Cultural Facilities Fund

Application Process

Grants to support the acquisition, design, repair, rehabilitation, renovation, expansion, or construction of nonprofit cultural facilities.

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Mass Cultural Council is happy to offer alternative formats, auxiliary aids, translation, interpretation, and other services necessary so that any individual can participate in Mass Cultural Council’s programs and services. Contact staff for help. To facilitate your request in a timely manner, please contact us at least two weeks before any Mass Cultural Council event or grant deadline.

How To Apply

Program Guidelines

Eligibility Requirements

The following entities (“Cultural Organizations”) are eligible to apply for grants for cultural facilities:

• Nonprofit cultural organizations: 501(c)(3) organizations that are primarily concerned with the arts, humanities, or interpretive sciences. 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 provided. 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 that own cultural facilities: provided that the cultural facility provides service and open access to the community and the general public beyond its educational mission and can demonstrate financial need.

Note: Fiscal sponsors are not eligible.

Grant Categories

• Capital Grants: For the acquisition, design, construction, repair, renovation, rehabilitation or other capital improvements or deferred maintenance of a cultural facility. Any of the following would qualify for consideration under this description:

• • Acquisition of a cultural facility or site.
  • New construction.
  • Additions to an existing structure.
  • Renovations or repairs to an existing structure.
  • Fixed/integrated equipment.
  • Any combination of the above.
• Feasibility & Technical Assistance Grants (FTA): For the overall planning and feasibility for a proposed eligible project. Any of the following would qualify for consideration under this description:
  • Architectural & engineering plans, designs, or studies.
  • Energy efficiency/green building assessments.
  • ADA accessibility assessments.
  • Capital campaign feasibility studies.
  • Business and operations planning for opening or expanding a cultural facility.
  • Any combination of the above.
• 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.

Applicants may only apply for one grant per round, with the exception of:

• A Systems Replacement Plan Grant may be applied for in tandem with any other grant category.
• Applicants may apply for a Feasibility & Technical Assistance Grant in tandem with a Capital Grant, if the feasibility grant is for the purpose of planning for energy efficiency, green building, or the reduction of carbon emissions.

Threshold Criteria for All Grants

The statute of the Cultural Facilities Fund has established five threshold review criteria for all its grants:

1. Project must be an “eligible project”
2. There must be a demonstrated community need for the project.
3. The project must be able to demonstrate that it will benefit tourism in the local area.
4. There must be a demonstrated financial need for a grant.
5. The project must be able to demonstrate local support.

In addition to the statutory threshold criteria:

• Capital Grant applicants must either own or lease the facility.
• A College or University must demonstrate that its cultural facility provides service and open access to the community and the general public outside of the regular educational mission.
• A Municipality must demonstrate how 50% or more of its facility is for arts, humanities, or interpretive science programming.
• Systems Replacement Plan applicants must demonstrate they own the facility.

Award Ranges

Capital Grants – up to $200,000

Feasibility & Technical Assistance Grants – up to $35,000

Systems Replacement Plan Grants – range from $8,000 to $14,000 (depending on the size of the facility)

Cash Matching Requirements

All grants awarded by the Cultural Facilities Fund are subject to a 1:1 matching requirement. All matches have to be in the form of a secured cash match, or be legally obligated to the project (such as Community Preservation Act commitment of funding.) Pledges and in-kind goods or services are not eligible towards the match.

If you are awarded a grant, the entire 1:1 match has to be in hand before you can enter into a grant agreement with MassDevelopment and draw grant funds. Pledges that are not legally obligated do not fulfill the matching requirement.

Matching funds may include or be sourced from:

• Private funds donated to the grantee and designated for the project.
• Federal or municipal appropriations.
• Funds already spent on eligible project costs where the work has been done after September 1, 2024. (For Capital and Feasibility & Technical Assistance Grants only. Please note that Systems Replacement Plan grants have a contractor pre-selected by the Cultural Facilities Fund.)

The following may not be used as matching funds:

• Operating funds expended by the organization for:
  • Mortgage interest
  • Fundraising costs
  • Staff salaries
  • Other operating activities;

• Loan Proceeds;
• Selling capital assets including the deaccessioning of museum collections;
• Funds already expended on the eligible project prior to September 1, 2024; and
• Funds received from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

It is not required for applicants to have the match in hand at the time of the application. Capital Grant recipients will have up to 24 months and Feasibility and Technical Assistance and System Replacement Grant recipients will have up to 12 months from the grant approval date to raise matching funds. However, as part of the evaluation criteria, Capital Grant applicants which demonstrate ability to raise matching funds before these dates will be prioritized. Matching funds must be used for eligible project costs.

Deadlines and Requirements for Returning CFF Grantees

The FY25 application deadline is December 19, 2024 at 11:59pm (ET).

Organizations that have previously been awarded Cultural Facilities Fund grants will have the opportunity to apply to the Fund in the upcoming round so long the following schedule and conditions have been met:

• MassDevelopment (in its sole determination) must have received all invoices and accompanying final certifications requesting disbursement a minimum of 30 days before the application deadline, or by November 19, 2024.
• A two-year wait period has been observed (for Capital Grant recipients only).
• A one-year wait period has been observed before a Feasibility Grant recipient can apply for another Feasibility Grant. There is no wait period for a Feasibility Grant recipient to apply for a Capital Grant, so long as the prior grant is completed by the above schedule.

Declining a Grant

If a grantee chooses to decline their entire grant amount, the grantee shall send an affirmative renouncement of the grant, with an explanation of the circumstances surrounding the renouncement to MassDevelopment and Mass Cultural Council by the application deadline.

