Legal Requirements and Ohio Arts Council Rules

• Preface
• For Organizations
• For Individuals
• Employer Identification Number
• Nondiscrimination
• ADA Compliance
• Facility and Program Accessibility
• ADA Grievance Procedure
• Disclosure
• Ownership
• Technology
• Funding Restrictions
• Applications from Colleges, Universities and Government Agencies
• Multiple Applications
• Fiscal Agent Projects
• Cultural Participation Policy
• Credit and Publicity Responsibilities
• On-Site Review and Evaluation
• Grant Process for Organizations
• Appeals Policy

Preface
All applicants must read this section. It discusses what is required of applicants by law and by the rules of the Ohio Arts Council and will help you understand how to apply for funding. You must meet these requirements to enter the OAC funding process. However, because all OAC programs are competitive, meeting these requirements does not ensure your activity will be funded. Applications are scored and ranked according to how well they meet the criteria listed in these guidelines under each program area. Refer to information about the program from which you are requesting funds.

The Ohio Arts Council is governed by the R.C. Chapter 3379 and O.A.C Chapter 3379. The information contained in Guidelines 2007-2008 is for the use of the Ohio Arts Council in administering its business and for persons who wish to understand the Council’s services and programs. The information in Guidelines is not a set of rules that is intended to be, or can be, legally binding upon the Ohio Arts Council, nor does it create any rights for persons or organizations dealing with the Ohio Arts Council.

Guidelines 2007-2008 contains general statements that the Council intends to follow so far as it is practical to do so. The Ohio Arts Council makes all determinations as to what information should be in Guidelines and how the information is to be administered and used. The Ohio Arts Council may expand, abolish or suspend any part of these guidelines to advance the business of the Council.

The Ohio Arts Council Board, by the actions of its members, is the only body empowered to award or deny grants. The board retains the right to adjust, amend or cancel grant awards to ensure the proper administration of its business and purpose.

For Organizations
Organizations applying to the Ohio Arts Council must be incorporated in Ohio and/or be located in Ohio. Applicants must intend their program or project to be nonprofit. Eligibility is judged based on an applicant’s nonprofit intent. Evidence of that intent could include articles of incorporation, bylaws, schedule of regular meetings of a group’s board of directors or a checking account in the organization’s name.

Incorporation as a nonprofit entity is not required. However, if an organization has proof of nonprofit status under the Internal Revenue Code, the OAC’s requirement of nonprofit intent is satisfied. Nonprofit, tax-exempt status or governmental unit status is required only for Sustainability Program applicants.

For Individuals
The OAC’s responsibility is to preserve the art resources of Ohio and support Ohio’s individual artists. The OAC Board considers an Ohio resident someone who spends at least eight months of the year living and working in Ohio. The OAC Board retains the right to determine if Ohio is an applicant’s primary state of residence. Individual Creativity programs accept applications only from Ohio residents (the only acception to this residency policy is the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship program) and only from individuals NOT enrolled in any degree or certificate granting program..

Employer Identification Number/Social Security Number
Every tax-exempt organization must have an Employer Identification Number, even if the group does not have employees. Nonprofit organizations and groups that plan to come to the Ohio Arts Council for funding can obtain a number by picking up an SS-4 application from the nearest IRS office or calling the federal tax form warehouse (1-800/829-3676) and requesting one. Tax form information also is available at www.irs.gov. The OAC uses the EIN number to process funding when grants are awarded.

Individual artists who receive funding from the OAC need to provide their Social Security number.

The OAC is committed to privacy rights and identity theft concerns and maintains the highest security for these numbers.

Nondiscrimination
The Ohio Arts Council complies with all local, state and federal laws and regulations concerning civil and human rights. OAC programs, grants and employment practices are free of discrimination based on race, gender, color, religion, national origin, disability or age.

Applicants receiving funding from the OAC must comply with rules including, but not limited to, the following:

• All federally funded programs, services and benefits that are administered, authorized and participated in by the Ohio Arts Council, its subgrantees, delegate agencies, contractors, providers or other participants shall be operated in accordance with the nondiscriminatory requirements pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and, where applicable, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981.
• No individual shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex or religion, be excluded from participation in, be denied benefits of or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program, service or benefit advocated, authorized or provided by the State of Ohio. In addition, the Ohio Arts Council has adopted a policy of nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation for its programs, grants and employment practices.

