General Support represents an investment by NYSCA in an organization's ongoing work, rather than a specific project or program. General Support seeks to reward exemplary practice in all areas of administration, finance, programming, and other organizational activities.

General Support is directed toward ongoing activities of arts and cultural organizations, arts and cultural programs operated as independent entities within their own organizations, or significant ongoing arts and cultural programming within organizations whose mission is not primarily arts based. For example, a museum, a performing arts center operated as a separate entity within a college or university, or a theatre program operating as a discrete entity within a multi-arts center.

When considering the provision and level of General Support, the Council examines the nature, scope, and quality of an organization's programs and activities, its managerial and fiscal competence, and its public service.

General Support grants will be no less than $5000 and will not exceed 25% of an organization's budget, based on the income and expense statement for the organization's most recently completed fiscal year. General Support is awarded on a multi-year basis.

New applicants are required to contact NYSCA staff well before the deadline.

Eligibility for other NYSCA support

Organizations receiving General Support from NYSCA may also apply for project support in one other program. In addition, sponsored applicants and the following categories are exempt from the two - request limit:

Architecture + Design Program - Independent Projects category

Dance Program - Long-Term Residencies category

Dance Program - Rehearsal Space category

Facilities Program - all categories

Folk Arts Program - Apprenticeships category

Individual Artists Program – all categories

Literature Program - Translation category

State and Local Partnership Program - Decentralization category

All Programs - Regrants and Partnerships category

Prerequisites

An applicant for General Support must meet the following minimum conditions:

• A primary focus in the discipline in which the organization is seeking Operating Support, or
• Significant ongoing activities that address the focus of the NYSCA program in which the organization is seeking support.
• Must have ongoing programs, exhibitions, productions or other art and cultural activities that are open to the general public.
• Organization makes evident a substantial commitment to arts and culture, with a prior record of accomplishment in producing or presenting cultural activities, or
• Organizational mission is primarily devoted to arts and culture, with a prior record of accomplishment in producing or presenting cultural activities.
• Demonstrate fiscal stability as indicated by such factors as a positive fund balance; an absence of substantial, recurring organizational deficits; a realistic and balanced organizational budget; diverse revenue sources; and strong internal controls.
• One or more qualified, salaried administrative staff.
• A viable board of directors and officers that exercises oversight and accountability for governance, operations, programming and finances.
• A dance company must demonstrate significant services or activity in New York State, which is defined as a home season of at least seven performances within the last three years.

Application Instructions

The online application form includes the questions below. Applicants are also required to submit: online Organizational Budget for the current fiscal year; Project Budget (projected Organizational Budget; please use the Budget Notes section to detail income and expense items); Events Schedule (If appropriate); Cultural Data Project Report; and support materials.

Please note that the request amount should not exceed 25% of the total Project Budget.

New applicants are required to contact NYSCA staff well before the deadline.

Application Narrative Questions

Artistic/Programmatic

1. Background
Describe the organization and how it was established, focusing on the activities for which support is requested.

2. Artistic/Cultural Vision
Articulate the organization’s artistic and/or cultural vision.

3. Program Overview
Describe programs and/or services for the coming year and how they will help the organization to realize its artistic and cultural vision. Discuss any new programs and/or initiatives that are planned for the next two years, the goals in undertaking these activities, and the expected outcomes. If appropriate, indicate the number of company dancers and the number of paid rehearsal and performance weeks in the current and request years.

4. Changes and Challenges
Describe any recent significant programmatic changes, developments, and/or challenges, indicating how any challenges will be addressed.

Managerial/Fiscal

5. Staff
Identify the key administrative and artistic staff members responsible for this program. Detail any recent significant changes in key staff positions.

6. Governance
Describe the board and/or governing body in detail, including committee structure, diversity, meeting schedule, and approach to staff and fiscal oversight.

7. Facilities
Describe the facilities used for programming and administration.

8. Organizational Development
Outline the approach to institutional and succession planning, highlighting the roles of staff and board.

9. Finances
Detail plans for meeting current and future expenses. Include sources of earned and unearned income. Explain any current and/or recurring surplus or deficits.

10. Artist and Programmatic Consultant Fees
Indicate how payment to artists and any outside consultants is determined. Please include the range of fees.

Service to the Public

11. Constituency
Describe the audiences and communities served.

12. Development and Outreach
Detail efforts being undertaken to cultivate and broaden the organization’s constituency.

13. Marketing
Describe the organization’s marketing strategies.

14. Online Resources
Describe your use of the Internet and social media.

15. Evaluation
Articulate how the organization evaluates its programs, services, and/or other organizational initiatives.

