Glossary of Terms
1:1 match (see also Matching Funds): A one to one (1:1) match means that the applicant must raise a dollar from other sources for every dollar requested. Since DCA receives its civic resources from taxes, applicants/grantees/vendors are strongly encouraged to develop their matching-funds without raising ticket prices to levels which are unaffordable for the average regional family.
Administrative personnel: administrative, clerical, and support staff specifically identified with the non-artistic aspects of a project or organization.
Affirmative action: action or activity to secure employment for members of underrepresented groups to bring about population parity.
Artistic personnel: artists in any discipline of art, as well as artistic directors, conductors, curators, composers, choreographers, designers festival programmers, photographic documentarians, lighting technicians, sound engineers, stage managers, stagehands, video documentarians, among others.
Arts prototype school: a school designated by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) which has demonstrated its commitment to integrating the arts into its overall curriculum as prescribed by the LAUSD Visual and Performing Arts Learning Standards.
At-risk, at-greater-risk, and at-greatest-risk youth (see also Youth): Many risk factors affect the lives of our City’s youth, including poor living conditions, domestic violence, lack of access to education, poor language development, lack of sex education, poor nutrition, crime, gangs, drugs, physical /mental disability, lack of access to health-care, joblessness, isolation or homelessness. Most youth are at-risk for one or two of these factors. When children experience three or four factors, they are considered at-greater-risk. When five or more factors are present in a child’s environment, s/he is considered at-greatest-risk
Audience development: a combination of comprehensive strategies that strengthen relationships among audiences, the artistic discipline, and the arts organization. Effective audience development is incorporated into the full range of an organization’s activities, including programming, operations, marketing and public relations, education and outreach, and development. The goals of audience development are increasing awareness of, and participation in, the activities of the arts organization. The activities can include but are not limited to, attendance at exhibitions/ performances. This involvement can and should manifest itself in ways that extend beyond ticket sales, to participation in the organization’s leadership, volunteer core, and donor groups, or voicing support for the organization and its value in the community.
Board development: the recruitment of individuals to serve as volunteer members of an organization’s board of directors to strengthen the organization in a specific way.
City council districts/ Council district borders see: links on the FAQ tab
Collaboration: a partnership between one or more organizations or individuals in planning and executing part or all of a proposed project. Collaborations involve shared responsibilities, and may or may not involve shared financial resources.
Community outreach: consciously developing a presence in an organized political, municipal, or social body of people through projects and programs.
Contract fees and services: project payments to firms or persons for services by persons not benefited as employees or an applicant organization such as consultants, contractors, and temporary coordinators. Such payments are broken out amongst “Artist Commission Fees,” “Artists & Performers – Non-Salaried” and “Honoraria” in the Proposal Expenses.
Contributed income: funds that are received usually as a result of a request to a government entity, private corporation or foundation, or an individual.
Demographics: understood as a statistical picture by Cultural Affairs standards, this information includes gender, family organization, ethnic community, geographical place, economic class, religious affiliation, age group, sexual orientation, and other data. In order for the City to support diverse services, it is necessary for applicants to submit statistics about proposed project staff and estimated audiences.
Depreciable assets: any tangible items used in operations that have an expected useful life of more than one year, e.g., buildings, furniture, computers, etc. These are also known as fixed assets.
Design / Visual Arts: all forms of design including architecture, urban design, landscape design, historic preservation, graphic design, and fashion design. Cultural Affairs recommends that design applicants submit CD with ten images as their Artistic Work samples.
Disencumbrance: releasing funds that have been reserved (through encumbrance) for a specific purpose.
Diversity: the fact or quality of difference in terms of ability, age, belief, culture, ethnicity, gender, language, race and sexual orientation.
D-U-N-S number: a nine-digit “Data Universal Numbering System“ number issued by Dun & Bradstreet, a company that provides business information for credit, marketing and purchasing decisions.
Earned income: revenue derived from fees through the sales of services (workshop fees, performance fees, tuition revenue, concessions, parking fees, etc.) and/or the sale of products (artworks, posters, postcards, books, t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.). Break out investment/interest income as a separate source, under “Other Earned Income.”
Evaluation plan: Every project elicits some public feedback. Ticket sales and applause are two indicators of success. Thoughtful projects incorporate one or more deeper strategies to elicit and document effectiveness, such as intermission/post-curtain question and answer sessions with the audience, audience surveys, response cards, membership/subscriber attendance, participant/artist interviews, or the number and quality of congratulation letters. The best strategies are integrated and audience-friendly, yet provide detailed qualitative and quantitative information. Notice the way the Grant Program surveys you with the Cultural Diversity Research Page and the DCA Grant Process Evaluation Page portions of the grant application. These are two places to start thinking about how and what kinds of information you can poll from your clientele. Honest interpretation of your research may lead to better business. If you are seasoned at evaluating your programs, include information about how you have already integrated past research into your proposed plans.
Evaluator: an authority, often outside the organization, who is able to estimate the quality and/or effectiveness of a project by careful appraisal and study. Cultural Affairs recommend that an organization hire a professional evaluator to determine the effectiveness of its project for its evaluation plan.
Festivals: although this term often refers to a regularly recurring program of cultural performances, exhibitions, or competitions, DCA’s festival category is limited to single-site public venue outdoor events. Grant applicants for outdoor festivals or parades held in one public space or walking area over one or two days should apply to the Outdoor Festival and Parades Program. Nonprofit organizations with events such as concert series, film festivals, or touring presentations indoors or at multiple sites should submit grant applications under the appropriate artistic discipline, e.g., music, multidisciplinary, etc.