ADA Compliance
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act states, in part, that “no otherwise qualified person with a disability … shall solely by reason of their disability be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

Persons with disabilities have the right to access OAC programs. All programs and facilities of applicants should be accessible to everyone. Listed below are some of the standards applicants must meet to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Each facility and activity must be carefully evaluated for compliance with this checklist. If your facilities do not meet any one of the standards of the ADA, you are not in compliance and may be ineligible for OAC funding.

In addition, applicants should conduct sensitivity training on accessibility for all staff and complete a self-evaluation survey.

Facility and Program Accessibility

Parking must allow one accessible space for every 25 spaces. Spaces must be marked with the international symbol of accessibility and must be closest to the accessible entrance. Route to the entrance should be clear or clearly marked.

Entrance door must be 32 inches wide to accommodate most wheelchairs and be near accessible parking. Door must be easy to open and not locked.

Restrooms should be fully accessible, with 36 inches of clear width for forward movement of a wheelchair and a 5-foot diameter clear space or a T-shaped space to make turns. Doors and faucets must have accessible handles. Grab bars must be installed in stalls. Sinks should be at least 30 inches high, with room for a wheelchair to roll under. Soap and towel dispensers should be no more than 48 inches from the floor.

Printed materials should be available in alternate formats for individuals who cannot use traditional print. The interpreting symbol should be printed on all announcements for events that are interpreted in sign language or have audio description.

Arts programming must be accessible to persons with disabilities. For example, exhibition display cases should be set up so objects may be viewed comfortably by a seated person. Touch tours may be appropriate for permanent collections. Visual and performing arts groups should provide audio descriptions for persons who are partially sighted or blind and open- or closed-captioning video displays for persons who have hearing impairments.

Gift shops should display merchandise so it is accessible to wheelchair users. If space is tight, staff must be trained to offer appropriate assistance.

Assembly areas should include integrated and dispersed seating for wheelchair users so they have a selection of locations and ticket prices. Companion seating also must be available, preferably in the accessible seating area.

Phone TTY numbers or the Ohio Relay Service number, 1-800/750-0750, should be listed in all printed materials. Public phones should be lowered for persons in wheelchairs but not placed so they are a hazard for persons with visual impairments.

Marketing and public relations strategies should include advertising of the physical accessibility of a facility, program or meeting and should be targeted to specific groups. Use the universal symbol for a wheelchair only if a facility’s accessibility includes entrance, restrooms and assembly areas. If the entrance is accessible but restrooms are not, use this text: Wheelchair Accessible Entrance—Inaccessible Restrooms. Also remember to advertise other services such as large-print programs, interpretation and audio description services.

For more information on how to make programs accessible, contact the Office of Organizational Services and Community Development at the Ohio Arts Council, 614/ 466-2613; for TTY/TDD use the Ohio Relay Service, 1-800/750-0750. A handbook regarding accessibility is available. Applicants can request a detailed analysis of the Americans with Disabilities Act with examples and other materials to help make programs accessible. In addition, copies of an accessibility survey and the National Endowment for the Arts publication The Arts and 504 and its companion piece, Program Evaluation Workbook, can be requested from the OAC or from the NEA, Nancy Hanks Center, 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20506-0001.

The Ohio Arts Council is governed by the R.C. Chapter 3379 and O.A.C. Chapter 3379. Arts organizations are strongly encouraged to include fees for interpreters, transportation, large print publications, Braille and audio description in their budgets when they apply for OAC funding. That will help make their programming accessible to persons with disabilities. Remember, if you or your organization receives a grant, you must sign an agreement that says these rules will be followed. Failure to comply will result in withholding of funds or cancellation of the grant agreement or both.

ADA Grievance Procedure
If you believe an event or facility funded by the Ohio Arts Council is inaccessible to you, you are encouraged to file a complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC), 1111 East Broad Street, 3rd Floor, Columbus, OH 43205; 1-888/278-7101.The Ohio Arts Council works with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission to resolve complaints against its grantees. The OCRC’s website, http://crc.ohio.gov/ offers additional information.

