sector.

To learn more about Creative Partnerships mission and values see their website here: https://www.creativepartnershipsaustralia.org.au/about-us/

The most valuable resource that Creative Partnerships Australia provides for artists in WA is the direct mentoring that is available from James. James is an expert in the field of philanthropy and sponsorship. He is also highly informed on the WA market from his previous role as Executive Manager of Development with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. While this may sound intimidating, James is very approachable and is passionate about mentoring artists and arts organisations to become financial sustainable.

To learn a bit more about James and to contact him about your project, see his profile https://www.creativepartnershipsaustralia.org.au/people/james-boyd/

James also articulated that private sponsorship for individual artists can be a tricky partnership to negotiate. Corporations tend to need a ‘bang for their buck’ and generally need to see a clear benefit for their donations.

For the majority of artists, the Australian Cultural Fund is an easier way to accept donations without having any ‘strings’ attached. https://australianculturalfund.org.au

ACF was established in 2003 and allows individual artists to find donors directly through crowdfunding. As an artist, you can create a profile with ACF, set a fundraising goal and establish a fundraising campaign. This is a unique opportunity for artists and organisations without charity status as it allows donors to receive tax deductions on their contributions.

Another program offered by Creative Partnerships Australia is MATCH Lab. MATCH Lab is a matched funding program for independent arts and groups. Successful participants take part in a two day, Raising Money for Your Art development and fundraising clinic. They then run a fundraising campaign and their donations get matched for up to $10,000.

This program allows artists to build their own capacity to self generate funding. Only 25 places are award nationally to participate. The 2018/2019 round is now closed however to keep updated on future programs please subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.creativepartnershipsaustralia.org.au/for-artists-and-arts-organisations/funding-programs/match/  

James also spoke about another program offered by Creative Partnerships Australia that is specific to not-for-profit arts and cultural organisations called Plus1. Plus1 is a similar matched funding program to MATCH Lab however the matched funding is to the amount of $25,000 to $50,000 depending on organisational turnover.

For more information on Plus1, check out the Creative Partnerships website here: https://www.creativepartnershipsaustralia.org.au/for-artists-and-arts-organisations/funding-programs/plus1/  

While it may seem quite daunting looking at the different funding and sponsorship options available, it is a worthwhile investment of your time to establish financial stability. As the primary dance advocacy organisation in WA, Ausdance WA is here to support you in these decisions. As a member of Ausdance WA we are able to Auspice the funding of your project and provide support and advice for your application.

Please contact us directly if you have a project you need some advice on:
wa@ausdance.org.au
9322 6101

Another option available is to utilise grant writing and consultancy business like Trellis Grants to assist you in this process.

For more information on Trellis Grants see their website here: https://www.trellisgrants.com

Ausdance WA would like to thank  Pete Guazzelli, Jordan Nix, and James Boyd for the time and effort they put in to attend this session. Ausdance would also like to thank Cecile Vuaillat for providing fantastic information packs for our attendees.

If this is an information session that you would like to see us repeat later in the year, please let us know at wa@ausdance.org.au