The funding for this program comes from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF). RISCA will award CRF funds to IAC organizations to help these entities and their employees endure the continued economic hardships caused by the forced closure of their operations due to the spread of COVID-19. These funds are intended to help save jobs in the arts sector and keep the doors open to the hundreds of organizations that add value to Rhode Island’s economy and the creative life of our communities.
The grant can cover revenue losses and extra COVID-costs incurred between March 1, 2020 and December 30, 2020.
While applications will be reviewed upon receipt, the final deadline for this program is Tuesday, December 15 at 8 PM. After reading through these grant guidelines, if you have questions about which program your organization should apply to, please do not hesitate to contact both Todd Trebour, Organizations Program Director, at todd.trebour@arts.ri.gov, and Randall Rosenbaum, Executive Director, at randall.rosenbaum@arts.ri.gov.
Organizations will apply online through RISCA’s online grant portal at: https://www.grantinterface.com/Home/Logon?urlkey=artsri.
Eligibility.
In order for an organization to apply to this program, they must:
- Be a current grant recipient in the IAC Grant program.
- Attest to a revenue loss from 2019 to 2020 and/or account for all eligible incurred expenses directly related to COVID response.
- Attestation of a total revenue loss for the period of March 1, 2020 to December 30, 2020
- Attestation of total amount of eligible expenses. Eligible expenses arecosts that:
- are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19).
- were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the State or government.
- were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 30, 2020.
Application Timeline.
Because of the incredibly tight timeline, the application will be simple, and RISCA staff are available to help you with your application. Be sure to thoroughly read the guidelines and any FAQ’s linked in these guidelines before contacting RISCA staff.
- Wednesday, December 7: Applications open.
- Tuesday, December 15 at 8 pm: Application deadline.
- Friday, December 18: Award Notifications made.
- Monday, December 21 at 9 am: Deadline to sign grant award agreements.
- Week of December 21: Payments made.
Grant Awards.
Applicants can receive up to the amount listed in table 1 for their organization’s budget class.
Table 1: CRF Funding Scheme for IAC Organizations.
| Budget Class | Maximum Award |
| under $50K | $4,000 |
| $50-$100K | $5,500 |
| $100-$250K | $7,000 |
| $250-$500K | $9,500 |
| $500K-$1M | $12,500 |
| $1-$2M | $15,550 |
| >$2M | $27,500 |
In line with RISCA’s strategic plan, additional funding consideration will be given to organizations that represent historically marginalized communities or constituencies in their mission, programming, staff leadership, and board. For organizations led by AND serving members of historically marginalized communities, grantees can receive grant awards up to 1.5 times higher than the maximum grant award listed for their budget class.
Historically marginalized communities may include but are not limited to BIPOC communities, such as African and African American, Arab, Asian and Asian American, Latinx, Middle Eastern, Native American and Indigenous, or Pacific Islander communities; or people with disabilities.
Because the source for these grant funds is CRF, there are specific rules RISCA must follow in determining grant awards.
CRF funds cannot be used for expenses that have been or will be reimbursed under any federal program or any other state-funded CRF program. The application for this program is structured to determine if your organization is eligible for a grant based on revenue loss and/or COVID-costs. We will also need to account for the money your organization has received to cover similar losses or costs under the following programs:
- Federal PPP and EIDL programs
- The CARES Act grants, either directly from the National Endowment for the Arts and the NEH, or via RISCA or RICH.
- Remote Work Grant program.
- RI Expansion Arts Program Relief Fund Rounds 1 or 2.
- State funded programs, including:
- RestoreRIprogram grants.
- Hotel, Arts & Tourism (HArT) ESR or Direct Support grants.
- RI Commerce Business Adaptation grants.
- Take it Outside grants.
- RI Taxation RI on Pause Business Relief grants.
- Any other state or federal funds to offset lost revenue due to Coronavirus.
You will be asked to list the total amount your organization has received from these programs. You will also be asked to attest that the losses and costs claimed for this grant are different than those covered by the above programs.
You can see the full FAQ on CRF from the U.S. Treasury here.
Final Report.
RISCA staff will be in touch with grantees about final report requirements, but a final report will be required.
Links.