After you file a complaint, notify the Office of Organizational Services and Community Development at the Ohio Arts Council. Upon written notification from the OCRC that a complaint has been filed, the OAC will send a formal letter to the grantee that the OAC has been informed of the complaint. Once the complaint is verified, and if the organization is found to be noncompliant by the OCRC, the OAC will put a hold on any grant funds the organization may have from the OAC. Decision on any pending applications will be withheld until the organization has addressed its noncompliance issues.

Disclosure
Information solicited through the application form is crucial for policy development and planning for the State of Ohio and the federal government. Please supply the requested information. Here are two important requirements and ways the information is used:

• Collected information is shared with the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities to determine trends and establish statistical data. Section Five of the National Foundation for the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, authorized the endowments, which comply with the Privacy Act of 1974, to request information for use in application processing and in trend analysis and statistical research. The Ohio Arts Council responds to NEA requests for information.
  
  
• The Ohio Arts Council, as a grantee of the National Endowment for the Arts, ensures compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by requesting information and advice about specific constituencies. For the Ohio Arts Council, those constituencies include Black/African Americans, Appalachians, Asians, Latinos/Hispanics, Native American Indians, persons with disabilities and seniors aged 62 or older. Members of various ethnicities and cultures including, but not limited to, Black/African Americans, Appalachians, Asians, Hispanics/ Latinos, American Indian/Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders.

Ownership
The OAC does not own, collect royalties on or hold copyrights to artistic products resulting from its grants nor will it take any action on behalf of the grantee to protect the grantee’s intellectual property rights. The OAC does, however, have legal authority to reproduce and use documentation of such products for educational, promotional, official or noncommercial purposes, both electronically and in print.

Technology
As part of our Strategic Plan, the Ohio Arts Council is committed to guiding its constituents into the use of technology. Throughout the Guidelines you will see evidence of these efforts. The introduction of the OnLine Grant Applications (OLGA) system is our latest effort to streamline our programs and processes and ease the reporting burden on our applicants and grantees.

Funding Restrictions
The OAC cannot fund these types of activities:

• Applications from organizations not incorporated in Ohio and/or not located in Ohio.
• Applications to eliminate or reduce existing deficits.
• Brick and mortar activities and capital improvements, except in the Individual Excellence Awards.
• Equipment purchases exceeding $500, except in the Individual Excellence Awards.
• Hospitality expenses, such as food and beverages for openings, receptions or benefits.
• Interest expenses paid on loans or debts.
• Scholarship assistance for academic credit.
• Projects that are primarily for academic credit.
• Fundraising efforts, such as social events, benefits and entrepreneurial activities.
• United Fund drives or joint arts funding campaigns.
• Programs of public and private schools, including school districts, affiliates, colleges and universities that are not designed to involve the general public; this restriction does not affect our Arts Learning Program.
• Applications to support salaries and overhead of public and private schools, college, university and government agency staff, and faculty and operations.
• Applications for projects that primarily present political, denominational, religious, or sectarian ideas or projects that enhance the property of religious institutions.
• Arts activities that are essentially recreational or therapeutic, except when the focus of the activities is on arts-making led by professional artists and/or includes a public component.
• Applications from out-of-state organizations that do not primarily use Ohio artists or serve the Ohio public.
• Applications for arts activities that have already begun or have already occurred.
• Applications for out-of-state travel, except for professional development, conferences or workshops.
• Applications from organizations whose membership and participation policies do
  not comply with nondiscrimination laws.
  
• Applications that use as a match funds from other Ohio Arts Council programs or funds from regrant programs supported by the OAC.
• Applications from organizations that are requesting or receiving funds from other OAC programs to operate the same or a similar program in the same fiscal year.
• Applications from organizations that did not submit final reports within the time required for the preceding fiscal year.
• Applications from organizations acting as fiscal agents for individual artists.
• Requests for artists’ fees when information about the artists and samples of the artists’ work have not been included in the support materials.
• Applications for Sustainability funding from arts organizations that are receiving operating support from the legislature through a line item in the state’s budget during the same fiscal year in which the legislative operating support is available.

