A “Nature and Culture Destination Enhancement Grant” workshop has been scheduled for Friday, March 22, 2019, from 9 a.m. to noon in the Grace Knight Conference Room, located on the second floor of the Alachua County Administration Building (12 S.E. 1st Street, downtown Gainesville). Interested parties are invited to attend the workshop in preparation for the upcoming grant cycle which funds activities taking place between October 1, 2019, and September 30, 2020. Nature and Culture Destination Enhancement Grants support arts, nature, and cultural activities in Alachua County.
At their December 11, 2018 meeting, the County Commission directed staff to incorporate better objective criteria into the grant scoring and funding recommendations for the Nature and Culture Destination Enhancement Grants.
The Commission direction included:
- Rather than the two-tier grant funding criteria (organizations with budgets under $100k and over $100k), the maximum grant request will be based on a percentage of the organization’s budget.
- Annual attendance figures will be a major scoring criterion.
- Government and educational organizations will be capped at a total of $50,000 per organization, regardless of the number of applications per entity.
- Sporting events will be supported through the Tourist Development Tax grant allocated to the Gainesville Sports Commission.
At the workshop, County staff will facilitate a conversation to get feedback and suggestions from interested stakeholders and the public on how to make the grants fair and objective so that organizations are competing on a level playing field.
For more information, contact the Alachua County Communications Director Mark Sexton at 352-264-6979.