The Tourist Development Council Arts, Culture & Heritage (ACH) funding program is administered by the St. Johns Cultural Council pursuant to an agreement with the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners.
Donor Name: St. Johns Cultural Council
State: Florida
County: Saint Johns County (FL)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/31/2024
Size of the Grant: Not Available
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The intent of the ACH Grant Program is to increase the positive economic impacts of local tourism by encouraging exemplary arts, culture and heritage programming and supporting enhanced advertising and promotion of these quality tourism opportunities.
The purpose of the program to support and enhance St. Johns County as a culturally interesting and vibrant destination, the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners has allocated a portion of the Tourist Development Tax to aid in the operations and promotion of arts, cultural, and heritage activities that have – as a main purpose – the attraction of visitors as evidenced by promotion to tourists. A portion of these funds support an Arts, Culture and Heritage Grant program administered by the St. Johns County Cultural Council and supervised by the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council. Funding recommendations for Arts, Culture and Heritage Grants must be approved by the Board of County Commissioners. TDC Arts, Culture and Heritage Grants are available for either Marketing Support or Marketing and Program support. To also receive program support, proposed programs in the application needs to be new or significantly improved existing programs or events.
Types of Funding 
This grant program has two funding options:

Out-of-Area Marketing Support

This funding is for existing events or year-round programs that are not proposing any changes or improvements to existing programs or events.

Program and Marketing Support

This funding is for applicants that are planning new or significantly improved programs or events

Funding Information

Year-round annual expenses or event expenses over $167,000: maximum request equal to 30% of operating expenses or $75,000, whichever is less.
Year-round annual expenses or event expenses between $100,000 and $167,000: maximum request equal to 50% of operating expenses or $50,000, whichever is less.
 Year-round annual expenses of up to $100,000: maximum request equal to 50% of operating expenses or $50,000, whichever is less.
For programs and activities occurring between October 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025. 

Eligibility Criteria
Basic Eligibility
All applications must meet the following basic eligibility criteria at the time of application:

All grant funded activities must occur within St. Johns County.
The proposed annual programs or event must be arts, culture or heritage related and have a primary purpose of attracting visitors to St. Johns County, as evidenced by the promotion of the program or event to tourists.
Applicants, including for-profit businesses and private institutions of higher education, must be qualified to do business in Florida as evidenced by their Active Status with the Florida Division of Corporations. Municipalities are also eligible to apply.
Have a marketing plan that includes out-of-area marketing, defined as follows: Advertising, promotion, publicity and sales activities that take place and are directly targeted to Tourists, which are defined as persons and groups residing outside the following counties: St. Johns, Flagler, Putnam, Clay, Duval, and Nassau. Media that reaches audiences of both Tourists and those within St. Johns, Flagler, Putnam, Clay, Duval, and Nassau Counties is allowable to the extent that the advertising reaches out-of-area. For this, grantees will need to provide a broadcast area, distribution, designated market area, analytics, or other data showing the market reach of the advertiser. The allowable reimbursement amount will be based on a percentage of the documented out of area reach. For example, if you purchase a $1,000 ad with a print publication that has a distribution that is 20% out-of-area, you can request a $200 reimbursement for that expense.

Specific Eligibility

In addition to meeting basic eligibility above, applicants need to meet additional criteria depending on the type of applicant, the type of funding they are applying for, and the nature of programs or events for which funds are being requested.

For more information, visit St. Johns Cultural Council.