Applications from Colleges, Universities and Government Agencies
All applications from colleges, universities and government agencies must:

• Show how the applicant will involve the community outside the college, university or agency in planning or scheduling committees and in implementing the project.
• Show how the project will be marketed to the general community beyond college or university students, faculty and staff or the agency.
• Demonstrate a broad financial base of support and contain a cash match from other outside sources; that is, a match beyond staff time and overhead provided by the college, university or agency.

Multiple Applications
Only one Sustainability application per funding cycle will be accepted from any applicant; when seeking Sustainability, combine all programming and projects into one application. If you wish to apply for Sustainability but also are planning a one-time special project, you may submit an additional application for that activity to the appropriate program; however, you must first contact OAC staff. The OAC reserves the right to determine whether an application is for a special project or for ongoing, annual operations.

No organization with a budget lower than $1.5 million may receive more than $40,000 in a fiscal year through any combination of grants from the Sustainability and Arts Innovation Programs. This cap excludes additional funding from all other programs. Direct questions to the OAC before you submit an application.

If you submit more than one application, you may be required to submit a spreadsheet if the Ohio Arts Council staff has questions about the way expenses and income are divided among your various requests. If a spreadsheet is required, the OAC will contact you.

Fiscal Agent Projects
Unincorporated nonprofit groups and incorporated nonprofit organizations that lack administrative or fiscal capability should submit grant applications to the OAC through a fiscal agent. A fiscal agent is an incorporated, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization that provides administrative and financial services. Individual artists may not apply through a fiscal agent.

Choose an organization with a proven record of financial and administrative stability. Consult OAC staff about your fiscal agent before submitting your application. You may not submit a proposal through a fiscal agent that employs the project’s coordinators or producers or includes them on its board.

The OAC reserves the authority to determine if an application qualifies as a fiscal agent project and if the representative organization qualifies as a fiscal agent. Based on the guidelines that follow, the OAC staff will examine the application and support materials to verify that there is a legitimate fiscal agent relationship.

The project coordinator and the fiscal agent organization must sign a letter of agreement or a contract that clearly details the legal responsibilities and obligations of each party. A copy of the signed agreement is required for any fiscal agent application and must be submitted at the application deadline for the appropriate program. You may want to consult an attorney when drawing up this agreement.

It is common practice for the fiscal agent organization to charge a fee, often a percentage of the anticipated income of the project. The fiscal agent fee should be included as an expense item in the project budget on the application. You may request OAC funds for all or part of the fiscal agent fee.

If a fiscal agent project is awarded an OAC grant, the Grant Agreement is made between the OAC and the fiscal agent, not the project coordinator. The fiscal agent is responsible for all OAC paperwork and reporting, including revised budgets, missing information letters, Grant Agreements, Partial Payment Requests and Final Reports. If documents are prepared by the project coordinator, they must be reviewed and signed by the authorized official of the fiscal agent organization. Any correspondence regarding a fiscal agent-sponsored application or grant must be submitted either by the fiscal agent or jointly by the fiscal agent and the project producer or coordinator. The OAC strongly recommends that the fiscal agent maintain separate financial accounts for all projects it represents. The OAC will not act as an arbiter for disputes between the project coordinator and the fiscal agent organization. Project coordinators and organizations that are exploring a fiscal agent relationship may obtain information about the process from the OAC Office of Grants Administration and Constituent Services.

Cultural Participation Policy
Participation in the arts provides a Diversity of personal, relational and social values for individuals and communities. Ohio’s communities comprise a wealth of people from many different socioeconomic backgrounds, education levels, cultures and ethnicities. The Ohio Arts Council requires applicants to make programs, facilities and volunteer opportunities accessible to everyone in the community. Organizations must determine the most effective ways to authentically link the work they do in the arts with the values of the community.

