LIGHTLY EDITED FILE FY22 Flexible Support Grant Information Webinar July 9th, 2021 Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Remote 9:45 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. (CDT) * * * * * DISCLAIMER This text is being provided in a lightly edited draft format and is the work product of the CART captioner. Any reproduction, publication, or other use of this CART file without the express written consent of the captioner is strictly prohibited. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility, and this lightly edited CART file may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings, nor should it be considered in any way as a certified document. Due to the live nature of the event, some names and/or terms may be misspelled. This text may also contain phonetic attempts at sounds and words that were spoken, and environmental sounds that occurred during the event. * * * * * CART PROVIDED BY Kristi L. Arntzen, RPR, CRC PARADIGM REPORTING & CAPTIONING, a Veritext Company 612.339.0545Captioning-paradigm@veritext.com CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT >> Scott Artley: Hi, everyone. This is Scott Artley from MRAC. Just letting you know that we'll be getting started soon. We're still figuring out -- we're just checking to make sure that everything is working with the interpreter, which it looks like it is, so thank you, Ryan. And we will also be checking to make sure that the captions are working. So hold tight. We will be starting soon. >> Scott Artley: All right, hi, again. This is Scott Artley with MRAC. I just wanted to give a couple notes before we get started, which we'll actually be starting soon. If we could ask you to keep your microphone muted for the entirety of the presentation unless you're asked to unmute, that would be great. You can also turn off your video if you have a choppy connection. Today's panel -- or panel orientation, my slide show's already wrong. Today's workshop is going to be records and shared online for your reference. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT And then you can also turn on and off live captioning. We actually have live captioning, using the CC button at the bottom of the screen. My colleague, Masami, is also here to assist with anything that you might need throughout. Feel free to use the chat to connect with us that way. And we'll get started very soon. [ background noise ] >> Scott Artley: All right, hi, again. This is Scott with MRAC. I'm gonna get us started. It is 10:02. Wouldn't be the arts if we actually started on time. Or at least I'm not a good stage manager, so we wouldn't start on time. But we'll get going. We got a lot to cover today. So welcome to the Flexible Support program grant information webinar from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. My name is Scott Artley and I'm going to be leading the workshop today. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT I am the accessibility program director for MRAC and I use he/him pronouns. My colleague Masami is also joining us today and she's gonna be dropping a link to the PDF download of the slides from today's presentation if you'd like to follow along there. The PDF has been built with accessibility principles in mind including alt-text for images. I will also be describing any visual elements allowed for this presentation as well. For example, this slide contains the MRAC logo the which says "Metro Regional Arts Council" in orange and gray lowercase font. A little bit of housekeeping to get us started. And we already said a little bit of this, but just for folks who are trickling in, please keep your microphone muted for the entirety of the presentation unless you are asked to unmute. Turn off your video if you have a choppy connection. Might improve the connection. The panel orientation which is actually our webinar is going to be recorded and shared online for your reference. And then you can turn off live automated CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT captioning, which again, is actually live captioning, with the CC button at the bottom of the screen. Our interpreter Ryan is spotlighted right now. If for whatever reason, you're having trouble connecting with Ryan, you might try pinning that video. And try to connect with Masami if you'd like additional assistance. And, again, we have live captioning available, which I'm gonna turn off, personally. Because it's hard seeing my own words. But let's get started. And if you need anything along the way, please connect with Masami. You can either put it into the chat for everyone or connect with Masami directly through direct message. That works as well. So let's talk about some virtual meeting norms. So first, as we go through the presentation, we prefer that you use the chat feature to ask any questions that come up. So my colleague Masami will be keeping tabs on the chat as I present and we'll be taking pauses CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT throughout the presentation to answer questions that have been asked in the chat. So we ask that you focus on asking questions that may be relevant for others in this group right now. If you have questions that are specific to your situation, those are fair questions, but please plan to connect with a program director at a later date. And it'd be extra helpful if you could make your question something we could back on. So using the slide title is a really helpful way to do that. So writing something like that, "On the Virtual Meeting Norm slide, can you explain what you meant when you said Masami would be keeping tabs on the chat?" We're also gonna -- so we'll be pausing along the way. And then also feel free to use the "Rename" feature if you'd like to add pronouns to your name. So here's our agenda for today. We'll start talking about MRAC in general, and then about the application process in general, we CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT have an overview of the Flexible Support including its purpose. Then we'll be talking about the application content. Then submitted applications and receiving awards. And finally have a space for additional questions. So, again, feel free to write in the chat questions along the way and we'll answer them as best we can. I am going to turn off my video. But I'm still here. So feel free to continue chatting with me along the way. So I wanted to kick off with an introduction to the MRAC staff. Of course I'm having computer problems already. I will also start recording. If we've got that. There we go. All right, so you might have gotten a pop-up that says this is being recorded. So I want to kick everything off by talking -- introducing the MRAC staff. This slide has small head shots of each staff member, which is a collection of four women and CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT one man. From a variety of racial backgrounds and all smiling faces in front of a pail yellow brick wall. The program directors are on that first row which includes Masami Kawazato, Jovan Rebollar, and me, Scott Artley. The second row has the rest of the team, which is executive director Kathy Mouacheupao and director of administration Becky Franklin. We'll also soon have two more staff members you may hear from even more people going forward. I'd like to give a quick overview of the state arts funding system and how MRAC fits into it. So thanks to the taxpayers of Minnesota, like you, who generate funding, the Minnesota legislature decides how funds for the arts are available through what's called the appropriation, which is the usual budgeting process. And then a special fund as part of the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy amendment, the logo for that amendment is on the left of this slide. The legacy amendment was an amendment to the state constitution passed by voters of Minnesota in 2008 that was increase -- that increased sales tax by CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT 3/8th of 1% for 25 years. And about 20% of that legacy fund goes to the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. That money then goes to the Minnesota state arts board. Their logo is on the right which is a state agency, which distributes arts funding. From there, the Minnesota State Arts Board, uses about 70% of those available state dollars for their own funding programs and services. You may be eligible for opportunities at the Minnesota State Arts Board, so be sure to check for opportunities there as well. And then that remaining 30% of available state arts dollars grows to the 11 regional arts councils. It's a system of 11 regional arts councils, each in charge of a region of Minnesota. MRAC is one of those regional arts councils and in our previous year, MRAC distributed about $4.3 million. This is a map on the left of Minnesota split up into those 11 geographic regions, each for a regional arts council. Highlighted on the right is region 11 with the CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT counties of Carver, Hennepin, Anoka, Ramsey, Washington, and Dakota and Scott counties with areas Minneapolis and St. Paul also delineated within those. I'd like to also acknowledge that this region serves as the traditional ancestral and contemporary lands of Dakota and Ojibwe people. The MRAC region makes up about half the population of the state and we receive about 40% of that funding from the Minnesota State Arts Board to distribute among the regional arts councils. The mission of the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council is to improve arts access for communities in the seven-county metropolitan area through support to artists and organizations. We're actually a separate non-profit organization ourselves, meaning we're not a state agency like the Minnesota State Arts Board. So despite the fact that our funding comes from mostly state sources, we are a separate non-profit. Because of this funding, however, coming from public sources, it's vital that all of these arts projects we fund serve communities at the center of what we do. