Registration deadline: March 3
Application deadline: April 1

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants in the Decentralization category must meet the following requirements.

Have a full-time paid executive director

Have a qualified staff person designated "DEC Coordinator"

Serve organizations and artists across the arts disciplines

Have sufficient organizational resources to provide professional outreach, technical, and developmental services

For programs in multi-county sites, have a representative advisory committee to make recommendations on program policy and priorities

Additional Evaluative Criteria

In addition to the seven Council-wide evaluative criteria, applicants in this category will be evaluated according to the following additional criteria.

Extent and effectiveness of efforts to reach and serve the full diversity of constituents in the DEC service area

Effectiveness and professionalism of communications with local artists, arts groups, and community residents

Quality and consistency of the grants management process, including guidelines development, panel process, and grants awards and auditing processes

Quality and consistency of efforts to provide technical and developmental assistance to community-based organizations and local artists

Maintenance of a current local procedures manual describing the operational details of the local DEC program

Extent of organization's commitment to provide adequate resources (beyond NYSCA) to operate an effective DEC Program

Adherence to statewide program guidelines as outlines in the DEC Procedures Manual.

The Community Cultural Regranting Plan

The regrant funds portion of the request should express your community's cultural needs as outlined in your community cultural plan. A cultural plan should describe those needs over a 2-3 year period. These needs may include ongoing support for cultural programs and activities that are customarily supported, as well as individual artist grants, organizational development opportunities, among others.

A local grants program for individual artists (i.e. creative, not interpretive, artists) must incorporate the creation of new work in a community context. Such programs should include a structured, ongoing program of technical/developmental services for artists. Your cultural plan should demonstrate a need for support of artist-initiated activity and should highlight the role of artists as important members of the community. NYSCA recommends a minimum of $2000 be awarded for an artist grant.

Applicants incorporating individual artist grants in their regranting programs must provide effective guidelines and a grants process for evaluating the work of individual artists, including a clear statement of requirements for artists' work samples.

Cultural plans may include grants to organizations to support short-term administrative/developmental needs such as staff development, audience building activities, or other specific organizational issues. Applicants must demonstrate a need for this kind of support in their service area and provide a plan to monitor grantees and assess their developmental progress as funded.

Applicants offering organizational development grants as part of their regranting programs must offer a structured, ongoing schedule of technical/developmental services for local arts organizations.  

Your cultural plan may include a need for other types of targeted grants and services. Use the examples above in structuring your request.

Decentralization Site Administration

The Council provides for Decentralization site administration funds that generally range between 15% and 25% of the total local regranted funds. The DEC site administration portion of the request details expenses incurred in administering the local DEC program, including salaries, clerical support, advertising, printing, travel, etc. as shown on the project budget form. The Council recognizes that the administrative support it can provide generally does not meet the full administrative expenses of the regrant program.

Application Instructions

The on-line application form includes the following questions, and a project budget. Required support materials are listed below

Application Narrative Questions

1. Program Overview
Describe your local Decentralization program and its relationship to your organization's mission. Include county or counties served, an outline of the goals of the program in terms of your local cultural plan. When was the cultural plan last revisited?

2. DEC Site Profile
For the most recently completed DEC cycle, detail the number of applicants and the number of funded organizations. Indicate the number of organizations of color, and organizations that serve communities of color. Also provide a list of new first-time applicants to your local program.

3. Challenges
Highlight the primary needs and challenges that arose in the cultural plan and your strategies for meeting those needs through your regranting and service components.

4. Cultural Regranting Plan Components
If your plan calls for regranting programs for other than basic arts programming, such as for individual artists, organizational development, etc., describe specific plans for promoting and monitoring those programs. If applicable, provide a representative sample of any such grants and accompanying services you provided in past.

5. Outreach
List the planned schedule of application seminars for the upcoming DEC cycle. Also, describe the outreach plans to ensure DEC program visibility and participation in all parts of the service area. Where applicable, describe how your advisory committee is involved in this work.

6. DEC Coordinator Position
Describe the duties of the DEC Coordinator and outline his/her role in the organization, covering hours, rate of pay, and any other duties or job functions that the DEC coordinator has in the organization. Describe any professional development and training opportunities provided for the coordinator.  

7. Panels
How do you select your DEC panelists? If you are making targeted grants (e.g. for individual artists), how do your panel selection process and panel meeting procedures serve the particular needs of this component? If you are a regional site, how does your panel selection process insure regional representation?

8. Technical/Developmental Assistance
Outline your technical/developmental services plan in relationship to identified cultural needs. Describe the role of DEC site staff and outside professional assistance in providing technical services. Plans may include local assessment methods, constituent meetings, information services, other re-grant program offered, and a list of development seminars/workshops offered to local groups and artists.

9. DEC Site Budget
Describe plans and resources that supplement NYSCA funds to ensure that program goals are met, noting both cash and in-kind support.

10. Program Context
Briefly describe other arts funding opportunities in your community, either administered by your organization or by other funders, in addition to the arts development funding that you offer. Describe any efforts made to coordinate these arts funding opportunities.

Support Materials (2 copies each, except where indicated)

Support materials must be postmarked or hand-delivered to the program by the application deadline. If you want support materials returned, provide a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Your local/regional cultural plan, if available

Bio/resumé of the current DEC Coordinator

Representative sample of printed materials relevant to this request

Local draft guidelines and application forms for all DEC activities

A list of panelists and their affiliations from your most recent DEC cycle

For multi-county sites: list of advisory committee members and their affiliations, plus a copy of their latest report or policy recommendations