Upcoming Annual Grant Deadlines, Panelists Needed

By Hal Partlow, Associate Director of Grants —

Annual grant deadlines are quickly approaching. If you need any assistance completing your application in the new Online Grants System, please contact us beginning January 4, 2017. See the schedule below for actual deadline dates.

We are also currently looking for panelists to serve on advisory panels which will be conducted in March and April, 2017 (see schedule below). As part of the annual grant review process each year, advisory panels are held so that citizens from across Tennessee can provide expert guidance in evaluating grant applications. They help enable the Commission to make informed decisions in awarding grants and technical assistance recommendations to applicants.

Advisory panels represent a specific artistic discipline or grant program. Panel composition ideally represents cultural and geographic diversity. If you are interested in serving Tennessee in this way, please complete the simple online form and someone will be in touch with you.

While not mandatory, it is strongly recommended for a representative of the organization to be present at the time of review to respond to panelist questions, if asked. If you are not able to be at the meeting in person, you will be able to call in on a conference line. Panelists are asked to assign ratings for each evaluation criteria. They may discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the application and give constructive comments. Apart from running the panel meeting and keeping the discussions consistent with review criteria, Commission staff members do not take an active role in the review process and do not score applications. Staff will collect all score sheets, calculate the average score for each application, and prepare a list of all applications ranked from the highest to lowest score.

Funding recommendations are based on the final ratings and rankings of all applications and available funds. This is a competitive process, and all funding recommendations are presented to the Commission board members for final approval.

Panel meetings are open to the public. Click here for directions and parking.

Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Grant Deadlines:

TENTATIVE Fiscal Year 2018 Advisory Panel Meeting Dates (subject to change)