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Here are the grant programs for groups that are available for -- from MRAC. This fiscal year. So first is the Flexible Support Grant which we're gonna be talking about today. It's grants of up to $15,000 to support projects and programs led by groups and organizations creating access to the arts. Second is the Arts Impact for Groups Grant. So this is up to $10,000 available to BIPOC, disability, and/or LGBTQIA2+-led groups for projects and programs creating access to the arts. We also have two grant programs for individuals. The first is the Next Step Fund, this is funded by the McKnight Foundation, so not public state dollars. This is private dollars from the McKnight Foundation up to $5,000 for the growth and stability of individual artists. And then our other new program for individuals this year is called Arts Impact for Individuals, up to $5,000 for projects led by BIPOC, disabled, and/or LGBTQIA2+ individuals to create access to the arts for communities. We'll have lots more information about these other CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT programs coming up soon. But as Flexible Support is our first one of the year, we wanted to get you all of this information as soon as we could. So with that, this is where we're gonna take our first pause for questions. On the right side of the slide, there's a large white question mark in a black circle which means I'll take questions about the MRAC staff, state arts funding system, MRAC's region or mission and MRAC's grant programs. If you have any questions, Masami, feel free to let me know what's in the chat. >> Masami Kawazato: Hi, Scott. So far, we do not have any questions in the chat. >> Scott Artley: All right, and we will have plenty of opportunities to answer questions throughout this, so if something from this first section occurs to you, feel free to ask those questions at anywhere in the process and I'm happy to track back as needed. >> Masami Kawazato: And the second I said that, there are of course now two questions in the chat but I believe they relate to information that you will be presenting upcoming. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Would you like for me to say these out loud right now? >> Scott Artley: I think that if you know that we've got it coming, let's just hold off on them for now. If those questions are not answered, please put them back in the chat toward the end of the presentation, just to make sure that we catch them. So I'm gonna move us along then if we don't have any new questions. All right, I'm gonna move us along then. So like I said, we got a lot of stuff to chat through today so I want to make sure we make space for everything. So first, I wanted to let you know if you have any need to contact someone during the application, we ask you to reach out based on the type of assistance that you need. So for questions about the general MRAC grantmaking process and technical assistance, like trouble logging into your account, please reach out to our general lines, which is the email mrac@mrac.org or (651)645-0402. Hey, when are we supposed to find out when we got CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT the grant? That would be a great place to start your inquiry. Quick questions about eligibility and application process, I ask you to connect with the program director who's the contact for each program. Or each round of the program. So I am the contact for round one of the Flexible Support program, which means I'm the first point of contact for the first round if there are quick questions. That said, we're all working together on programs, so as you go through the application process, you might be hearing from anyone on the staff. What is a brief or quick application question? If it's something that will probably be answered in an email under two sentences, that would be a great brief question. If it's something that's gonna require something a little bit more, then we ask you to think about requesting assistance for extended assistance which would involve a phone call or Zoom. So we get lots of questions. So we ask you to use this application assistance meeting request form. On our website to help us make sure that we reach CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT everyone in the order that they inquire with us. So you can go to the mrac.org/grants/Flexible-Support web page. Under the very last section, "Help With Your Application," there is a link to the Application Assistance Meeting Request Form. So please fill that out. It'll ask for just some quick contact information and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Again, you might hear from anybody on staff. We do get lots and lots of questions throughout, but we're really seriously happy to help. My favorite part of this process is working with applicants, not doing all of the boring spreadsheet work. So we want to help you. But to help us help you, please do your best to read the guidelines thoroughly before reaching out with questions and really figure out what is the best way to reach out. Brief questions, extended assistance, technical assistance. Next I will chat through the application process. In general. So sort of zooming out to the overview of the CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT application process. On this slide is a simple flow chart showing the application process as green arrows moving from one step to the next. First we start out with the applicant and MRAC, so MRAC staff helping you with your applications. Then the deadline hits, at the application deadline. And then staff check in applications, which means we begin reviewing eligibility of applications. Then a group of peer panelists will review applications and individually score proposals. Panels are trained on the grant guidelines and provided with a guide to help them rate each application on the grant criteria. We previously held panels in person. Because of the pandemic, we switched to doing online-only reviews. Which are not panels. In the same sense that we had. Now we have people look at each application on their own, fill out a form through the grant interface, and everyone scores everything individually. So there is no meeting involved in the panel CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT process anymore. We're continuing to do that process for this year at least. And in the future, we may move back to an in-person or likely a hybrid model. But for now, we're still doing these individual processes. Then after panel reviews, grant funds will be allocated, based on panel rankings and available funds. And we do aim to fund as many applications as possible. We're not holding back funds until we get better applications. We're really trying to give away as much money as possible. And then after that, the MRAC staff submits application rankings to the MRAC board of directors, who ultimately are the ones who make the final decision on the funding. So that's the application process overall. On this slide, labeled "Application Accessibility," there's the international disability symbol, a person using a wheelchair. We ask that all applicants apply online unless a CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT disability prevents them from doing so. And we encourage you to contact us to begin a conversation about how to make sure you have an equal opportunity to apply. Guidelines are available online for screen reader software and translation programs. And we can also provide those in other formats if those work better for you. Solutions we have previously implemented for alternative applications include filling out an adapted form in Microsoft Word, providing verbal responses that MRAC staff will share via audio recording or transcribe, and really just encourage you to begin a conversation about how we can help, and you can contact the program director designated for each round. On this slide, labeled "Before Applying - Resource" on the right is a screenshot of the grant resources page on the MRAC website, with a green arrow pointing to the "Resources" Tab. On this page, we do have things like templates to apply. So a Word version of all of the questions in the application. You can type in there directly before you upload CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT it or before you input it onto the grant interface itself. Also technical how-tos for the grant interface. Links to sites to find demographic information about your region and a glossary of terms. A big resource before applying is program director, so folks like me and Masami. Program directors are available to assist with your application. If you have a brief question, reach out to the contact listed. Remember, you might hear back from anybody. And then if you have that more extensive question, fill out the support form. We do take meetings for those extended support meetings. And in a meeting with us, we'll do some initial refining and framing of ideas with you. And we'll review the application materials for eligibility and completeness. But unfortunately we're not able to help with reviewing content beyond eligibility. I won't tell you, the phrasing of that seems off. I'm not quite sure exactly what you're saying here. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT But if you would submit this application as is, would it go to the panel, is the sort of thing we're looking at. Not after they've already written it. So I have a few important disclaimers as we continue along with this presentation. This important disclaimer number one with the slide including a big red exclamation point with a red circle around it indicating how important this first important disclaimer is, which is that everything discussed today is in the guidelines. But we do not have time to recount everything that is in the guidelines during this webinar because it would take us hours. So please read the guidelines. It's really important. Do your best. Read the guidelines. That said, we know those guidelines are long and complicated. And it is our job as program directors to be experts in those guidelines and we really are happy to help. So ask us questions, but please do your best to read the guidelines ahead of time. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Next important disclaimer, that red exclamation point with a circle around it, is to forget what you knew about MRAC. So by this we mean that many applicants who have been coming to MRAC for many years just need a refresher on what's new every year. And parts of the Flexible Support program might look familiar to those of you returning. But there are important changes to what we offer and the rules related to our funding opportunities. So to do your best in this program this year, please come to this program with fresh eyes. Don't assume anything based on what happened in the past. So we say that even if you're a veteran MRAC applicant, we are here to help you navigate. So even if you've been coming for a long time, there might be things that have changed and it's important for you to come to it with fresh eyes. So here's the timeline for round one of Flexible Support. In that first column, the MRAC fiscal year, which is July 1st, 2021, to June 30th, 2022. So that's our FY '22 fiscal year, July to June. