Application Support
Illinois Arts Council General Operating Support
The Illinois Arts Council’s next round of General Operating Support (GOS) and Youth Employment in the Arts (YEA) grants are open now through Wednesday, March 19.
Here are six tips for what to do now so you have plenty of time to prepare your application.
1. Check your GATA Registration
Your organization’s GATAÂ (Grant Accountability and Transparency Act) registration has to be renewed each year. If you’re not yet registered, get started today to be eligible for the grant by the March 19 deadline. The Help Desk can support you in making sure you are registered in GATA!
2. Make sure you can access the portal
Make sure you can access the IAC Salesforce grant portal. Check to see if you need to update your password. After you log in, make sure you do not have grant reports that still need to be submitted from past awards.Â
3. Once you're in the portal...
Be sure to update your Accessibility checklist. This is available in the grant portal account under Applicant Information. You can also update other information here, like address, phone number, email addresses, and mission statement.Â
4. Start gathering documents
Pull together your boilerplate documents you’ll need to upload with your application. This includes your most recent 990 (or equivalent) and your board and staff list. IAC offers a template you can use for the Board and Staff list.
5. Start on your narrative
Start working on the two required narrative attachments: the Application Narrative and the Arts Activities from the Previous 12 Months. If you are a returning applicant, meaning you received GOS funding in the previous grant cycle, you only have to provide an update on your previous activities; no application narrative is required!Â
6. Reach out to our Help Desk with any questions
Arts Alliance’s Help Desk is here to support you with applying for public funding opportunities like the IAC General Operating Support grant. If anything comes up when you’re pulling together your application – or if you have questions about eligibility – get in touch with our team!
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Support this work
If you’re a funder interested in helping the Alliance provide funding navigation services to the creative sector, we’d love to talk! Reach out to our Senior Director of Development, Kaitlin Donnelly, at [email protected].
