Special Grants

Special, unique grant opportunities occasionally may be offered for one or several grant cycles. Details about these other special grant opportunities are described in WebGrants.

There are no Special Grants for the current grant cycle.

Examples of past Special Grants Include:

• EUARCA+ - Our sister County of Kassel, in Germany, has extended an invitation for one Dane County Artist to participate in EUARCA+ as part of their Arts Exhibition, Documenta. The selected artist will receive travel, housing, art supplies and a stipend to spend 2 weeks in Germany in July. For more detail, log in to WebGrants.
• Distinctly Dane – Projects eligible for Distinctly Dane grants are distinguished by an exclusive focus upon Dane County and its local artists, presenters, and topics. For more detail, log in to WebGrants.

Special Grant Opportunity Eligibility

Eligible Applicants

• Individuals
• Nonprofit Organizations (with proof of 501(c)(3) status)
• Municipalities
• Schools and School Districts
• Non-county Government Agencies
• Qualified Designated Fiscal Receivers in Dane County for organizations without formal nonprofit status
• Fraternal organizations and faith communities whose projects/programs for which the grant is being requested do not promote religion or a particular religious doctrine
• Dane County residency required

Additional Eligibility Considerations

• Applicants may not submit more than one Special Grant Application per cycle.
• Degree-seeking students may not apply for grants that support projects/programs directly related to their academic work.
• Individuals are eligible if a proposed project/program involves no more than two primary individual presenters. In cases where there are more than two presenters, application must be submitted by an eligible organization.
• Applications will not be considered from grantees that have not fulfilled obligations to Dane Arts under terms of prior grant awards.
• Applicants must be at least 18 years in age at the time application is submitted.

Amount Requested

Each Special Grant has an upper limit grant award amount that may change from cycle to cycle. These amounts limits may change for each grant cycle and are announced in our WebGrants application system. Applications that include a grant amount request exceeding the upper limit will be ineligible for consideration and review.

Application Requirements

• Dane Arts grants only may account for up to 50% of a total project budget unless noted otherwise in Funding Opportunity description.
• The amount requested must be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Application budgets must include earned income and/or cash contributions in fulfillment of the matching requirement.
• Budgets also may include in-kind contributions, e.g., donated space, materials and supplies, loaned equipment, donated professional services only, calculated on a local wage scale (non-professional volunteer time is not an acceptable in-kind service to be included in a budget).
• A budget error may disqualify an application.
• Dane Arts grants may not be matched by other Dane County tax dollars.
• A grant award in a lesser amount than what is requested by an applicant may be offered.
• A grant in any amount carries no commitment for future support by Dane Arts beyond terms of the project supported.

Eligible Applications of Grant Award Dollars

• Dane Arts Special grants MAY be used for:
  • Project administrators hired specifically for the project
  • Honoraria and fees
  • Supplies and materials
  • Space rental
  • Marketing and promotions
  • In-county transportation
• Dane Arts Special grants MAY NOT be used for:
  • Salaries for an organization’s artistic personnel and project administrators
  • General operating expenses
  • Development of school curriculum or teacher training
  • Capital expenditures, including the purchase of permanent equipment
  • Prizes
  • Tuition or scholarships
  • Food or refreshments
  • Deficits incurred from past activities
  • Direct fund raising or profit-making activities, or commercial ventures
  • Grants may not support or be focused upon administration, research, surveys, planning and development exclusively