GRANT ELIGIBILITY

The following list is intended to give an overview of the eligibility for COCA grants. Please download the full application for the full eligibility requirements, or contact COCA if you are unsure if you are eligible.

Requirements:

1. Your organization must be a non-profit, tax-exempt Florida corporation receiving less than 50% of its operating cash from government sources.

State-affiliated applicants, including colleges/universities, may be eligible if they meet additional special requirements.
Commercial organizations and individual artists are not eligible for funding in these programs.

2. Your organization must have arts or cultural activity as your primary mission. Your chief purpose and programming must
be in one or more of the following areas:

visual arts
performing arts
literary arts
arts education
history/heritage
media arts
museum

Organizations whose missions are not primarily cultural should seek funding elsewhere, even if they present occasional arts or cultural programming. This includes organizations with civic, educational, social service, environmental, health-related, religious, political, journalistic, athletic, or multi-faceted missions.

3. Your organization must have been providing programming for at least one complete fiscal year. Some funding categories require a 3-year history.

4. The majority of your activities must take place in the City of Tallahassee/Leon County.

5. You must have professional staff. In most funding categories, staff may be paid or volunteer. Some categories required paid staff.

6. You must have a governing Board that meets regularly and operates under a set of by-laws.

7. You must demonstrate the receipt of community support through subscriptions, memberships, earned income, foundation grants and/or other private fundraising (including in-kind support).

8. You must have written 3-5 year long-range plans for organizational development that include program and financial projections.

9. You must have multiple-event cultural programs that are regularly available to the public throughout the year. (Seasonal events and festivals do not qualify.)

10. You must have documented statistics on attendance and participation for your programs and/or facility.

11. Your organization must be committed to accessibility for people with disabilities, including compliance with the ADA.