What is the process to review a grant?
Part of the job of Donald G. Gardner Humanities Trust board members and the executive director is to review each grant based on the Trust’s review criteria and then have a discussion at the meeting about what people liked in an application or where there could be improvement. “What’s super hard it that Ely is a small community where most of us know each other,” stated Keiko Williams, the executive director. “So while we try to be objective and look at just what is written or proposed in a grant narrative, it is sometimes hard not to bring up personal feelings or knowledge about an artist or project during a discussion. Therefore the review process is being updated a bit this year to help board members assess applications more consistently and fairly. This updated process is part of the Trust’s ongoing work to keep its grant program as current and effective as possible.”
The Trust’s review criteria has been adapted to fit into just three categories, which will be weighted by importance. For instance, how well an artist or project provides Community Impact will now be worth 40% of the total grant rating. Artistic Quality, Merit and Need is worth 30% of the total grant rating, and Ability/Feasibility of the project is also 30%. The Trust’s updated grant review criteria is listed below: COMMUNITY IMPACT--40%
ARTISTIC QUALITY, MERIT and NEED of the project and artists involved.--30%
ABILITY/FEASIBILITY of the artist/organization to carry out the project.--30%
Individual artists should note that their application guidelines lists examples of how an artist might provide community impact or give back to the community as part of their grant award. |