Letter of Inquiry Worksheet

Deadline: 5:30pm Eastern Time, Thursday, November 10, 2016

Section 1. Instructions

Submit your Letter of Inquiry by Completing Three Steps

  1. Prepare your Letter in the followingEDA Letter of Inquiry Worksheet, in MS Word. Draft your answers in this worksheet, and check the character limits for each field, so that you can copy and paste your answers into the online form.
  2. The text boxes appear to approximate the amount of text allowed.
  3. Applicants should submit the information that is known by the time of the LOI deadline, doing a reasonable amount of research and planning to describe their project.
  1. Copy and paste your LOI answersinto the online form at the following link and be sure to press“Done” at the end to submit:
  2. Email your LOI Worksheet, in Word, to . Be sure to include the name of your organization in both the subject line of the email and the title of the attached worksheet.Do not send as a PDF.

Boththe LOI Worksheet and the online form must be receivedby the deadline. Late submissions will not be considered.

Confirmation of receipt will be sent via email by Friday,November18, 2016.

If you have questions or difficulty with any aspect of this process, feel free to contact Suzanne Callahan, Consultant and Project Manager, at or 202-955-8325.

Letter of Inquiry Worksheet

Deadline: 5:30pmEastern Time, Thursday, November 10, 2016

  1. Prepare this Worksheet.Draft your answers in this form, and check the character counts.
  2. Copy and paste your LOI answers into the online form at the following link and be sure to press “Done” at the end to submit:
  3. Email your LOI Worksheet, in Word, to .

Section 2. Basic Information

Contact Information

Organization Legal Name
Organization Popular Name
Address
City / ST / Zip
P.O. Box, if different
Telephone (area code first)
Website Address

Project Director

Name
Title
Telephone (area code first)
Email
In case we have questions about your LOI in the fall of 2016, please list the name and contact information for the person we should contact, only if different from above.
Does your organization have 501(c)3 nonprofit status? Check one: / Yes / No

If you answered no, please complete the Fiscal Sponsor Information below.

Fiscal Sponsor, if applicable

Sponsor Name
Relevant Contact Person
Address
City / ST / Zip
P.O. Box, if different
Telephone
Email
Tax ID
Authorizing Official Name
Number of years this organization has served as applicant’s sponsor

Project Type (check one)

Option A. Refining the Quality of the Engagement Experience for Audiences
Option B.Refining Programs that Engage Specific Audiences

Eligibility, Staff, and Artists

By the time of the application, applicants must have 501(c)3 nonprofit status or apply through a fiscal sponsor, paid administrative staff, and an operating budget of $150,000. Also, the applying group (not the fiscal sponsor) must have existed for at least three years.

Year organization was founded: / Total number on staff:
Number of paid full-time staff on salary: / Administrative / Artistic
Number of paid part-time staff on salary: / Administrative / Artistic
Number of paid staff on contract: / Administrative / Artistic
Total Organizational Budget* / 2015 Actuals: / $ / 2016 Projected: / $

*Excluding in-kind.

Note: For independent artists who split their time as artistic and administrative staff, and take a fee for their work, select “paid staff on contract” and enter .5 for Administrative and .5 for Artistic (or other decimals that total 1.0).

Provide any notes or description about your staffing that would aid the panel in understanding how you operate, such as, “each danceris responsible for some aspect of the company’s administration, and each are paid via contract on a part-time basis.” (Up to 200 characters including spaces.)

Using percentages or proportions, and using language that you prefer, please describe your staff and board.(Up to 200 characters per line, including spaces.)

Ethnicity:
Administrative and Artistic Staff
Board
Gender: female, male, non-binary, in other ways (please describe), and/or decline to state.
Administrative and Artistic Staff
Board
Sexual orientation: LGBTQ, heterosexual, in other ways (please describe), and/or decline to state.
Administrative and Artistic Staff
Board
Disability status:Within your organization in the aggregate, are there staff and board members with disabilities? / Yes / No
If you answered yes: provide below the percentage or proportion of aggregate staff and board with disabilities. Optional: you may use this opportunity to share the type(s) of disability, only if the staff and board members with disabilities are comfortable doing so.
Administrative and Artistic Staff
Board

Project Scope

Start date: mm/dd/yy / End date: mm/dd/yy
Total Project Cost:* $ / Amount Requested** $

*A 25% match is required, and can include in-kind. **No higher than $44,000

Notes about your dates and budget:

  1. The grant period must fall between June 2017 and July 2018.
  2. The information about project dates and costs is not binding at this time. Applicants that are invited to submit a full application will be allowed to adjust costs and dates and required to submit a detailed budget.
  3. Organizations that request more than 25% of their annual budgets are encouraged to carefully consider their ability to complete the project. Please refer to theEDA Guidelines and FAQs.

Grant Requirements

If funded, I am aware of and can meet the requirements for grantees to:
a)Arrange for at least one person on staff to attend two in-person grantee meetings.The first will take place on June 7-8, 2017 in Kansas City, MO (with June 6th as the travel day).The secondwill take place in early June of 2018, in Los Angeles, CA.My travel costs for up to two project staff will be covered. (Grantee meetings provide an excellent opportunity to build community! You will get to know your peers, and learn about each other’s projects and audience engagement in general.)
b)Complete one interim report of 1-2 pages.
c)Have call(s) with the EDA program manager, so that Dance/USA can learn about and be supportive of my project.
d)Remain or become a member of Dance/USA for the grant period of Summer 2017-Summer 2018. (Somefinancial assistance will be available to cover dues for new members in part or in full.)
e)By the end of the grant period, participate in a process to help evaluate the program, which includes submitting a final report of about 2 pages and entering information about the project into the EDA online database. (This entry can be completed in about one hour and includes a general description of the program.)
Further, I am aware of the additional options that Dance/USA will provide beyond the grant amount, which are as follows:
  • I can choose to allocate some of my project coststo cover some of the staff time involved in meeting these requirements. I may use the general operating funds for the grantee meetings to support travel for additional staff.
  • I will have the option of receiving either technical assistance with specialized consultants who have expertise relevant to the EDA project, or visit one of the EDA Round Four grantees to observe their engagement activities and my travel would be paid.
Applicants may wish to refer to the EDA Round Four Grantee Tentative Timeline, which outlines what will happen during the grant period.
Check to indicate your organization can meet these requirements and is aware of these options.

Section 3. About Your Project

  1. All Applicants. Briefly describe your project by answering the following questions:What is the audience engagement program to be refined? How does it show success at engaging audiences? Include brief example(s) of past successes with this program.

Then address questionsAor B below, as relevant to your project type.

Option A) Describe the engagement experience for your audiences. Specify how the programwill be refined to improve the quality of this experience for audiences.

Option B) What is the proposed program’s track record of engaging the specific audience(s) stated in the guidelines? How does this project link to your organization’s mission and capacity?

Reminder: Up to 3,500 characters, including spaces.

  1. If not covered in Question 1, who is the specific audience(s) for your project? If you are applying under Option A, are they current or new audiences?What do you know about those audience(s), including their demographics, needs,expectations,and/or experience with dance? What would these audience(s) do during the engagement activities?

Reminder: Up to 1,000 characters, including spaces.

  1. What is your general timeline? What project events would you foresee happening during the grant period?

Reminder: Up to 1,000 characters, including spaces.

Section 4. About Your Organization

Provide a brief organizational background, including main programs and key accomplishments, particularly as related to audience engagement.

Reminder: Up to 3,000 characters, including spaces.

Section 5. Submit Your LOI

Reminder: After you complete this form, input your responses atthis link and email this worksheet to . Be sure to include the name of your organization in both the subject line of the email and the title of this worksheet.

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