Since 2001, the OAC has worked in partnership with the Wallace Foundation to explore the benefits of cultivating broad participation in the arts in a variety of organizations, venues and settings. The McCarthy/Jinnett Behavioral Model of Participation 1(BMP) draws directly from welltested psychological and sociological research. Previously, arts practitioners knew about participants’ attributes but not how those attributes impacted their inclination to participate. The BMP facilitates our understanding of how to increase motivation, decrease barriers and create transformative experiences that encourage participants to return and take their peers and families. Putting new methods into practice enables arts organizations to effectively build participation. Building participation helps us to increase the understanding and value of arts experiences.

The OAC recognizes that it is impossible to address the needs and concerns of all people. So applicants must be clear about which groups of community residents they are targeting for service and which participation-building strategies will be used. The diagram below is a framework for identifying barriers to Cultural Participation and designing strategies to overcome those barriers.

1(McCarthy, Kevin F. and Jinnett, Kimberly, A New Framework for Building Participation in the Arts, RAND, 2001)

• People must first perceive that there are benefits from participating for themselves, their relationships with others or something else they value: Will I understand and enjoy it? Do my peers attend and enjoy it? Will my understanding of myself or others increase? Will I be closer to my family?
• Once there is a positive inclination toward participation, practical barriers become important. To make the decision to participate, one’s perception of benefits must outweigh one’s financial, time and opportunity costs. Practical barriers include time of day, amount of time required, travel time and opportunity cost of missing another event or staying home. Barriers can be lowered by placing events in locations closer to participants, offering flexible event schedules, planning shorter events, etc.
• When people do participate, they’re more likely to return and encourage others to participate if the full range of their experience provides sufficient benefits that meet or exceed their expectation (previous perceptions).
• Reaction to the experience includes how one remembers the experience. It’s the place of lasting value. In an increasingly complex world, methods to enhance participants’ reaction to the experience are increasingly more important in reinforcing the perception of benefits by participants and their peers. Methods of expressing reactions including sharing opinions after the event and forwarding digital photos and postcards to tell others.

To increase participation—attendance, contributions, membership, etc.—artists and arts organizations must develop perceptual, practical and experiential strategies. And we must begin with specific initiatives targeted toward specific groups. Participation practices will not change overnight.

Federal reporting requirements require the OAC to collect quantitative (numbers and percentages) data on which community residents are served. However, the application forms and questions also require applicants to describe the diverse composition of people who are served by programs and their involvement in the executive, administrative and volunteer operations of the organization.

To produce a high degree of value for your organization, your community and the state, consider the following community residents when conducting planning and programming efforts:

• Members of various ethnicities and cultures including, but not limited to, Black/ African Americans, Appalachians, Asians, Hispanics/ Latinos, American Indian/ Alaskan NativesA and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders
• Persons with disabilities
• Seniors aged 62 and older
• Members of various community groups including, but not limited to, children and youth, single-parent families, homeless populations, unemployed workers, artists and teachers

How Can These Groups Be Included?
Include community residents in all areas of planning and programming of the organization. They can serve as members of special advisory committees or task forces; as contributing editors, guest curators or artists; as members of your organization’s governing body or board; or as full- or part-time staff. The work of your organization will be richer and more valuable with the inclusion of multiple perspectives.

The Ohio Arts Council is committed to the broadest possible range of participation in the arts. It has adopted this policy of cultural participation for use in evaluating grant proposals. The OAC expects to see broad interests reflected in the governing and program planning of arts organizations and a commitment by organizations to serve the widest possible range of Ohio citizens.

Further information or assistance in developing a Cultural Participation policy can be obtained by contacting the Office of Organizational Services and Community Development at the Ohio Arts Council.

Credit and Publicity Responsibilities
The Ohio Arts Council wants to help organizations inform their communities and elected officials that their work is supported with tax dollars. In 2001, the State of the Arts Report demonstrated that while 76.5% of Ohio residents believe state tax dollars should be used to support arts opportunities, only 28% of those residents realize that state tax dollars are in fact used to support the arts in Ohio. It is to the advantage of every OAC grantee to work to narrow this gap by making its constituents aware of the critical role tax dollars play in supporting the arts. Ensuring that audience members, artists, volunteers, parents, funders, sponsors and elected officials are aware of the Ohio Arts Council and its support is an important part of achieving this goal.

