The Massachusetts Cultural Data Project (CDP) is a powerful online financial management and reporting tool designed specifically for arts and cultural organizations.

Initiated by Pew Charitable Trusts in 2005, and launched in Massachusetts in 2009, the CDP provides cultural organizations with an array of tools to understand, analyze, and report on their own financial situation. It makes it easy for organizations to benchmark and compare their own information with aggregate records from other cultural organizations wherever CDP operates. It continues to help all of us in the nonprofit cultural community to make our case—to board members, potential donors, advocates, and policy-makers—to invest in our sector.

Best of all, the CDP is provided to all nonprofit cultural organizations in Massachusetts at no cost to participating organizations. The Massachusetts CDP is sponsored by a statewide partnership of public and private funders, including the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), the Barr Foundation, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, and The Boston Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Greater Worcester Community Foundation.

Massachusetts Cultural Council's CDP Requirements
Organizations seeking funding in the following programs are required to participate in the Cultural Data Project.

Cultural Investment Portfolio (CIP)
Colleagues and Partners in the MCC's Cultural Investment Portfolio are required to participate annually in the CDP. Peer organizations in the CIP are encouraged, though not required, to participate. The data CIP organizations enter is used to collect valuable information about the investment our state makes in the cultural sector. Read more about this annual requirement.

Cultural Facilities Fund (CFF)
All applicants applying for a CFF Capital Grant must enter three years of financial, programmatic and operational data into the Massachusetts Cultural Data Project's standardized online form. This information will be assessed by the CFF grant review panel – in conjunction with the planning and financial sections of the application – to determine if an organization has the financial capacity to undertake and sustain the capital project.

User Support
Participants may receive free technical and user support through the MA CDP Help Desk, free access to a team of nonprofit financial consultants (by phone and email), as well as statewide on-location orientation sessions and online training provided throughout the year.

Questions?
Contact the MA CDP Help Desk at 877-MASSCDP (877-627-7237) or help@massculturaldata.org during regular business hours, Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm.

Please note, staff at the CDP Help Desk is employed by the Cultural Data Project, not the Massachusetts Cultural Council. If you have questions about MCC's program requirements or deadlines, please contact MCC staff directly.

about us | staff | search grant programs | applications/forms | services | news privacy policy | terms & conditions of use                 © Massachusetts Cultural Council 2013