Cultural Facilities Fund

Systems Replacement Plan Grants

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

The Cultural Facilities Fund application is currently closed. Please note that the program guidelines and dates listed on this page are from the previous grant round (FY25).

We hope to announce an FY26 round of funding with updated guidelines this fall. Please check back in October for more information, or join our email list.

Además, usted también puede solicitar la traducción de los materiales de la aplicación y que estos se le sean enviados digitalmente. Este proceso tardará de 5 a 10 días hábiles.

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

 

Systems Replacement Plan Grants Guidelines

Goals of the Systems Replacement Plan Grant Program

The goal of the Systems Replacement Plan (SRP) Grant is to provide organizations with facilities a tool to prioritize their capital maintenance needs. The Systems Replacement Plan is a 20-year capital needs assessment conducted by a pre-selected contractor hired by the Cultural Facilities Fund to assess the facility’s structure, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and life-safety systems.

This tool will help managers and board members of cultural organizations get the objective information they need to address the cycles of maintenance and replacement for their facility. Organizations must own the facility to be eligible.

The SRP Grant is a matching grant starting from $8,000. Grant amounts are determined on a case by case basis using the square footage of the facility (up to 50,000 square feet). All grants require a 1:1 cash match, which supports the total cost of the Plan. Please note that SRP Grants cannot be matched with funds already spent on capital improvements or other planning exercises.

Grant Implementation

Grant recipients will enter into a contract with a third-party contractor, pre-selected by the Cultural Facilities Fund to conduct the analysis and report. Grant recipients do not need to hire the contractor for this product.

The contractor will survey the building envelope (roof, walls, and entry systems) and the mechanical systems (heating, cooling, ventilation, plumbing, and pool filtration). The survey will provide the estimated usable-life expectancy and the approximate replacement cost of your building systems. At the conclusion of the survey, organizations will receive a 20-year Systems Replacement Plan which forecasts the necessary replacement schedule of specific systems and equipment.

Review Criteria

As outlined in previous sections, the Cultural Facilities Fund statute establishes five threshold review criteria for all grants. All projects must provide evidence that they meet these statutory criteria to be considered for a Systems Replacement Plan Grant:

• The project is 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.
• The project must be able to demonstrate local support*.

* “Community need” and “local support” can 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”.

Application Instructions

Submit the online application by the final deadline of December 19, 2024 at 11:59pm (ET).

All applicants should submit their applications through the online system. To create a profile in the system you must have an email address, which will be your username.

If you have previously applied for a Mass Cultural Council grant using your email address, you may have a profile in the system already. Here’s how you can check to see if you already have a user profile:

• Go to the online system and click “Forgot Password”.
• Once you submit your email address, you will receive an email with a temporary password and a link to the site.
• Copy the password to use on the login page, you will then be prompted to create a new password.
• If you do not receive an email, you do not have an account and you should create one (see below), or you can contact the grants help desk for assistance.

If you have not applied to Mass Cultural Council before and/or do not already have a user profile, complete a registration in the grants management system.

• Go to the online system and click “Register”.
• On the next page select “Organization” to register your organization.
• Your organization may already have a record in the system. Use the Organization name field to find and select your school or organization, then provide your contact information.
• If your school or organization’s name is not listed, click the link at the top of the page to register your school or organization manually. There you will also provide your own contact information as well.
• After completing the registration, you should receive an email to activate your account. The account must be activated within 24 hours. After clicking the activation link, you will be prompted to create a new 8-digit password.

I. Eligibility Quiz

Cultural Facilities Fund applications no longer have an Intent to Apply process. The first step to beginning an application is taking the Eligibility Quiz. This will help ensure your organization is eligible to apply to this program.

If your organization is eligible, the next page will bring you to the full application.

You do not need approval from Mass Cultural Council to continue with the application. Mass Cultural Council staff will contact you if any eligibility issues are identified.

If you don’t meet the criteria in the Eligibility Quiz, the grants management system will notify you that this program isn’t a good fit.

II. Application

1. Complete the online application, including any updates or changes to the organization information in your user profile.
2. Click the “Submit” button by the deadline, 11:59pm (ET) on December 19, 2024. You will receive an email confirming the submission. If you don’t receive the automated email receipt, go back to ensure the application has been submitted successfully. Be sure to save the PDF summary of your application for your records.

Proceed to the Online Application