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT In round one of Flexible Support, the application deadline is Monday, August 9th at 11:59 p.m. That is a hard deadline. The award notification dates so when you will hear out whether you got it or not, is November 17th, 2021. And then the eligible funding period, so that the time in which you are eligible to be spending that money, is November 17th, 2021, so the date that you are notified, through June 30th, 2023. We'll talk a little bit more about eligible funding period in a moment. Just want to get that in front of you right now. For round two, the fiscal year, the MRAC fiscal year Flexible Support round two, the application deadline is Monday, March 14th, at 11:59 p.m. The award notification date is June 22nd, 2022. And then the eligible funding period is June 22nd, 2022, so the information date, until June 30th, 2023. So the period in which you will complete your project. As the deadline hits, we'll begin reviewing all the applications for eligibility. So on this slide, labeled "Eligibility," staff CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT will review for eligibility. That is our role as staff. We do not make decisions on funding. We review for eligibility and help folks apply. Please review those guidelines carefully. I already said it, I know. I will say it multiple times because it is really important. Staff may deem parts of your application or even the entire application ineligible because of one of those rules in the guidelines being broken. We hate to do it, but we do have to do it. Also, please make sure that you pay attention to your email. Through this entire process. We may contact you at any point after the deadline, seeking necessary information to ensure your application is eligible. So it's important to keep an eye on it regularly. The applicant email will be the only way that we reach out to you during this time. We will give you a quick deadline if we need something. We might say, we need it from you in the next three days, and it's important to respond in a CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT timely manner. No response could mean that your application becomes ineligible. You lose out on an award and that's heart breaking for you and for us. In all cases, geographic eligibility is the name of the game for a regional arts council. So your group must have its primary address located in Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, or Washington County. On the left is that map of MRAC's geographic region. So let's talk now about eligible groups. So the first is arts groups and organizes. These are federally tax-exempt 501(c)(3), so federally registered 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organizations with annual operating expenses of $400,000 or less. Next, second, is cultural groups and organizations. So these are federally tax-exempt 501(c)(3) culturally specific non-profit organizations that provide arts and non-arts programming with annual arts programming expenses of $400,000 or less. So arts and non-arts programming with arts CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT programming of $400,000 or less. Next is fiscally sponsored groups with arts projects. So these are groups that have annual operating expenses of $400,000 or less, at least three people in leadership, and have an eligible fiscal sponsor at the time of application. A fiscal sponsor is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that receives grant monies and manages the financial aspects of the project on behalf of the group that does not have their own tax-exempt status. Fiscal sponsors must be registered are the IRS as a federally tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit, with a Minnesota address, and have an active registration with the Minnesota secretary of state as a non-profit organization. Groups that are fiscally sponsored must have operating expenses of $400,000 or less, have at least three people in leadership, and have an eligible fiscal response at the time of application. Reinforce at the time of application. MRAC requires a fiscal sponsor agreement letter to confirm that your organization or group has an CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT active working relationship with the fiscal sponsor at the time of application. You'll be required to up load a letter or a relatively informal email from the fiscal sponsor. The guidelines have an outline of the specific things that must appear in that letter or email. But we also have fiscal sponsor letter templates on the resources page of our website and on the Flexible Support program passage. And I'm not sure that those are up now, but they will be up soon. So make sure you pay attention to all those things that are necessary for fiscal sponsor agreement letters. And I want to reinforce, it can be a relatively informal email. It doesn't need to be super intense. Don't let that be a barrier. Continuing eligible groups are non-arts and non-cultural non-profit organizations. These are typically social service organizations. Federally tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations with annual arts programming expenses $400,000 or less. Non-arts and non-cultural -- must be able to CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT isolate their programming expenses from their other financial activity. Also public entities are eligible. Such as a unit of state, local or tribal government with arts expenses $400,000 or less. Must also be able to isolate their expenses from other activities. And then finally, community education units, of a school district with annual arts budgets of any size. Community education units must be isolate their arts programming expenses just like everyone else. So let's talk next about ineligible groups. The following entities are ineligible. A group that is already been awarded a Flexible Support program grant in the system MRAC fiscal year. So this is not yet valid for anybody because nobody has yet been awarded a Flexible Support program grant for this MRAC fiscal year. The MRAC fiscal year runs July 2021, so this month, to -- sorry, this should say June 2022. So 12 months from July 1st that we just had. So this will apply to literally no one in the first round. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT But may apply to somebody in the second round. Basically, if you already got the grant, don't apply again. Next, you are located outside of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, or Washington Counties. Individuals are ineligible. So if you are an individual, please look at our individual arts programs. For things that you might be eligible for. Public, private, alternative, charter, transitional, or home schools are also ineligible. This includes school support organizes such as PTAs, PTOs, schools or groups or organizations providing K-12 education that meet state education requirements and post-secondary education leading to a degree or accreditation. That's what we mean by schools. And then finally organizations whose main purpose is to raise funds for another person, organization, or cause. Basically, if you don't have your own programming. So now let's talk about a bunch of slides about ineligible project activities and expenses. After we talk about this bunch of stuff, we'll be CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT taking a break, so just be ready for that. But this is some not super fun stuff. And so these slides all have big red Xs in them to reinforce all the super not fun rules that we have to enforce as we read your applications. So even though these slides aren't the most fun, I thought I'd show you some different kinds of red Xs on every slide. This is my attempt to make these slides as tolerable as possible. So I hope you enjoy. This is a pretty straightforward red X. It's made up of two equally thin and precise strokes. Two bread sticks crossing each other over a bowl of spaghetti. Those that are not legally compliant. So those not upholding laws or attempting to influence legislation, those essentially for religious, socialization, and participants or audience and those that discriminate against persons or groups. Second, those outside of Minnesota. So activities that occur outside the State of Minnesota are ineligible. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Travel expenses to or from Minnesota are ineligible, but you can engage an out-of-state artist or consultant. Just make sure that you don't include travel expenses to or from Minnesota in your budget. At all. Don't even mention them. Costs for relocating an address out of Minnesota are also ineligible. Next is the ones that are outside the eligible funding period. This red X on this slide is a bit more casual, a little cazh. Broad strokes like it's made by a paint brush. So next outside the eligible funding period. So I said I'd talk a little bit more about the eligible funding period and here it is. So the point is really important because we see the most issues in applications here. In things occurring outside the eligible funding period. And an applicant gets these wrongs, they often have their grant amount reduced or their entire application becomes ineligible. So please pay close attention to this section. