Mass Cultural Council logo

Lowell Folk Festival
Home / Communities / Local Cultural Council Program / LCC Toolkit / Beyond Grants / Establishing a Regional Cultural Council

Beyond Grants

Establish a Regional Cultural Council

Cities and towns may also join forces in the establishment of regional councils. A regional cultural council shall be eligible to receive a total allocation equal to the combined individual allocations of the communities participating in the regional cultural council. If two or more towns wish to form a regional council, there must be at least one representative appointed from each community in the consortium. Regional consortia must also be approved by Mass Cultural Council (Local Cultural Councils may consult the provisions of M.G.L. c. 10, §.58).

– Local Cultural Council Program Guidelines, page 4

Reasons for Creating a Regional Cultural Council

  • Lack of volunteers – If reaching the five-member minimum or finding members to take on leadership roles has been difficult, regionalizing widens the pool of potential volunteers and creates a more sustainable rotation of experienced leaders.
  • Funds don’t match demand – Because LCC Program allocations are determined by municipality – not the geographic designation of an LCC – regional councils receive the sum of its municipalities’ allocations. This larger pot of funds extends the reach of a council’s grantmaking and eliminates duplicate granting to the same local project as separate LCCs.
  • Efficiency – For the same investment of time to carry out the operations and administration of one council, several towns can benefit. Also, regional councils can use up to 5% of their cumulative allocation for admin funds, making it possible to use the funds to hire a non-voting treasurer to handle the administrative tasks of running the grant cycle.
  • Amplified impact – Regional councils can use up to 20% of their cumulative allocation to produce Council Programs. This larger pot of funds can match the larger area being serviced and make projects with a regional impact more sustainable.
  • Enhanced visibility – A regional council – and it’s programming – has the potential to be more visible and more likely to receive funds beyond the state’s LCC allocation.
  • Ease for constituents – Local applicants can apply to fewer councils without the risk of not being funded at all.
  • Regional school district – A regional cultural council can be a logical evolution from a joint school district and can help serve students and their families from multiple communities.

Stakeholders in Regionalizing

  • Current council members – First and foremost, the two (or more) existing membership bodies should work well together with a positive view on merging.
  • Municipal Administrator/Manager/Liaison – The city/town employee in charge of facilitating the work of the cultural council needs to help parse the details of the merge (e.g. which municipality will process the funds) and assist in preparing the materials necessary to get a resolution to regionalize passed by the Select Board/City Council/Mayor.
  • Appointing authority – The city/town council or select board must pass a resolution or MOU authorizing the regionalized council, its new by-laws and processes and the membership from their municipality. See a sample resolution.
  • Mass Cultural Council staff contact – Your Program Officer needs to liaise between your municipality and our agency to have the new council set up and ready to run before the grant cycle. Any structural changes cannot be made after the end of July that year.

Considerations Before Regionalizing

  • Membership
    • Regional councils must consist of at least five but no more than 22 citizens appointed by the top appointing official(s) in each community.
    • Regional cultural councils should consist of an equal number of members from each city/town within the consortium OR they may consist of a proportional membership consistent with the population of each municipality. However, there MUST be at least one representative appointed from each community in the consortium.
  • Funds Processing
    • One town must agree to serve as the fiscal agent for the regional body, although this function may rotate periodically among towns. If this fiscal agent changes, or will change in the future, the body needs to let Mass Cultural know before the allocation contracts are generated.
    • The fiscal agent municipality will be responsible for allocation contracting, financial reporting, and award processing.
  • By-Laws
    • There are often concerns about one town “taking over” and all of the focus being on that town. To help assuage these concerns, regional councils should have clear council information, local guidelines, local priorities and any membership requirements.
    • These measures can and should detail requirements like where applicants and members can live, where funded projects can take place, and any other specifics necessary to give the council guidance, as well as the fiscal agent agreement and any member ratio requirements.

Existing Regional Cultural Councils

  1. Acton-Boxborough Cultural Council
  2. Alford-Egremont Cultural Council
  3. Charlemont-Hawley Cultural Council
  4. Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire
    • Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Hancock, Lanesborough, Monroe, New Ashford, North Adams, Savoy, Williamstown
  5. Hamilton-Wenham Cultural Council
  6. Hardwick-New Braintree Cultural Council
  7. Hinsdale-Peru Cultural Council
  8. Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council
    • Aquinnah, Chilmark, Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, West Tisbury
  9. Mid-Cape Regional Cultural Council
    • Barnstable, Yarmouth

Download a (very general) list of regional school districts in Massachusetts. Please use this list to get an idea of potential councils with which to explore regionalization and contact your Program Officer to get the process started.

 

 

 

< Working with Youth                                   Back to LCC Toolkit Home >


Back to Top