Cultural Facilities Fund
FAQs
What is the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund?
The Cultural Facilities Fund (CFF) is a grant program that supports planning and development projects for cultural facilities in Massachusetts. It is a landmark investment in the infrastructure of our state’s cultural resources.
What kinds of grants are available through the Fund?
- Capital Grants: For the acquisition, design, construction, repair, renovation, rehabilitation, installation of fixed equipment, and other capital improvements or deferred maintenance of a cultural facility. Any combination of the above would qualify for consideration.
- Feasibility and Technical Assistance Grants: For planning and feasibility assessment for a facility project.
- Systems Replacement Plan Grants (SRP): A 20-year capital needs assessment conducted by a preselected contractor hired by the Cultural Facilities Fund to assess the facility’s structure and its mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and life-safety systems. Organizations must own the facility to be eligible.
Who is eligible to apply?
- 501(c)3 cultural organizations that are primarily concerned with the arts, humanities, or interpretive sciences. This 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. However, if such building, structure, or site is 125 years old or older, and is significant in the history, archeology, architecture, or culture of the nation, the Commonwealth, or the community in which it is located, it may be of any size.
- 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.
How do you define arts, sciences, and humanities?
As it relates to this program, Mass Cultural Council uses the following definitions:
The arts are the creation and performance of visual, media, folk, craft, music, literary, theatre and interdisciplinary arts. They also include the presentation and preservation of, and education about, works in these disciplines.
The sciences are limited to the cultural, interpretive, and educational expression of science and refers to types of learning that deal with nature, science, and technology in ways that explain how they relate to people’s lives. Some organizations that conduct this type of activity include aquariums, botanical gardens, environmental-nature centers, natural history museums, planetariums, and science centers.
The humanities are types of learning that deal with human values and aspirations, human thought and culture, language, and creativity. Examples include, but are not limited to, history, social studies, philosophy, criticism, and literature.
What are the grant ranges?
- Capital Grants – up to $200,000
- Feasibility & Technical Assistance Grants – up to $35,000
- Systems Replacement Plan Grants – starting from $8,000 (depending on the size of the facility)
When is the application deadline?
The FY25 application is due on December 19, 2024 at 11:59pm (ET).
Is there a matching requirement?
Yes, there is a 1:1 cash match requirement for all CFF grants. “In kind” donations are not eligible for the match. The cash match must be raised before accessing the grant.
What is the review criteria?
The statute of the Cultural Facilities Fund established five threshold review criteria for all its grant categories:
- Project must be an “eligible project.”
- 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.*
* “Community need” and “local support” should be addressed in terms of your cultural organization and/or programming.
**Tourism is defined as: “a person traveling 50 miles or more one way to a destination or who stays overnight”.
View additional review criteria for each grant category:
How does the application and grant approval process work?
Mass Cultural Council administers the application and provides guidance to applicants. After the application deadline, Mass Cultural Council 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.
Can I apply for more than one grant at a time?
Applicants can only apply for one grant at a time, with the exception of:
- A Feasibility & Technical Assistance grant for the purpose of reducing carbon emissions, which can be applied for with any other grant.
- Systems Replacement Plan grants, which can be applied for with any other grant.
Can I apply to the Fund if I have already received a Cultural Facilities Fund grant?
Capital grant recipients must observe a two-year wait period before applying again, and Feasibility & Technical Assistance (FTA) grantees must observe a one-year wait period before reapplying for an FTA grant. There is no wait period for an FTA grant recipient to apply for a Capital grant.
Organizations that have previously been awarded Cultural Facilities Fund grants in any grant category can apply to the Fund so long as the applicant: 1) complies with the wait policy and 2) the prior grant has been fully-disbursed or declined and according to a schedule and conditions in our guidelines.
When will the grant awards be announced?
In general, announcements typically come about four months after the application deadline.
Who has previously received grants through the Cultural Facilities Fund?
A project list is available online.
Who can I contact for more information?
Please contact Jay Paget or Miranda Cook.