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT So activities, MRAC grants cannot be used for reimbursement. All expenses included in the grant proposal must be incurred within the eligible funding period listed for each grant. And I've highlighted "Incurred" in this slide. Because incurred expenses are those that are confirmed debts and/or firm promises to pay, whether or not cash has changed hands. I'll just say that again. Incurred expenses are those that are confirmed debts and/or firm promises to say, whether or not cash has changed hands. So an example of this. Performing artist fees. Those could be or they couldn't be. They would be an incurred expense at the time a contract is signed, even if the payment happens months later. So the moment you make a firm promise to pay, that's an incurred expense. That is ineligible. We do read about those things in applications. Make sure you're very thoughtful about not making any promises to pay anyone before the eligible CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT funding period begins. So that note, this next slide has more about the eligible funding period. So the proposal start date, you enter in the application is the date on which you will begin incurring expenses for your project. So for round one, you must not -- you can start incurring expenses on or after November 17th, 2021. For round two, you must begin incurring expenses on or after June 22nd, 2022, so that proposal start date cannot be before November 17th or June 22nd, depending on what your round deadline is. The latest possible propose end date is June 30th, 2023. Everything needs to happen within those periods. Oh, and this slide, by the way, let me go back for a second. Want to make sure that we talk about these Xs because they're really important. So the red X on this slide, brings us back from that past casual into a more formal composition. It's thick with squared off ends and a severe, almost militaristic quality. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Turned on its side, it would be the logo for the Red Cross. I hope you're enjoying these verbal descriptions because I had fun writing them. This red X on this slide, is now contained in a thinner red circle. It tells us not only no, but specifically not this. So here are some less common situations for ineligible project activities that are also really important. Those that are managed by other entity other than the projects and programs are ineligible. Those designed to raise funds, regrant, or donate funds to another entity. Your project cannot be raising funds for another entity. Those substituting other state dollars. So arts education projects, please review this very, very closely in the guidelines. Please reach out to us if you have questions about whether your arts education project might be violating this particular eligibility point. It is a little confusing and we are truly happy to help. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Next, capital projects. So facilities and improvements and -- facility improvements and equipment purchases that are to leased spaces that you do not own that are not approved by the property owner. So we can't give you money to do an improvement that the property owner isn't on board with. And then finally, no capital improvements can be made to residential properties. So here's some specific ineligible budget items. But first we have another X. This one really changes it up. Instead of an X -- a red X on a white background, this is a white X on a red circular background. It's a playful inversion. White X, type writer font. A little messy. I'd approachable. This is an approachable font. So specific ineligible budget items, those that are unrealized income, which means things like scholarships or in-kind income. Purchasing of real estate property, purchase of alcoholic beverages or to pay associated costs. Development of endowments, debt reduction and CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT building cash reserves, all those are ineligible budget items. Also, art groups and organizations and fiscally sponsored groups with arts projects, you're allowed to have capital funds up to the full request amount. You may request $15,000 for capital improvements if you wish. However, cultural groups and organizations, non-arts, and non-cultural non-profit organizations, public entities, and community education units, you can only use up to 50% of the amount requests from MRAC for capital expenses. This is the -- I think I just skipped over one by accident. There we go. I have just two more slides before we take another break for questions, and then we'll take, like, a little bio break. But first the red X on this slide, made up of two thin pencil like strokes. This X is at once forceful and demure, right? So other than timeline issues, the rule I'll describe next is the most frequent point where we see issues. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT So expenses that are including in another MRAC grant are ineligible. So that includes those that are already covered by another MRAC grant that you've been awarded, or those that are already requested in another pending MRAC application. If you include a given expense in your project budget, you may not ever include this same expense in any other grant proposal you submit to MRAC. So just make sure if you ask for it -- for a given expense once from us, you may never ask for it again. We will take it out of your budget if we catch it. And then the last slide before we pause quickly for questions and take a little bio break. This slide is specific to those of you who have active MRAC grants. So if you have a previous grant from MRAC, and those of you who have pending applications, again, right now, we're at the beginning of the fiscal year, so nobody has a pending application, this will become important if you decide to apply for round two. So on this, just want to label, let's say specifically, if you have a previous, meaning CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT pre-fiscal year '21 grant from MRAC, you are eligible. This includes lots of our old grant programs, you are eligible to apply for Flexible Support. If you have an FY '21, so our previous year, Equity Response grant, you are eligible. If you have a FY-'21 Flexible Support grant, you may be eligible. Please refer to the "Already have another MRAC grant award" section of the guidelines, the Flexible Support guidelines. If your -- let's see. I'm losing my spot. If your FY-'21 Flexible Support grant project will not be complete by the dates that will be listed in the eligible funding period, you are not eligible to apply. However, you may request a project change to revise its timeline. If the project will actually be complete before the deadline originally given in your previous application. You must request and receive approval for a project change before submitting your new application. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT So please, refer to the project changes page on the website under the "Grants" tab to learn about how to make a project change in this applies to you. If you have a pending application in the FY '22 Arts Impact for Groups program, whether you received that grant or you have a pending application, you are also eligible in this program. Again, in all cases, if there are project expenses from either of these grant programs -- sorry, if there are project expenses from these other grants and applications appearing in your next Flexible Support application, they are ineligible. Do not repeat expenses from your previous or pending applications in your new one. So I'd be remiss to not describe this last X which is I think is the most beauty. It's this wood block like serif font, serif font. It reminds me of the IBM logo, but it's got this hint of old timey circus poster energy, thanks to this drop shadow. I hope you've really enjoyed taking this red X tour with me. It's been fun for me. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT All right, with that, we've got our next stop in the questions train. So any questions here? We have this white question mark on a black circle. So if you have any questions about application process, application accessibility, before applying, resources, timelines, organizational eligibility and ineligible projects an expenses. I know this is a big section. I can tell the chat's been blowing up so I'm excited to hear how much people have been enjoying by head X tour. >> Masami Kawazato: Hi, Scott, there are a number of questions as you have probably surmised. Folks that have asked the questions, please know that I'm not necessarily gonna say them aloud in chronological order that I received them and I will try to say them all. So I will start with the question, please define access to the arts. Please define "Access to the arts." >> Scott Artley: This is an excellent question and we're gonna be talking about defining your project in the next section after we take a little CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT bio break. So I'd say hold onto your question for now and if it's not clear after that, we'll goat to it again. >> Masami Kawazato: Wonderful. Three people have asked, if you be an applicant and also a fiscal sponsor? >> Scott Artley: Oh, yeah, you can, in fact. Your projects that you're a fiscally sponsor, you're not executing those projects, you're allowed to do your own as long as you are eligible. >> Masami Kawazato: Someone would like to know the definition of "Cultural organization." >> Scott Artley: Yeah, a cultural organization, and these are a little bit slippery, I know, but what our definition is, is an organization that is culturally specific, so one that has specific ties to a specific culture. And that provides both non-arts services and arts services. So for example, an organization serving a particular cultural community, say, Latinx organizations, so ones serving the Latinx population in Minnesota, they might have social services like tax preparation, daycare, and they CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT might also have arts programming. That is in addition to their social services. So cultural organizations are those. >> Masami Kawazato: All right, someone asked in the chat that, if they are an arts organization, is it okay to request the full amount of the grant for capital expenses? >> Scott Artley: Yes, that is true. If you are an arts organization, 501(c)(3) arts organization or fiscally sponsored arts organization, you are able to request the full amount for capital expenses. We know that your work, everything that you do, supports access to the arts, as creativity, and so purchasing of equipment to help you do your work better would be access to the arts, so, yes. >> Masami Kawazato: Another person would like to know, can we apply for both Flexible Support and Arts Impact for groups? >> Scott Artley: You may apply for both of those, yep. They do need to be again completely different expenses. So I would say, if you're planning on applying for both, please reach out to a program director so CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT that we can make sure that you are approaching both of these in the way that benefits you the most. But you are able to apply for both. >> Masami Kawazato: Scott, I'd like to add a little bit to that response which is that Arts Impact for Groups will have slightly different organization