Massachusetts Cultural Facilties Fund

Frequently-Asked Questions

What is the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund?
What is the history of the Cultural Facilities Fund?
How much money is available through the Fund this year?
What kinds of grants are available through the Fund?
Who manages the Fund?
What kinds of projects will the Cultural Facilities Fund support?
Who is eligible to apply?
Is there a matching requirement?
Have review criteria been established?
When is the application deadline?
Are guidelines available?
How does the application and grant approval process work?
Who received grants in the 2007/2008 round of the Cultural Facilities Fund?
Who can I contact for more information?

What is the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund?
The Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund is a capital grant program of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Fund offers Capital Grants, Feasibility & Technical Assistance Grants, and System Replacement Plan Grants to help nonprofit cultural organizations plan for, renovate, expand, and repair their facilities, and to increase contributions from private funding sources. The Fund is a landmark investment in the infrastructure of our state's cultural resources.

What is the history of the Cultural Facilities Fund?
The Cultural Facilities Fund was passed on July 13, 2006, as one part of a far-reaching economic stimulus bill. The legislation received nearly universal, bipartisan support from the Legislature.

Passage of the legislation marked the successful completion of a campaign for cultural facilities that was spearheaded by the Boston Foundation, Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities (MAASH), and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and involved hundreds of advocates across the state.

The leaders of the campaign are profoundly grateful to the Massachusetts State Legislature for its vision and leadership in the passage of this bill.

How much money is available through the Fund this year?
A total of $6.5 million was allocated to the Cultural Facilities Fund in FY2009

What kinds of grants are available through the Fund?

Feasibility and Technical Assistance Grants: For expenses related to planning and feasibility assessment for a proposed project.

Systems Replacement Plan Grants: For a 20-year capital needs assessment of the building and its mechanical systems.

Capital Grants: For the acquisition, design, construction, repair, renovation, rehabilitation or other capital improvements or deferred maintenance ("Eligible Projects") of a cultural facility. All of the following would qualify for consideration under this description:

New construction.
Additions to an existing structure.
Renovations or repairs to an existing structure.
Any combination of the above.

Who manages the Fund?
The Fund is administered through a collaborative arrangement between MassDevelopment and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. A Governor-appointed Cultural Facilities Fund Advisory Committee advises on the operation of the Fund.

MassDevelopment has authority on all matters of Fund administration, including final approval of all grant decisions.

The Massachusetts Cultural Council is responsible for managing most aspects of the grant review process, through a contractual relationship with MassDevelopment. This includes distributing guidelines for the program, offering technical assistance to applicants, and reviewing grant applications.

The Cultural Facilities Advisory Committee is responsible for advising MassDevelopment on the management and operation of the Fund. The Committee consists of nine members, six appointed by the Governor, plus the President and CEO of MassDevelopment, and the Executive Directors of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism. The six members appointed by the Governor represent six different geographic regions of the state, as called for in the statute.

What kinds of projects will the Cultural Facilities Fund support?

Capital Grants: For the acquisition, design, construction, repair, renovation, rehabilitation or other capital improvements or deferred maintenance of an eligible cultural facility.
Feasibility and Technical Assistance Grants: For expenses related to the undertaking and completion of a planning and feasibility study for a proposed eligible project.
Systems Replacement Plan Grants: For expenses related to a third party 20-year capital needs assessment of the building and its mechanical systems of an eligible project.

Who is eligible to apply?

Nonprofit cultural organizations - 501 (c)(3) organizations that are primarily concerned with the arts, humanities, or interpretive sciences. The legislation includes but is not limited to museums, historic sites, zoos, aquariums, theaters, concert halls, exhibition spaces, classrooms, and auditoriums. Eligible facilities must be owned, leased or used by one or more nonprofit cultural organizations, and must be accessible to the public.
Municipalities that own cultural facilities - provided that the cultural facility is at least 50,000 square feet in size, and at least 50% devoted to cultural purposes.
Public or private institutions of higher education - provided that the cultural facility provides service and open access to the community and the general public beyond their educational mission, and can demonstrate financial need.

Is there a matching requirement?
Yes. The legislation calls for all grants to be matched as follows:
Grants under $1,000,000: 1-1 match
$1,000,000 to $2,499,999: 2-1 match
$2,500,000 to $3,999,999: 3-1 match
$4,000,000 to $5,000,000: 4-1 match

Remember the largest award in the 2007-8 round of funding was $675,000, therefore all grants were subject to the 1:1 match requirement

Have review criteria been established?
The legislation establishes broad review criteria:

There must be a demonstrated community need for the project.
The project must be able to demonstrate that it will benefit tourism in the local area.
There must be a demonstrated financial need for a grant or loan.
The project must be able to demonstrate local support.

Additional criteria are laid out in the guidelines for the 2008-9 grant cycle.

When is the application deadline?
The application deadline is December 18, 2008.

Are the rules and guidelines available?
Yes, they are available online now.

How does the application and grant approval process work?
The MCC administers the application and grant technical assistance process. After grant applications are received, the MCC convenes panels to review all applications. The panel makes funding recommendations to the Cultural Facilities Fund Advisory Committee. In turn, the Advisory Committee makes recommendations for approval to MassDevelopment's Board of Directors.

Who received grants in the 2007-2008 round of the Cultural Facilities Fund?
A funding list is available online.

Who can I contact for more information?
Please contact Jay Paget (x263), Program Director, for additional information.