If a grantee chooses to decline a partial amount of a grant, the grantee shall follow the procedure and deadlines outlined above, and must also demonstrate, through a final certification and any other documentary evidence that MassDevelopment may request, that the grantee has committed a share of its matching funds to the project that is at least equivalent to the grant funds already disbursed. The reasons why a grantee declined a prior grant (in whole or in part) will be considered when evaluating that grantee as an applicant for a new grant.

Previously-funded applicants will be asked to demonstrate the distinction between the previously funded scope-of-work and the newly proposed scope-of-work. Applications that propose a project that was previously funded will not be as competitive.

An organization previously awarded a Cultural Facilities Fund grant that does not meet the above schedule and conditions may not be eligible for funding.

Application Review

Completed applications will be compiled, reviewed for statutory eligibility, and eligible applications will be forwarded to a grant review panel that will consider the entire applicant pool. The review panel will include a mix of individuals who are knowledgeable about cultural facilities development, capital fundraising, financial management, historic preservation, facilities maintenance, construction, strategic planning, and community and economic development. The review panel will assign scores to the applications based on the review criteria for all applications.

To ensure equity in the distribution of Cultural Facilities Fund grants statewide, the panel and/or staff may at times adjust award assignments on the basis of the Fund’s commitment to geographic distribution, racial equity reaching under-served and disabled communities, and having all sizes of cultural organizations represented.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

As Massachusetts becomes more diverse, the cultural sector is uniquely positioned to ensure that diversity remains our strength. To this end organizations that are awarded a Cultural Facilities Fund grant are encouraged to support persons of color and women-owned planning and construction firms. Please see the Commonwealth’s Directory of Certified Businesses to find Minority and Women Business Enterprises.

Grantees should make every attempt meet or exceed the Commonwealth’s guidance that each construction contract include at least 15.3% of hours of construction work be performed by minority workers and 6.9% by female workers.

Legal and Other Requirements

Access Policy

MassDevelopment and the Mass Cultural Council encourage applicants from all segments of the state’s communities in order to encourage diversity in the cultural life of the Commonwealth. In accordance with state law, Massachusetts cultural organizations may not discriminate in their programs or staff and board membership on the basis of race, gender, religion, creed, color, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or age.

Organizations funded under this program must make reasonable accommodations to ensure that people with disabilities have equal physical, programmatic, and communications access as defined by federal law.

The Cultural Facilities Fund retains the discretion to waive provisions of these guidelines if the project to be granted a waiver continues to meet the statutory eligibility criteria and the requested waiver is consistent with the public purposes of the Cultural Facilities Fund.

Contractor Policy

Recipients of awards from the Cultural Facilities Fund must comply with MassDevelopment’s Contractor Policy. In the Grant Agreement for the Cultural Facilities award, a recipient must agree that for costs of its project which are to be financed by MassDevelopment, it and/or its affiliates have not and will not enter into a contract with any general contractor, construction manager or other vendor listed as debarred or suspended on the debarment lists maintained by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Industrial Accidents, the Office of the Attorney General and the Federal Government (the “Debarment Lists”).

A grantee must also require that its general contractor or construction manager (if one is engaged) certify in the construction contract for MassDevelopment financed work that the general contractor or construction manager: (i) will check the Debarment Lists before directly engaging a subcontractor or other vendor and (ii) has not and will not contract directly with a subcontractor or other vendor listed on a Debarment List. The certification in the general contractor or construction manager contract shall further provide that the general contractor or construction manager understands and acknowledges that noncompliance may result in debarment from future MassDevelopment funded projects for a period of one year from the date of written notification of noncompliance.

A grantee is required to provide the name of its general contractor or construction manager (if one is engaged) to MassDevelopment at least 10 business days prior to the execution of the Grant Agreement.

The state’s Administration and Finance website provides a page with links to all of the above-noted lists.

Reporting Requirements and Grant Cancellations

All funded organizations are required to participate in a yearly economic impact survey and report issued by the Mass Cultural Council annually and due in mid-November. MassDevelopment reserves the right to withhold, reduce, or cancel grants if an organization:

• Misses deadlines for raising matching funds, entering into the grant agreement, completing economic impact survey, or submitting grant reports;
• Does not notify MassDevelopment and the Mass Cultural Council of significant changes in programs, services, anticipated sale of the building (or other disposition), or significant changes in personnel;
• Fails to comply with the terms of the Grant Agreement;
• Is unable to raise or expend the required cash match;
• Demonstrates inadequate financial management and oversight;
• Does not properly credit MassDevelopment and the Mass Cultural Council.

Conflict of Interest

To ensure that all review panels are free from conflicts of interest and the appearance of such conflicts, review panelists are required to disclose any past, current, or prospective affiliation they or their immediate family members may have with an actual or potential applicant. “Affiliation” applies to employment, board memberships, independent contractual relationships, advisory or policy relationships, substantial contributor relationships, and other financial relationships. In addition, panelists are required to disclose any past or current adversarial relationships with actual or potential applicants of a professional or personal nature.

Acknowledgment of Funding

Grant recipients are required to credit MassDevelopment and the Mass Cultural Council in all print, audio, video, and internet materials, and all publicity materials (such as press releases, brochures, posters, advertisements, and web sites). Detailed information will be provided in the contract package mailed to grantees.

Documenting Your Programs

MassDevelopment and the Mass Cultural Council may feature the work of some funded organizations in their publications and web sites. Photographs are welcome. Please send images to Mass Cultural Council, ATTN: carmen.plazas@mass.gov (Digital submissions are preferred-300 dpi resolution and approximately 4″ x 6″ print size.) For each image you submit, please include the name of your organization and a description (including identification of individuals prominent in the picture). Include photographer credits, if appropriate, and the dates the images were taken.

Proceed to Grant Category:

• Capital Grants
• Feasibility & Technical Assistance Grants
• Systems Replacement Plan Grants