General Operating Support Grants

Si prefiere leer esta página en español por favor haga clic aquí. Se puede responder a la solicitud en español. Un miembro del personal de la Oficina de Artes y Cultura traducirá sus respuestas para que sean revisadas.

For this application in other languages please contact the Office of Arts + Culture Grants Manager Sarah Harrison at harrisons@bouldercolorado.gov.

Our approach to operating funding is derived from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, and is here modified to suit the circumstances of the Community Cultural Plan:

• Operating grants maintain the autonomy of grantees, allowing them to allocate the dollars to their most pressing needs.
• Operating grants tend to be more predictable over time, which helps organizations maintain continuity of services to their communities.
• Because Operating grants are flexible, grantees can use the funds in more opportunistic or entrepreneurial ways than project-restricted funds often allow.
• Operating grants come with stringent accountability and management requirements that incentivize and perpetuate good business practices among arts organizations.
• Because the grantee—not the grant maker—ultimately defines the activities for which operating grants are used, this funding mechanism can reduce "mission drift" among grantees and can help to curtail the proliferation of programs designed solely to appeal to funders.

Operating grants strengthen the non-profit arts infrastructure and deepen working relationships between funders and core grantees.

Total funds: $297,000

Awards: In 2025 there will be four levels of GOS grants, based on the size of the organization’s budget:

• Extra Large Orgs (1M or more) with grants of $55K each
• Large Orgs (250k - 999k) with grants of $22K each
• Mid-sized Orgs (100k - 249k) with grants of $11K each
• Small Orgs (99k or less) with grants of $8.8K each.

The number of General Operating Support Grants in each category will vary depending on the number of applicants in order to ensure that levels of competition are similar in each category. Review the fund structure here.

Details

• Your annual revenue according to your 2024 income statement and balance will determine your award category.
• Reporting once a year, the organizations will be responsible for providing the Boulder Arts Commission with necessary information to track progress on their stated evaluation.

General Operating Support Grants

• Wednesday, February 12 at 11:59 p.m. – Deadline for applications
• February 12 to 19 – Review by staff for eligibility and revision by applicants if necessary
• February 19 to March 5 – Preliminary review and score by panel (15 days)
• March 5 to 12 – Score processing by staff
• March 12 – Preliminary scores and comments sent to applicants via email
• March 12 to March 19 – Applicants prepare and send written responses to the panel’s questions. The written response should be emailed to Sarah Harrison at culturegrants@bouldercolorado.gov by Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at 11:59pm.
• March 19 to 21 – Response processing by staff
• March 21 – Responses sent to panel.
• March 26 (est.) – Panel meeting to discuss applications
• March 26 to April 9 – Final review and score by panel (15 days)
• April 9 to 18 – Processing of final scores
• April 18 – Final scores published in the Arts Commission meeting packet
• April 23 – Arts Commission meeting. Discussion and final decisions on grants

• General eligibility. Meets all general eligibility requirements.
• Budget thresholds – In 2025 there will be four categories:
  • Extra Large Orgs (1M or more)
  • Large Orgs (250k - 999k
  • Mid Orgs (100k - 249k)
  • Small Orgs (99k or less).
    

The number of General Operating Support (GOS) Grants will vary depending on the number of applicants in order to ensure that levels of competition are similar in each category

• Service area and programming. Must be able to demonstrate that a majority of the organization’s programming takes place in the City of Boulder and that the programming meets the criteria described in the Chapter 14-1-2 of the City of Boulder Revised Code. The organization must also demonstrate that they are headquartered in Boulder. For the determination of programming or organizational headquarters location, the term “Boulder” is defined in the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan. For additional information on the planning area and Comprehensive Plan visit this link. As a shorthand, office staff use addresses with the zip code starting with 803— to determine if it is in the acceptable area.
• Emerging organizations with revenues under $250,000 that have not yet achieved not-for-profit status or community-oriented businesses may also apply for this grant. These organizations must be able to demonstrate the following:
  • The organization has community-oriented mission and goals, services, and
    programming.
  • The organization is currently active and has conducted programming consistently for at least two years.
  • The organization has oversight from a board, advisory committee, or other stewardship group. That group must include community representation.
  • In lieu of Non-Profit Verification, the applicant is encouraged to provide a copy of their form CR0100 (Colorado Business Registration) and documentation of the above criteria. This can take the form of strategic or business plans, year-end reports, media clippings, letters of support, or other documents.

If an organization is applying with a fiscal sponsor, the sponsor must receive the grant award payment.

Consistent Management. The organization must have consistent management with no planned or expected changes to leadership during the term of the funding. It is recommended, but not required, that organizations maintain a succession plan in their human resources policies in order to demonstrate fulfilment of this requirement.

Log onto the Boulder Arts Commission online grant portal to preview and apply. If you have not logged on before, make a profile. Applications must be submitted using our online grant applications.

• Deliberation. Applications are reviewed by the Boulder Arts Commission grants panel. Final funding decisions are made at public Boulder Arts Commission meetings. See schedule.
• Evaluation of applications. Funding in previous years does not imply continued support. Each application is reviewed anew in the context of current policies and applications. Applicants that have received repeated funding should be aware that the Boulder Arts Commission looks for indication of growth and a fresh approach to their work.
• Evaluation criteria.
  • Capacity Building (Maximum 8 points)
  • Community Priorities (Maximum 8 points)
  • Proposed outcomes and evaluation strategy (Maximum 8 points)
  • Cultural Equity (Maximum 8 points)
  • Encouragement Points (Maximum 4 points)
• The complete scoring system and rubric for General Operating Support Grants can be found here.

Written Appeals Process. The deadline for a written appeal is 14 days after funding decisions has been made by the Boulder Arts Commission. Find more information about the appeals process.

Grant report forms are on the Boulder Arts Commission grants software. Log in with the same user name and password utilized to submit the application. After logging in, go to the ‘Dashboard’, then you’ll see a ‘Follow Up’ section for the grant. On the far right is the ‘Edit’ button. That will take you to complete the final report.

After you submit the report you’ll receive email confirmation and copy of the report via the email that you have included in the report. Contact Sarah Harrison at harrisons@bouldercolorado.gov or 303-441-3907 if you do not receive email confirmation.