With this in mind, the Ohio Arts Council requires all grant recipients to credit the OAC for its support. The chief administrative officer must sign an Ohio Arts Council Grant Agreement that includes stipulations that the organization must meet all credit and publicity requirements before funds will be paid. Evidence of compliance is required as a condition for review of future grant requests. Failure to comply will result in a reduction in the evaluation score in the panel review process.

The OAC has prepared a Credit and Publicity Kit, including OAC logos, for organizations that receive funding. The kit may be downloaded at www.oac.state.oh.us/ grantsprogs/logos.asp.

Please contact the OAC Public Information Office with any questions about logo use or credit language.

On-Site Reviews and Evaluation
The OAC uses an evaluation process called Review and Assessment to analyze the needs and strengths of arts organizations, to encourage their growth and development. This process also allows the OAC to evaluate funded organizations’ accessibility, fiscal accountability and public participation. Components of Review and Assessment are part of the application and Final Report review process.

The Ohio Arts Council uses in-depth evaluations and on-site visits to review the programming and management of organizations. The OAC can recommend selfassessment tools as a way for an organization to look at its operations. On-site visits provide an outside perspective of an organization’s artistic and administrative processes and products. An in-depth evaluation is a more detailed on-site process. OAC evaluators are well-known professionals in their fields. OAC staff determine the most appropriate evaluator for each on-site visit.

In-depth evaluations are conducted every four to six years for Sustainability applicants with budgets over $1.5 million. Other applicant organizations are evaluated as necessary. Before an evaluation is scheduled, visual arts organizations with budgets over $1.5 million may supply recent accreditation or reaccreditation reports prepared by the American Association of Museum Accreditation Commission. OAC evaluators review such materials before visiting sites so they do not duplicate efforts. Evaluators give organizations opportunities to respond to OAC questions.

OAC field representatives, staff members or on-site reviewers also periodically visit organizations that apply through other programs. On-site visits give the Council Board, panelists and staff opportunities to become familiar with organizations’ artistic programming, products and facilities.

The OAC is committed to the development of arts organizations’ management and artistic resources; thus, Review and Assessment is linked to the Capacity Building Program. Capacity Building support may be suggested as a result of a Review and Assessment evaluator’s report.

Grant Process for Organizations
The Ohio Arts Council wants to establish good communications with previous grantees and new applicants, to promote better planning and improve the quality of all grant applications. The OAC strongly encourages you to read and understand each step of the application process before accessing the application materials at (INSERT OLGA LINK HERE)

Step One: Intent to Apply
Organizations should inform the OAC of their intent to apply no later than six weeks before the application deadline. This can be done through an e-mail, phone call or letter to the appropriate coordinator or during a visit to the OAC offices; please call for an appointment. Notification should identify the program and give a contact person’s name, phone numbers and a title or brief description of the project or program.

Step Two: Draft application
Applicants are strongly encouraged to complete a draft application and return it to the appropriate OAC program coordinator for review at least four weeks before the deadline. This step, when completed well in advance of the deadline, helps you produce a well-written proposal that increases your chances of successfully competing with other applicants. To submit a draft application, visit the OAC website at www.oac.state.oh.us and follow the links to the OAC’s electronic grant system, OLGA.

Program coordinators may meet with applicants, visit facilities and attend events to become familiar with each organization’s activities. Your organization also may be visited by an OAC regional representative or on-site reviewer. The draft application period is the time to schedule visits with us.

NOTE: The OAC does not underwrite the total expense of any project or organization.

Step Three: Board Approval
Before submitting the electronic application, project directors must confirm and assure their board’s permission for application submission.

Step Four: Applications
Completed application forms must be submitted via the OAC’s electronic grant system (OLGA) by the deadline dates listed on the OAC website. The Ohio Arts Council does not accept paper applications.

Support materials are a required part of the application process. They must be submitted in accordance with the directions in the last section of the application (Assurances/Support Material Checklist). Your materials must be received in the OAC offices within seven calendar days of the deadline date. If your support materials fail to arrive by the specified date, your application will be eliminated from consideration.

