Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

View the full Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator guidelines here.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

The Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator Program is designed to provide creative entrepreneurs who aspire to start their own for-profit business or who operate an existing for-profit micro business with access to existing small business consulting services and financial resources.

The Program’s purpose is to help creative entrepreneurs to grow their business, audience, and revenue. The Program will advance the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts’ overarching value of diversity, equity, and inclusion by prioritizing investments to creative entrepreneurs who identify Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) and those who are located in low-income communities as defined by the Small Business Administration.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Funding decisions will be made on a quarterly basis.

• Quarter 1: November 1, 2021
• Quarter 2: February 1, 2022
• Quarter 3: May 2, 2022
• Quarter 4: August 1, 2022

GRANT AMOUNTS

Grant amounts range from $500 to $2,000.

ELIGIBILITY

Creative entrepreneurs are eligible to apply for the Creative Entrepreneurs Accelerator Program once every three years.

Applicants must:

• Be at least 18 years of age.
• Be a current resident of Pennsylvania for at least one year. To apply through the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, you must reside in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia county.
• Creative entrepreneur’s business must have gross revenue less than $200,000
• Be a creative entrepreneur intending to form a business or operating a business in Pennsylvania within one or more of the following creative industry areas:
  • Marketing – Advertising and marketing agencies and professionals
  • Architecture – Architecture firms and architects
  • Visual Arts & Crafts – Galleries, artists, artisans and makers
  • Design – Product, interior, graphic, and fashion design firms and designers
  • Film & Media – Film, video, animation, TV and radio businesses and creators
  • Digital Games – Companies, programmers and individuals producing games
  • Music & Entertainment – Producers, venues, musicians & performers
  • Publishing – Print or electronic businesses and content creators, editors and writers

ELIGIBLE USES OF FUNDS

Funds must support business formation or development. Eligible uses of grant funds include:

• Professional fees for workshops, consultants, and career coaching
• Participation in events, trade shows, festivals, etc. that offer access to audience and revenue generation potential
• Business development fees for courses or seminars for business skills
• Research and development
• Marketing and promotion
• Development of or upgrades to technology related to business practices
• Studio / rehearsal / retail space
• Reasonable fees for supporting / collaborating with artists
• Purchase of supplies and equipment

INELIGIBLE USES OF FUNDS

• Activities outside the grant period
• Activities that have a religious purpose
• Payments to lobbyists
• Activities for which academic credit is given
• Hospitality, food, or beverages
• Offsets to regular business operating costs, including regular salaries or wages

View the Application Forms (Note: all application forms must be submitted through Submittable)

• Eligibility Form PDF
• Full Application Form PDF

FOR QUESTIONS OR FURTHER INFORMATION

Please contact Allison Vanyur at grants@philaculture.org.

View the full 2022-23 Program Stream guidelines here.

OVERVIEW

Entry to Program Stream is for organizations or programs with average annual revenue of less than $200,000 that aim to ultimately be recommended for support through PPA Program Stream. Entry to Program Stream supports eligible applicants that have a history of at least one year of consistent arts programming. Generally, grant amounts will range from $2,000 to $3,000, and grant funds may be used for operations, programs, or projects.

ELIGIBILITY

Applicants must:

• Be a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation, a unit of government, or school district providing arts programming and/or arts services in Pennsylvania. Unincorporated groups must apply through a nonprofit, tax exempt corporation that acts as a fiscal sponsor.
• Have an average annual revenue of less than $200,000.
• Have a history of at least one year of consistent arts programming.
• Cannot also be applicants or grantees in AOAP, Program Stream, or Entry Track grants administered by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

MATCHING REQUIREMENTS

All grants must be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis in cash. In-kind goods and services may not be used to match PCA funds.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applicants operating in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery or Philadelphia counties can apply through the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, who is the PPA partner for this region. Applications must be submitted online via Submittable at philaculture.submittable.com.

Applications are due February 15, 2022, for the grant performance period of September 1, 2022, to August 31, 2023. Late applications will not be accepted.

APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS

• PPA uses an advisory panel review process to make recommendations for the PCA’s consideration in making final funding decisions.
• Organizations or programs stay in the Entry to Program Stream until recommended for Program Stream, based on panel review and assessment totals. Once in Program Stream, grants generally range from $3,000 to $5,000.

REVIEW CRITERIA

Quality of Artistic Product, Process or Service – 35 points

• Evidence that activities relate to and advance the applicant’s mission or arts program goals
• Quality of arts-related activities
• Evidence of measuring artistic success

Access to the Arts – 35 points

• Evidence of knowledge of and outreach to audience
• Evidence of engagement efforts with culturally, socioeconomically, and/or geographically diverse audiences or stakeholders

Management – 30 points

• Evidence of effective planning and implementation of programs
• Evidence of effective management of financial resources

FOR QUESTIONS OR FURTHER INFORMATION

Please contact Allison Vanyur at grants@philaculture.org.