eligibility, so it will also depend on that as well. There are a number of budget questions which are excellent. Let me get back to them so I say them correctly. One is regarding ineligible expenses. Are you saying that if we apply for round one and are not awarded the grand, if you apply in round two, you may not include expenses from the round one grant? >> Scott Artley: That's a fair question because I will say that's -- it's a question I would probably have. If you -- if you have been denied a grant and included those expenses in your application that was denied, then you could do it again. This really only applies, don't include expenses in an application that you have already received CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT the grant for, or one for which you are still awaiting a response. So if you have a pending application or an already awarded application, that's where you wouldn't want to repeat things. But if you weren't awarded a grant and you want to try again, absolutely you can include those same requests again. >> Masami Kawazato: Another budget-related question is, are expenses to commission and original composition allowed in this grant program? >> Scott Artley: Yeah, absolutely. It's not an unusual expense. I'd say that it's one that we see pretty often. So, yeah, paying artists to do work is absolutely what this funding is for. >> Masami Kawazato: Someone has a question about, what is the documentation MRAC needs from our landlord if we are seeking capital funds to a leased space to show that it is approved? >> Scott Artley: We do not require it in the application at this point. But we may make it a requirement for you to actually receive the funding, to submit CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT something -- some documentation, some official documentation from the landlord, from the property owner, saying, yes, that this group has permission to execute this project on my property. >> Masami Kawazato: Someone would like a definition of an arts organization. They are a startup museum where one part of their programming is focused on the arts. >> Scott Artley: That's a complicated question. What is art, after all, right? I'd encourage you to reach out to a program director and chat through that a little bit more. >> Masami Kawazato: There are other questions, but I believe you will be covering those topics in later slides. >> Scott Artley: Great. And if we don't, for whatever reason, happy to chat through them later. So I'm gonna just give us a couple minutes to take a little bio break, take a stretch. If you prefer to use this time, feel free to spend a moment jotting down kind of project ideas or adding any additional questions to the chat. And we'll come back to that later. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT So let's get back together. I have 10:48 right now so let's come back in two minutes, 10:50. And we will chat more. >> Scott Artley: All right, I got 10:50, so let's get started again. Look at my notes again. All right, hope that break was good. So let's talk about the purpose of the Flexible Support program. This whole section is going to be about the purpose of the program and how to define your projects. Hopefully it gets at some of those questions that just came up. So the Flexible Support grant program provides up to $15,000 in funding to help groups create access to the arts and stay connected to audiences and community in Minnesota. So I made a little visual, which helps -- I'm a visual learner, so this helps me understand it a little bit more. On this slide there are three colored circles. Which lie next to each other. With text in each. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT All of these circles are encased in an orange rectangle. Labeled "Increasing a community's access to the arts." The blue circle says organizational capacity. The red circle says arts programming and the yellow circle says "Operations." The Flexible Support program is designed to be a flexible container for just about any project your group wants to undertake. We present these three major buckets to spark your thinking. Your group gets to define which activities it will do. And we call this your project. So for us, "Project" means a collection of activities that are described in this application. Any of the types of activities appearing in these circles independently or in some combination could be the organization's project or program. As panelists are reviewing, we ask them to be very careful to consider the projects as described on their own merits. We don't want them to favor arts programming projects because they're fun and they're more CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT obviously supporting access to the arts by providing those arts. We understand that each of these components is critical to a healthy arts ecosystem. And we're asking you to identify those activities that will help you do your work. What's also important is figuring out the project that is the right fit to make an impact on your community's access to the arts. And you should be demonstrating that you have an effective plan to get there. Serving more people doesn't automatically make it a better project. So focus on doing what you do best. Keep in mind the maximum request is $15,000. And projects that are appropriately scaled to that $15,000 grant will fare better in the program. If you have a big project, please consider what parts of that project you focus -- you choose to focus on as the, quote, unquote, "Project" of your application. I'm gonna talk about defining your project a little bit more next. So we use the word "Project" a lot. So I'm gonna repeat our definition just to make it CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT extra clear, for MRAC, the project means the collection of activities that are described in the application. So your project then could be a first-time event or activity the group has never produced before. During the eligible funding period. It could be a recurring annual or seasonal event it has produced before that occurs during the eligible funding period. It could be portions of an ongoing program that clearly fall within the eligible funding period. And it also could be an activity supporting the organizational capacity or operations of the group. So that could look like equipment purchases, management projects, or personnel expenses that clearly fall within the eligible funding period. So your project could be a combination of all these things too, like funding a dance class, paying your book keeper, and buying a new sound system. All of that would be one project, even though it sounds like three separate components. So that was a really quick section. But it is a really important one. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT So I do want to take a pause to ask if there are any questions about the purpose of the program or defining your project. And if that previous question about defining your project was answered. >> Masami Kawazato: Scott, there have been a couple more questions about budget in the chat. May I say them aloud now? >> Scott Artley: Of course. >> Masami Kawazato: One of them was, would an instrument purchase be considered a capital expense? >> Scott Artley: It -- I'm not a tax expert, but I think typically something that has a life beyond a year is typically considered a capital expense. So we say facilities improvements, equipment purchases. I think that might fall under equipment purchases. >> Masami Kawazato: I agree with you there, Scott. And I did answer this next question in the chat, but did want to say it aloud for everybody. And this question is, if you have a large project whose budget is over $15,000, can you request MRAC CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT funds to add to those granted from the city of St. Paul for an artist designed and created art project to which I've replied yes, and our guidelines now include budget scenarios and examples and one of them covers this exact instance. >> Scott Artley: Yep, and you all have Masami to thank for that, for making these amazing budgets to help make that clear. I will be talking about budgets more specifically soon. So -- >> Masami Kawazato: And another question relating to what you just covered is, are projects that include all three components, organizational capacity, arts programming, and operations, be more favorable under the grant review process by the panel? >> Scott Artley: So this is a great question. And it's one that we had as well. Like I said, we've made it very clear to panelists that they need to be thinking about all of these things as critical. And we tracked the kinds of projects that were proposed and how well they fared. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT And really what we found is there is no preference for any component or any combination of components. There are certainly ones that are more commonly requested. But they didn't fare any better or worse than any others. So I will reinforce, ask for the thing that -- define your project for the thing that will be best for your organization. What do you actually need? Because projects that don't fare as well are those that maybe don't feel like they align quite clearly with what the organization needs. Any additional questions? >> Masami Kawazato: I don't see any additional questions in the chat, but if anyone who asked these questions feel they were not clearly explained, please do feel free to unmute now, or retype in the chat, please. >> Scott Artley: I'm gonna actually move us along in the interest of time. But in your questions were not answered, then feel free to drop in the chat or reach out to us individually later. