2 RECOMMENDATION
Revise and publish new grant guidelines that devote special attention to nurturing and developing DeSoto- based artists and arts organizations.
STRATEGIES 1. Require all applicants seeking City grant funding to participate in management and technical assistance workshops provided by the City. These may include grant writing, non-profit board development, budget planning, arts marketing and non-profit organizational management and program evaluation workshops. 2. Encourage and give priority to grant requests that feature collaborations between artists, civic organizations, other City agencies and private enterprise. 3. Incentivize programming presented in neighborhood locations by providing additional stipends for facility use, technology grants and other hard costs associated with broadening public access to the arts. 4. Devote special attention to fund requests that engage children in sequential arts learning experiences. 5. Review current grant-making process to allow for increased public participation in the grants review process. 6. Establish grant review panels composed of 50% Arts Commission members and 50% citizen reviewers. Provide orientation sessions for all panel reviewers. 7. Establish bi-annual grant deadlines (fall and spring) and provide online grant application and reporting systems. Consider consulting with regional arts resource agencies on best practices for creating an online grant application system for DeSoto. 8. Designate a percentage of annual funding available for the arts that would be restricted for citywide initiatives. 9. Require a dollar-for-dollar or in-kind match of City funds for cultural grants awarded by the City. City funding should not exceed 50% of the project budget.
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