Within three weeks after the deadline, the Office of Grants Administration will notify each applicant regarding the date, time and location of the panel meeting. Applicants are encouraged to attend. The appropriate program coordinator will review the packet and may call the applicant for any needed clarification of the application and related materials.

Step Five: Panel Meetings—open to the public per Ohio’s Sunshine Law
Panel meetings generally are scheduled within two months after a deadline. Panelists meet to evaluate and score applications in each program area. OAC staff members compile a list of applications, ranked by score from highest to lowest, and present that list to the Council Board for final funding decisions.

Applicants that request Sustainability funds must notify the OAC immediately of any organizational change that takes place after the panel meeting at which their application is reviewed. An organization may be asked to submit a revised application, including a revised budget breakout. If an organization stops doing business or reduces its original budget by more than 50%, the panel recommendation will be canceled. A reduction in an organization’s original budget of less than 50% may result in a reduction of the funding recommendation.

Step Six: Council Board Meetings—open to the public per Ohio’s Sunshine Law
Applications in all programs are reviewed by the Council Board before funds are awarded. Applicants are informed by letter of the Council Board’s decision immediately following the Board meeting.

Step Seven: Grant Agreements
Applicants that receive a favorable recommendation enter into an agreement with the State of Ohio. Agreements cannot be altered without prior approval from the Director of Grants Administration. Grantees are required to promptly notify the Ohio Arts Council in writing of any changes in their grant activity. If grantees do not notify the OAC about changes before they file a final report, future funding might be jeopardized.

Step Eight: Partial Payments
Organizations may apply for a partial payment of 50% of the total grant. Organizations that need a partial payment must complete an online Partial Payment Request Form certifying that grant work has been done and expenses have been incurred. The OAC’s decision regarding each partial payment is final. Processing any grant payment may take up to six weeks. No partial payments will be made within two months of a grant’s ending date.

Any current grantee that has had a previous grant canceled at the initiation of OAC staff will not be approved for partial payments until the staff determines that the grantee is able to administer the necessary paperwork.

Step Nine: Final Reports
All OAC grants are reimbursements; that is, the grantee must successfully complete the project or program and submit the OAC Final Report Form for Grants Office approval before payment is made. The Final Report form can be accessed at the OAC’s website at www.oac.state.oh.us.

If we do not receive your Final Report within 30 days of of your project or program’s completion, we may cancel your grant. Requests for extensions are reviewed case by case and may be granted if a written request is submitted before the due date of the Final Report.

The Final Report Form is linked to your application and Grant Agreement. You should refer to both documents as you prepare your Final Report, or your payment may be delayed.

Former grantees who have failed to submit required and acceptable Final Report packages for any grant may not receive any other OAC funding for five years following the due date of the Final Report they failed to submit or until an acceptable Final Report is submitted, whichever occurs first. Until the former grantee meets one of those conditions, the Ohio Arts Council will accept no further applications.

Appeals Policy
An organization that disputes a review panel’s recommendation on grounds of procedural errors may request a review of that recommendation by the Council Board. Procedural errors include miscount of votes and failure of a panelist with a known conflict of interest to leave the room for the discussion and vote on the application. Appeals may not be made on the basis of an applicant’s disagreement with the panel’s assessment of the artistic quality or merit of the proposed project or program. To file an appeal, the applicant must submit a letter to the Executive Director at the OAC office within 30 days of the panel meeting stating the reasons for the request for review. Appeals will be reviewed and acted on by the Executive Committee of the Council Board after consultation with Ohio Arts Council staff. Such action will be ratified by the Council Board, whose decision is final.

Applicants’ scores will be posted to their online web account within three weeks after the panel meets. A summary of the panelists’ comments, however, will not be available until after the Council Board meets. Applicants are encouraged to attend panel meetings to hear the full discussion of their application and other applications within the same funding program. No formal announcement regarding a funding decision and/ or a grant amount will be sent to any applicant until after the Council Board meeting.

This section of Guidelines is available as a PDF for you to download and print out if you prefer to read it offline. You must also read Legal Requirements if you plan to apply for OAC funding. A PDF of the complete version of the Guidelines is available in the Introduction.
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