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT So application components. So this is all about the content of the application. This is probably our longest section. I will be going through this pretty quickly. With apologies to our interpreter and captioners. So just in the interest of time, I do need to go pretty quickly. But, again, if you are using either of those services, and don't feel like you got everything, just know that our interpreter and captioner are doing an amazing job. For the challenge that I'm throwing at them. And I'm happy to chat with you afterwards. So let's look at the application components. These are the ones that are seen by panel. On this slide is a green icon of a human eye. So all of the information in these sections will be made available to panelists. So this is where we want you to really focus your energy because they will be part of the review. Those components are group's purpose, the project or program name and description, the project or program, so information about that, community section, proposal budgets, and the fiscal sponsor CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT name, if applicable, so the panelists can see if they have a conflict of interest for a given application. The application components that are not seen by the panel, which is delineated with that green eye again with a big black line through it, these are things that are not seen by the panel, so they won't be part of your review. It is important to pay attention to these fields and answer them honestly. But the panelists won't know any details about what's in these fields unless you also include it in the narrative somewhere. So just know, they won't know that you're serving 5,000 students unless you put it in the narrative. So the things that are not seen by the panel. Start and end dates. The outcomes proposed. Evaluation plan. Fiscal sponsor letter or email. And then lots and lots of data for reporting. And that data including data about your organization or group and about the specific project you are proposing. Most of it, of that data is because the state CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT requires it of us. To report back to them. And some of it helps us better serve our region. So thanks for all that data can be a lot. Thanks for your attention to. Here are some application tips. You will type your application into the text boxes online. Character counts do include letters, numbers, spaces, and paragraph breaks. There's no formatting, meaning bold or italics, so make sure you're paying attention to word counts. Do not include links in narrative text fields. The application system will auto-save your work every few minutes, but some projects and programs may wish to work in another document and paste your answers in once written. We do provide templates available for download on the Flexible Support grant program page. For you to do that. So this is about the proposal narrative. So the narrative is your primary tool for panelists to learn about your group and its work. I've included the components which include group purpose, which -- sore eye is a. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Group purpose is 1500 characters maximum. The project or program name, 100 characters maximum. Project and program description, 200 characters maximum. Project or program description, 3,000 characters maximum. And then community, 3,000 characters maximum. Proposal budgets, 1,000 characters maximum each. So just noting that those sections, project or program and community, are 3,000 characters each, group purpose is 1500, that's really where you're gonna get the most information to panelists. It's important that you write as if the reader doesn't know anything about your group, your community, or your arts discipline. In general, the more specific and tangible a proposal reads, the better it does with panel ratings. So help panelists picture exactly what you will do. I'll note that the character limit is the maximum characters. You do not need to fill the entire text box if you don't need it. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT But I encourage you to make sure you have fully answered each question posed. For some groups, especially younger groups, or those with really simple projects, you may not need to use all that space and that's totally okay as long as panelists can get the information they need to make decisions. So first up is the group purpose, 1500 characters Max. Consider numbering your responses to the numbered questions. First question, what are the group's goals or intentions? And then in general, what kind of arts programming does your group plan to produce or has it produced? This section helps introduce your group to panelists who may not be familiar with what you do or your group's artistic output. Next is the project or program name and description. The name, 100 characters maximum, and in a few words, what is the name or title of your project or program. And then the description of 200 characters, so CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT again, very brief, one to two sentence summary of your project, beginning with the phrase "Funding to" or "Funding for." Next, project or program. So a big section. 3,000 characters maximum. Again, consider numbering your responses. One, describe the project for which the group seeks funding. Two, what are the goals of this project or program? Three, in what ways does this project or program align with or advance the group's goals? And four, what are the activities that will take place? Where will the activities take place? Describe the major activities or tasks that take place between the start and end date of your program or project. Next up is community, 3,000 characters. Again, consider numbering your responses. One, describe the people your project or program benefits, and how these people are aligned with the group. Two, describe the connection between this project CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT or program, and how it will benefit the people previously described in question one. And then three, who are the people working on the project or program? Describe their roles within the project or program. How are they aligned to the project or program goals? Next up is budgets for the project. So this is a picture of the financial aspects of the project especially how you plan to spend the money. Budgets are where we see the most issues. And what I am gonna present right now is an overview, but the guidance has a lot of answers. Some overall things to say about budgets. Make sure you don't include ineligible items including -- even if just don't include them. Don't ever include them. Keep in mind, budgets have to match, meaning your total expenses and total income must be the same number. Staff will be tabulating all of these sections. So double-check all of your math. And then maybe double-check it again. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT And then those sample budgets and check lists are available in the guidelines. There's a version, if MRAC is the only funding source for the project or program, and then there's a version for if it's one of multiple funding sources for the project or program. This kind of harkens back to that question about a project that is also funded by another funder. So the project budget expenses, 1,000 characters, this is where you're gonna be listing the major expenses of your project. Do not include in-kind expenses or other ineligible expenses. I'm saying this a lot because it is really important. Your project may be larger than the amount requested in this grant program and the sum of all items listed in this section will be the total project cash expenses. There are examples of eligible expenses. I'm not gonna go over these right now. But they are available in the guidelines. I will, however, encourage you to carefully reach project eligibility -- review project eligibility and ineligible projects and ineligible expense CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT sections of the guidelines, including those ineligible expenses may affect your MRAC award or your eligibility in the program. So make sure you take a look at those. Project income. List the major cash income sources with dollar amounts and short descriptions. So again, in those sample budgets there's a version if your only funding source is MRAC and then a version if you have multiple funding sources for the project. And then here's an examples of income budget pieces. I'm not gonna go over these right now. But I want to reinforce that the income budget must exactly match the expense budget. If it's not matching, there's something wrong. So that's what's in the application. I want to now talk about review criteria. So criteria are the lens through which panelists are asked to focus their review of your application. You can download the panel rating guide on the Flexible Support program page that includes information all about the review criteria. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT This may be useful tool to you as you craft the application. MRAC believes that stronger applications demonstrate a group has clear goals and effective project design and the necessary relationships to make the work meaningful to the community. Therefore, the review criteria are: Group and project goals, project design, and relationships. A highly rated application will clearly demonstrate how each criterion informs and aligns with the other two criteria. In this slide is a circle split up into three equal sections with arrows pointing in both directions between each section. The sections are listed with those criteria names, group project and goals, project design, and relationships. The panel will apply all three criteria to the application as a whole. For example, there may be information in your budget that supports the strength of the project design criteria. In your budget. On this slide is the one through five rating scale with a horizontal orange arrow indicating a CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT spectrum. Panelists will be reviewing all applications online through the grant portal. And individually score each proposal assigned to them. They will rate each criterion from one to five, where five is the top score. Criteria ratings are then combined for a total application score of 3 to 15. Scores are then averaged across panelists for a final rating. Panelists are asked to use the full scale as they rate applications, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, use all of them. We ask panelists to think about their scoring like this. At the bottom of the scale -- or sorry, at the top of the scale, a 5, the criterion is addressed with robust specificity and intention, there is clear alignment with other criteria. At the bottom of this scale, a 1, the criterion is not really addressed or is significantly misaligned with the other criteria. And then the middle, a 3, the criterion is addressed, but maybe vaguely or generically and there is an unclear or questionable alignment with CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT the other criteria. So a 2 then would be somewhere between the bottom and the middle. And then a 4 is somewhere between the middle and the top. Panelists will be