16. Community Context
Identify the other organizations in the area that provide similar arts and cultural activities, and tell us how their activities support, enhance, or differ from those of this organization. Describe any partnerships or collaborations with other organizations.

Support Materials

17. Support Materials
Please list all of the support materials being submitted. These materials are critical to the application's assessment.

Support Materials

Mandatory:

1. Resumes or biographical statements of up to 3 key staff; maximum of 1 page each.
2. Organizational Chart.
3. Up to 5 representative marketing materials (sample programs, flyers, catalogs or brochures) that reflects activity for the past year. Do not include press coverage, reviews or notices.
4. Website, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and other references. We reserve the right to review any/all of these online sources as part of your application.
5. For dance companies, submit one (1) or two (2) cued, unedited work samples totaling no more than twenty (20) minutes. Using Slideroom, upload work samples into 4 files. All samples must be labeled with name of artist/co., work titles, year of creation and event year.

Optional:

1. 10-15 slides or images
2. Up to 60 seconds of video on organization activities
3. Long range or Strategic Plan

Electronic Materials Guidelines for Submission of Support Materials

Instructions for FY13 Support Materials
The Council is now requiring electronic submission of all Support Materials, including forms, documents and work samples.

There are Exemptions to this requirement. Please see Exemptions to Electronic Support Materials below.

Remember to review Program Specific Requirements for all Support Materials indicated in each Program’s guidelines.

Support Materials can only be submitted electronically while the Council’s online Registration and Application period is open.

Requirements for Electronic Submission of Support Materials
Electronic Support Materials must be submitted online to http://nysca.slideroom.com. Remember to review Program Specific Requirements indicated in each Program’s guidelines prior to uploading. All Support Materials including forms and documents for all Program categories including General Support, Project Support, Regrants and Partnerships, can be uploaded as images, video, audio and/or PDF.

If the Support Material is in the form of a URL(s), please create a separate text document titled URL Support Materials, a description of the work sample/content and the URL (link) embedded in the text document. Include this document when uploading all your Support Materials online to http://nysca.slideroom.com.

For Time-Based Media (video and audio) the following is a general guideline to help applicants prepare content for electronic submission:

Images: 5MB maximum (jpg, png, tif file formats)
Videos: 60MB maximum (mov, mp4, wmv, flv file formats)
Audio: 30MB maximum (mp3 file format)
PDF: 10MB maximum (pdf file format)

60MB per Video clips is approximately 6 minutes
30MB per Audio clip is approximately 10 minutes
10MB per PDF is adequate for up to 10 pages of graphical content. Most text only documents are less than ½ MB.

IMPORTANT: When uploading all time-based materials (audio and video), the maximum length allowed is no more than six minutes per sound and/or video clip.

The maximum number of electronic items allowed (uploads) is no more than twenty-five (25) per proposal. For example: One PDF equals one item, one JPG equals one item and one media clip equals one item.

INSTRUCTIONS for uploading and Technical Assistance during the electronic materials submission process are available by emailing your question to support@slideroom.com Monday through Saturday, between 9am and 9pm, Central Standard Time.

Exemptions to Electronic Support Materials
The following Programs include funding categories which are exempt from the electronic materials requirement for submission of support materials. These exemptions are category specific requirements. Applicants are expected to carefully read Program Category Guidelines for specific requirements in each of the following Programs, to determine which materials must be submitted electronically in addition to hard copy materials.
Facilities Program
Individual Artists Program
Literature Program

Hard copy Support Materials should be submitted to the Council in the following formats:

• DVD (Audio, Video, or Data)
• CD (Audio, Video, or Data)
• Print Materials (books, magazines, blueprints)

Support Materials will not be returned. Do not submit your only copy or original cop(ies).

Applicants are expected to carefully review Program Specific Requirements for submission of all Support Materials to all Programs across all Program Categories.

Ensuring the Playback Quality of Your Hard Copy Support Materials

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure the availability, quality, compatibility, and playback stability of all Support Materials which are exempt from the electronic materials submission requirement

Applicants are encouraged to test and verify that their Support Materials are playable prior to submission.

All Support Materials should be able to meet basic presentation requirements for the following hardware:

• Windows XP PC
• 1.6 GHz processor
• 256 mb RAM

In addition, all Hard Copy Support Materials should be able to meet basic presentation requirements for the following software:

• For Time-based Work (Film, Moving Images, Music and Soundwork): VideoLAN VLC Media Player (click here for a complete list of compatible file formats)
• For Still Images: Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 OR XnView multimedia viewer (click here for a complete list of compatible file formats)
• For Electronic Print Materials: Microsoft Word 2003 OR Adobe Acrobat Reader (most current version)