Southbridge Cultural Council
Our mission is to support diversified programs in the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences for the cultural benefit and well being of the citizens of Southbridge, first and foremost.
Contact
Ted Bartlett
margbart@yahoo.com
508-764-7909
Address
Southbridge Town Hall
41 Elm Street
Southbridge, MA 01550-2645
Application Information
FY23 Allocation
$23,700
FY23 Local Priorities
The Southbridge Cultural Council priorities for new applications include (with no order of importance) the following categories: Southbridge applicants (individuals), artists, performers, private non-profit organizations, schools, library or other non-profit public agencies, religious groups, and applicants from other parts of the state are all considered with the same criteria restrictions of MCC and that of the Southbridge Cultural Council for compliance. New applicants, art forms or humanities programs that are under-represented in the community and any new applicants with new projects interested in promoting cultural diversity in the community (Southbridge) are all considered. All applicants must read, understand and follow MCC and SCC criteria requirements BEFORE completing the online application.
FY23 Local Guidelines
LOCATION and VENUE: The activity must take place in Southbridge. The venue and date must be confirmed BEFORE submission of the online application to Boston MA. In all instances, a change of venue date of the grant event requires a written job modification letter MAILED to the Southbridge Cultural Council for prior approval before the event takes place. The required address for this is the letterhead of the grant acceptance letter of January 2023. No emails are accepted since this request is date and time stamped when received at the Southbridge Town Hall.
Marketing and Promotion: The event must be promoted according to the criteria requirements of MCC and SCC. Refer to the grant acceptance letter of January 2023. Refer also to the MCC Contracts/Requirements online for specifics and to the SCC criteria online as well which is different in some areas from the MCC criteria. The Southbridge Cultural Council advocates using the recognition statement in the grant acceptance letter in place of the MCC logo on flyers, news releases, program booklet and some other promo materials. While the MCC logo is useful, when used it tends to eliminate the specific community you are in with your event. It impedes the local recognition desired. ALL promoted/published materials must recognize the SCC support and MCC support as well. While social media is acceptable, news releases especially to the local newspaper once a week issue on Thursday of the Southbridge News is necessary. It should be mailed at least 2 to 3 weeks prior to the event date for best results.. (Southbridge News, Editor, P.O. Box 90, Southbridge, MA 01550}. The same time frame applies to the Southbridge Cable Access TV at 41 Elm Street, Southbridge, MA 01550 ..a good source of publicity. The individual in charge of the event’s publicity must be made aware of the MCC and SCC criteria for publicity and compliance to receive the grant funding when reimbursement is required.. Also, the grant recipient should not rely solely on the host venue for the task of publicity. The grantee is the signature for the grant and the recipient of the grant funding and not the venue who is only a facilitator.
REIMBURSEMENT: The Southbridge Cultural Council does not participate in Direct Grant Reimbursement. All events are a reimbursement form procedure after the event with all the criteria required documentation. The mailing address is the letterhead of the grant acceptance letter. All published publicity copies of news releases, social media news releases, flyers, programs paid invoices if any, etc. must be included with the request payment. Reimbursement is valid one year from the date of the grant acceptance letter. The reimbursement process may take 3 to 4 weeks before a check is issued. Failure in the submission of the required documentation may cause an additional delay for payment.
PUBLIC BENEFIT: MCC and SCC Cultural Council funds must be used to support activities that contribute to the cultural vitality of the community rather than benefiting any private individual or group as noted in the 2022 MCC Guidelines. The event must be open to the general public and must be accessible for handicapped individuals.
APPLICATION PROCEDURES: For the FY2023 grant cycle, applications open electronically (online) to MCC on September 1, 2022. Before applying all applicants must review per MCC the online MCC Contract/Requirements – Guidelines and certainly the Southbridge Cultural Council Criteria online. The deadline for the FY 2023 funding cycle (unless published otherwise) is Monday, October 17, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. with no exceptions as per the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Lastly, the Southbridge Cultural Council does not accept paper applications. For field trip applications, the standard online MCC application from is used. With discretion, the SCC funds only the student admission portion. Updated/Revised: 08/24/2022 at 11:31 p.m.
How Grant Recipients Are Paid
Reimbursement Grants
FY23 Funding List
A grant list will be published here after January 17, 2023 and once the Local Cultural Council has finalized their decisions.