required to write at least one comment about their feedback and reasoning for their ratings. We specifically direct panelists to look for the content of the application, not how eloquently the words are written. This is an important equity issue as applicants should not be scored lower because English is a learned language or because they have a reading disorder like dyslexia. You might find it helpful to find a friend or colleague review your application with the rating guide provided. As a way to think through your application. So I'm next gonna go through the rating guide. Again, this is available on the -- for download on the Flexible Support grant program page. So each of these criteria, the panelist is asked to answer this question, to what extent do you agree with the following? CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Points. So under group and project goals, 1 to 5, how much do you agree with the following? The applicant has described specific goals or intentions overall that create or contribute to the group's capacity to create access to the arts. The applicant's vision for how it produces arts activities is relevant to the interests and needs of the community it is designed to benefit. The applicant has made a compelling case for why the proposed project aligns with or advances the group's goals and intentions. Next is project design. To what extent do you agree with the following? The project details are thoroughly considered, the scope is appropriate. Activities will effectively produce the intended outcomes for the group. And finally, the project's design will create or contribute to the group's capacity to create meaningful access to the arts that is inclusive and accessible to community members marginalized because of race, disability, and other kinds of oppression. Next, relationships. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT This is our last criterion. To what extent do you agree with the following? The applicant has clearly defined a community or communities that will benefit from the project or program. Meaning, who is in this community? Who is served in or by this community? The project described is specifically designed to benefit this community, specifically designed to benefit this community. And has well defined methods of reaching the intended community members and meeting their needs. Finally, the applicant has demonstrated that people working on the project authentically reflect and are decisioned to -- positioned to serve this community. I also want to talk a bit about the leadership sections of the application. These are not shared with panelists. And therefore are not part of their review. The first field called "Leadership" asks you to list the individuals who will lead your group my first and last name separated by commas with their expertise, profession, or organizational CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT affiliation. Do not list bios in this section. So for example, Masami Kawazato, community organizer, treasurer, boom. Yes, it really is that simple. To MRAC, group leaders are defined as the people who are in positions of power. So include core decision makers of the group's overall operations. This must include all board members and executive director or equivalent positions. If applicable, include an advisory committee. Fiscally sponsored groups should not include the staff or the board members of the group's fiscal sponsor. And the next slide about leadership. Individuals named on this list must know they are part of the team when that proposal is submitted. We do need a minimum of three individuals listed as part of that team. If you list less than three people, your application will be ineligible. Then there are a series of leadership identities questions that ask you to tell us about the identities of those same people you just listed in CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT the leadership field. This information is gathered to determine eligibility for the portion of grant funds MRAC has set aside for groups whose leadership is more than 50% Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and/or people with disabilities, and/or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, two spirit. I'm so impressed with our interpreter for getting that. You may choose not to disclose this information by not answering. You would answer zero in each of those fields. This information is shared in aggregate, meaning all the applicants are added together without associated identities. This is so we can track the distribution of funds. Please reach out to us if you're struggling with this session. I also note that a portion of grant funds have also been set aside for groups whose primary address is located in Anoka, Washington, suburban Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. So all of those places outside for the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul will receive the vast CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT majority of applications. The information submitted in the leadership identities section will not be provided to panelists as part of the review of your application. All right. That was a lot of information. We have just a little bit over ten minutes left of this presentation overall. I do want to open up for questions about application content. Any of those application components, what's seen, what's not seen, reach criteria including the review scale and rating guide and anything about those leadership components. >> Masami Kawazato: Scott, there was a question about budgets, which is someone wanted to confirm that there is not a cash match for this grant program? >> Scott Artley: Correct. You do not need to bring any of your own money to this program. We just want to give you money to do what you want to do. >> Masami Kawazato: There are also a number of CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT questions about panel and panelists. So in response I shared the panelist web page that we have. So one of the questions is, who are panelists. Another one is how are panelists chosen? >> Panelists are peer evaluators so they're folks who are in the community with you. We structure application reviews to include panelists who live in those communities where the applications are coming from. So the folks who live in Minneapolis will be -- or St. Paul will be looking at applications from Minneapolis or St. Paul. Folks who live in Carver, Dakota, Washington, willer reviewing -- will be reviewing applications from that same part of the region. And they are selected based on their place within the arts community, their expertise and understanding of the arts world, it's really folks who are experts in their lived experience in the region and participation in arts and cultural activities. >> Masami Kawazato: Someone asked four questions about panel, but I believe you have answered them all. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT If that is not the case, please tell us so in the chat or unmute. And someone just asked, how is the benefit for the organization and also community weighed out? I'm not quite sure what that means. >> Scott Artley: So all of the criteria are weighted equally. So each criterion, 1 through 5, all of them, are weighted the same. So there's no heavier weight to any particular criterion. One thing to note is that the criteria are different than the application questions. That's an intentional choice that I won't get into the full thought behind right now. I'm happy to chat with you more about it later if you wish. But the main point is, the questions are set up for you to tell the story of your application and provide as much information as possible for those panelists to review, and then the panelists will be reviewing based on that rating scale. So just as you're creating your application, and crafting your narrative, I would suggest you look back and forth between the rating guide and the CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT questions that are in the application. And then get somebody else who's maybe less familiar with your work to -- to review your application according to that rating guide. >> Masami Kawazato: Someone asked for clarification, I believe, on the slide about leadership. >> Scott Artley: Let's go back there. >> Masami Kawazato: Am I understanding this question correctly? If not, please let me know. But they would like to know, you said a few words that were not on the slide. So -- such as LGBTQIA2 plus. >> Scott Artley: Yeah, what's the question there? >> Masami Kawazato: Let me find it again. I don't see where they -- you are reading from, Scott. And it was relating to identity information that was not on the screen such as LGBTQIA2. Yeah, I'm gonna ask this person to unmute if that is okay, Scott? >> Scott Artley: Sounds good. >> Hi, yeah, I was just wondering if maybe the CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT slides were frozen or something. But I specifically heard you say, along, this kind of identity thing but I wasn't seeing any of that language on the slides so I got lost as to where we were. >> Scott Artley: Got it. Yeah, so sorry about that. That's -- obviously as a member of the LGBTQIA2 plus community I know that our acronym is long. And I did not include all of the language on here. But just to repeat what I said. These leadership identities question can is about the identities about the people who are listed in that leadership question. Whether they're BIPOC, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and/or people with disabilities, and/or LGBTQIA2 plus. It's a part of the queer and trans community. >> I see. It was in regards to the leadership and those are specific questions that are asked. Thank you. >> Scott Artley: Great. Any further questions? >> Masami Kawazato: Yes, there is one that is, CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT is there a place to list bios of main artists who carry out the project? >> Scott Artley: So we do not have a specific, like, bios or personnel section. I'm just flipping through the slides here. So under the "Community" section. There is community section question number three says, who are the people working on the project or program? Describe their roles within the project or program. How are they aligned with the project or program goals? So that's really -- at this point, I think listing bios probably not your best bet. Describing the backgrounds and fit of the people that you have chosen to work on this project and why they're a good fit is gonna be a better use of that real estate than copying and pasting bios into that section. In general, we have significantly slimmed down this application. From what we've had previously. Not having uploads, not having, you know, five-page essays, we're really doing our best to CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT make it as easy as possible for everyone to apply. So not seeing a personnel section that you're maybe used to, that's understandable. And so I think what we're now asking you to do is just make those connections between the personnel that are involved and why they're involved as explicit as possible. So help the panelists understand why these folks are involved. If there's any piece of information you really wish were in there somewhere, I'll bet there's a place you can find to put it in. >> Masami Kawazato: Scott, there's an additional question about community, but given the time, and the additional slides, may I suggest that we answer some of these additional questions at the very end? >> Scott Artley: That's a great idea. I'm just gonna flip through these really quickly. So next up is a section about submitting your application and receiving the award. What happens once you submit your application? So all applications must be submitted by the 11:59 deadline. That is a hard deadline. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT And it's because we have to draw a hard deadline somewhere, not because we like to. We just have to. So we might as well make it the actual deadline. If you do not have access to a computer or Internet, please contact us well before the deadline. We're happy to work with you to find a way for you to apply. Staff technical assistance is available until 5:00 p.m. on the deadline day. If you can't log into your account after 5:00 p.m. on deadline day, that's -- it's gonna be really sad. So please make sure that all the technical stuff is ready for you to apply before 5:00 p.m. on the deadline day. And then please have an active email address that you check often. Official communications happy through that email. happen through that email. And we again may contact you at any point between the submission and final decisions. The MRAC grant interface is available on the MRAC website. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT On the right of this slide is a screenshot of the home page at MRAC.org. There are three yellow buttons, one with a green arrow with a button labeled "Manage my organizational grant." There can be multiple people or contacts in the organization. If you want any help with that, please reach out to us early. Your log-in ID is your email address, not the organization aspect name. Obviously it's a question we get pretty often. And then you can reset your password if needed and if you would like additional assistance with that, MRAC staff can help you. So let's talk about if you receive an award! On this slide there is a picture of fire works and multiple colors exploding in the sky. Very exciting. Very celebratory. We ask you if you receive an award to sign the grant agreement and upload a W-9, which is a tax form, dated within this fiscal year. So the MRAC fiscal year, July 1st, 2021, to June 30th, 2022. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT Don't pre-date it, obviously, but sign it within this MRAC fiscal year. So the grant agreement is available on the online portal. And then a check will be issued to your group, or the group's fiscal sponsor. If you're using a fiscal sponsor. That will be shipped to that address. So if you're fiscally sponsored, you will not get a check in the mail to you specifically. Your fiscal sponsor will get it. Please also make sure that you are paying attention to the required acknowledgment of the grant program. We have both use of the MRAC logo and the legacy amendment logo. If that is required. And then some language attached to that. The reason we require that acknowledgment is not because we want to be famous, but because we think it's really important that the public knows that these are state arts dollars, that are funding this project and if they want to make sure that this money continues to be around, that they need to contact their legislators and fight for it to CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT keep being available for arts funding. Finally, or not finally, second to finally, communicate project changes ahead of time. If there are any changes that happen, in your project, please contact us ahead of time. If you make significant changes before you submit your final report, we might say, ooh, you did everything that you weren't supposed to, so now you need to return the funds to us. We don't want to have that do that. And then finally submit your final report which will be due two months after the project end date that is listed in your application. The last slide here, additional questions. Which we'll take space for. I also just want to point out. The -- a couple of links here. One is to the Flexible Support page on the MRAC website. MRAC.org/flexible-support. There is that help with your application section at the bottom with the meeting request form. Really, that's gonna be your best way to get ahold of anybody. And then MRAC.org/grants, we have a new feature CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT which is the "Welcome to MRAC grants" section of our one of the things that's available there. A great introduction. If you are a first-time applicant, if you are wondering -- if you haven't been to MRAC in a while and wonder what's going on, this is a great place to start and get some context and some real tactical help on preparing your application. And then you can also find information about our other grant programs that will be coming down the line the rest of this fiscal year. With that, I want to open up for any additional questions. We're at 11:29 so I just want to respect everyone's time. If you do need to log off, remember that the recording will be available on YouTube on Monday. And then we will be opening up the help with your application request form also on Monday. >> Masami Kawazato: Scott, there's a new question in the chat, which is, do you have any suggestions about describing an audience in the community section? This person has found that challenging in the CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT past. >> Scott Artley: Yeah, I -- in broad strokes, in terms of advice for everybody, I would say initiative about your audience as part of your community, not separate from your community. So there's lots of ways to think about who your audience is. If you're not sure who your audience is, I would say maybe think differently about how you describe your community. I think it is important to have a full picture of who is involved and I think there's lots of ways to approach it. No one size fits all answers, I'm sorry. But happy to work with you if you want to reach out to us. >> Masami Kawazato: I also added in the chat that generally our advice is to be specific. So, for example, panelists often like to know approximately how many people might make up a community? Right? Because there is a difference between ten people and a hundred people and a thousand people. So -- and you want to make sure that there's CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT questions -- your answers align to the questions asked. >> Scott Artley: Great advice. Thank you, Masami. >> Masami Kawazato: I do want to acknowledge there are a handful of questions that were in the chat that I did not ask out loud because they were not necessarily related to this MRAC application process. >> Scott Artley: Okay. Well, I want to respect everyone's time. It is 11:31 now, so we are officially past our time. But thank you, everyone, for being here, making time to be here. I know that there are lots of options for you to be spending your time this morning, and I appreciate that you took the time to be here. So I wasn't just talking to my computer. Or that I was talking to my computer but also you. So thank you so much for being here. Happy to help. Please reach out to us. I am gonna stop report recording, but I will stick around for a little bit just to answer any CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT additional questions that might come up. >> Scott Artley: If there is anybody who does need the ASL interpretation, please let me know. I just want to make sure that everything went okay. And similar, if you were using the captioning and feel like you missed a bunch, I'd love to hear about it. So whether it's now or later, please reach out to me. Other than that, thank you to our interpreter and captioner, much appreciated. I know it was a lot. >> Masami Kawazato: I'm gonna say out loud now the sample -- a few questions that I did not say aloud that were in the chat but I did try to respond to them within the chat. One of them was, can we apply at both MRAC and the Minnesota State Arts Board to which I replied, yes, as long as you're eligible to apply at both places. Someone had a question about how to file the MRAC grants on their 990. I would suggest you talk to your board treasurer and/or, like, an accountant type person about CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT that. Someone wanted to know, what is the total dollar amount that we have available for round one of Flexible Support? And I just did not know the answer to that off the top of my head. I don't know -- >> Scott Artley: Masami, I'm just gonna pause you. I'm gonna excuse the captioner. Because it sounds like nobody was needing that service right now. So thank you, captioner, much appreciated. DISCLAIMER This text is being provided in a lightly edited draft format and is the work product of the CART captioner. Any reproduction, publication, or other use of this CART file without the express written consent of the captioner is strictly prohibited. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility, and this lightly edited CART file may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings, nor should it be considered in any way as a certified document. Due to the live nature of the event, some names and/or terms may CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT be misspelled. This text may also contain phonetic attempts at sounds and words that were spoken, and environmental sounds that occurred during the event. CART CAPTIONING FILE – NOT A CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPT