TGT Grant Advisory Board Meeting

June 16, 2016 | 2:00 p.m. | City Hall

Minutes

Members in attendance: Linda Honeyman, Katherine Simmons, Courtney Shipley, Matthew Herbert, Tim Metz, Derek Felch, Stephen Horton.  Staff: Megan Gilliland 

Guests: Michael Davidson (eXplore Lawrence), Mary Doveton, Craig Patterson and Erica Fox Zabusky (Lawrence Childrens Choir).

The agenda for the meeting had one business item: to discuss the grant process and recommended program improvements.

The discussion was free-flowing and offered the following comments:

The program should have a defined goal or goals.  Is the goal to create/support events which create a pull factor for bringing people to Lawrence?

The committee felt strongly that the grants should have a weighted process to determine strength of the application/event/program and adherence to goal(s).

Matthew Herbert recommended that there be a clear expectation for what the money will be used for and recommended marketing as an option.

Michael Davidson commented that he’s worked with similar programs before that were specifically used for marketing dollars and required a match. He said he’d like to see more weight given for events that can be a repeat event.

Stephen Horton commented that he would like to see parameters set for keeping a reserve if there will be more than one cycle per year. He commented that he would like to see financial history and economic impact statements if possible. He also said he would like a short presentation from potential grant recipients about their event/program.

Katherine Simmons said that the Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission used a score sheet based off the application to determine weighting of programs/events. There was a recommendation to narrow the applicants based on weighting scale and then determine funding.

The board said they wanted to see clearer lines drawn on criteria and hold to the guidelines.  Three meetings would be preferred to allow time for presentation, deliberations/weighting and then a decision.

Other questions considered included creating limits on grants and should categories for grants be created to handle very different events and programs that are all competing under one program (that same comment was also said for evaluating major versus minor events/programs).  Also, should funding be granted to organizations once or have eligibility for program funding over the course of the calendar year?

As for comments for consideration:

· Is there a pull factor/does the event or program bring people to Lawrence and generate TGT or sales tax?

· Is the event unique and does it make Lawrence stand out?

· Does the event pair well with others already occurring?

· How will marketing money be used to promote the event?

· Will the event/program occur at a time when hotels need to be filled in the off-season?

· Is this a repeat program of one time event?

· Can the city decrease funding over time? What is the plan to do so?

· How is the event connected to the greater community? What kind of investment is made in the event/program from outside of city funding? And, similarly, how much is the organization investing in the event/program? 

· Should the board consider allowing for partial funding of events/programs (and asking that question on the application)?

Mary Doveton, Theatre Lawrence, commented that the board needed to review the applications and be familiar with the materials prior to deliberations. She said that any info from local hotels (and partnering opportunities) would be welcome.  The same comment was made for partnering with local businesses and restaurants. She asked about how the committee could handle existing events if the program focused on marketing or creating new events.

At the close of the meeting, the board asked staff to go back and review comments and look into a way to create a weighted system for evaluation of applications. The board wanted to make sure the mission, criteria and parameters were clear before the FY2017 application process would begin.