Field Advocacy &Sector Learning: discipline specific or general forms of arts community development including workshops, seminars, symposia and educational services. Cultural Affairs recommends that Business Management / Advocacy for the Arts applicants submit a Work Sample that best suits their proposed service (i.e. applicants proposing publications send printed materials, applicants proposing workshops should send video of a workshop).
Fiscal year: for the City of Los Angeles, the fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year. For an organization, it is the 12-month period for which it plans the use of its funds.
Fully executed: approved and signed by all concerned parties; the term usually applies to a contract.
General operating support: funds given to assist with the defraying of expenses associated with operating the organization.
Government support: cash support derived from grants or appropriations, by other agencies or divisions of federal, state, regional or local governments, or a proportionate share of such grants or appropriations allocated for the proposed project.
Grantsmanship: a process in which a nonprofit organization or individual artist attempts to secure a grant. This process has three major parts:
- identifying which programs or projects can be presented to elicit interest from a potential funder
- identifying which funders might have a potential interest in supporting such a program or project, or such an organization as a whole
- developing a successful relationship between the funder and the organization or individual
Historic Preservation: information, marketing and design projects (including tours) that conserve cultural sites or practices.
Honorarium: payment to recognize professional services in the form of a flat fee. It is neither a salary payment nor per-hour compensation for the labor. The recipient does not receive benefits.
Host venue: any public physical or virtual site where the project is presented. No matter what sites are selected, it is a mark of good planning and community relations that the managers/owners of these venues promise their use by signing a host form for the application.
Individual support: cash support derived from individuals or contributions for which the individuals receive no tangible gifts other than a tax benefit.
In-kind donation: donated materials or donated services. The estimated value is the market price/cost of these items should you have paid for them. In-kind services may include volunteer time, which is best shown as a person’s name, title, a calculation, and a total value. For example: *Jane Doe, Video Editor (15 hours @ $50 per hour) = $750.
Ink signature: an original signature written on a piece of paper, as opposed to a fax copy to an agreement offered verbally or electronically. Cultural Affairs requires that the “Original” set of a grant request contains ink signatures.
Inter-organizational exchange: see Collaboration
Key project personnel: individuals that are important to the development and operation of a project, whether paid or volunteer.
Literary Arts: the creation, publication, and distribution of creative writing including fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction. Art-themed non-fiction/documentary writing and discipline-specific art criticism projects should apply in the category of its topic, i.e., an applicant proposing a publication of visual arts criticism should apply in the discipline of Visual Arts. By the City’s definition, spoken word proposals are Literature if they are readings, but Theatre when they are story-telling. Cultural Affairs recommends that Literature applicants submit printed materials or video as their Artistic Work Sample.
Marketing: all hard costs for project publicity or a portion of season brochures. Payments to marketing professional belong under “Professional Fees” in the Expenses budget.
Matching funds (see also 1:1 Match): the income (cash) and in-kind (donated contributions) you must estimate to illustrate that the City’s investment will be equaled (if not eclipsed) by other support. Cultural Affairs requires proof of a one-to-one (1:1) match for each organization grant. At least 50 cents on each dollar should be raised in cash income from other sources, whereas the remaining 50 cents on each dollar can be matched by in-kind contributions.
Media Arts: production of films, video and audio art including experimental and narrative works, as well as electronic manipulation, animation, and broadcast. This category may include documentary film series on any topics; however, individual documentary filmmakers are encouraged to call the Grants staff to determine the best category for their proposal (i.e., a documentary about a musician may be better reviewed by a music panel than a film panel) and excludes documentaries dealing with non-art subjects, e.g. health, sports, or the environment. Cultural Affairs recommends that Media applicants submit video as their Artistic Work Sample. Only a rough cut or previous work can illustrate the content, style, and intended quality of the proposal. Manuscripts are not allowable sample documentation for Media applicants.
Miscellaneous / contingency: in the project budget, an allowance of 5-10% of the total project expense for unexpected expenses. This un-itemized amount is kept aside to account for unexpected expenses as well as to offset inflation between the application deadline and the award/contract period.
Multi-disciplinary: projects with more than on discipline, i.e., music and dance. This application category includes performance art that explores nontraditional formats and processes, fuses or transcends distinct art disciplines. In an interdisciplinary project, each art discipline contributes a concurrent element without which the work would be incomplete. In a multi-disciplinary project, various distinct activities are equal and independent of each other – such as in a showcase, series, or festival. If a project has only one discipline, i.e., theatre without dance or live music, it is not inter/multi-disciplinary. Cultural Affairs recommends that an inter/multi-disciplinary applicant submit video as its Artistic Work Sample.
Music: musical performance and/or composition including traditional and contemporary orchestral music, opera, jazz choral, electronic and other music forms. Cultural Affairs recommends that Music applicants submit a video DVD or a music CD as their Artistic Work Sample.
Narrative: your written project description which includes who, what, why, where, when, and how the project will be carried out.
Off-cycle: in the Department of Cultural Affairs Grant programs, the year in which neither Outdoor Festivals and Parades nor organizational discipline-specific peer panels meet to consider cultural grant applications.
Off-track: tracks are designations of time periods in year=-round schools. Off-track is the period when students are not in school.
Outreach: see Community outreach
Persons with disabilities: the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) broadly includes any person who has a physical or mental disability. Define the range or specific kinds of disabilities of your target audience, with clear descriptions or recognized terms such as partially0sight, clinically blind, hearing-impaired, uses a wheelchair, mild schizophrenic, etc.
Popular name: the name by which one is commonly known. Sometimes an organization may be incorporated as a nonprofit under a different, often more formal, name than that by which it is known to the public.
Primary applicant: in the Outdoor Festivals and Parades category, the fiscal agent for the grant and responsible for communications with Cultural Affairs. The IRS designation letter for this organization will need to be attached to the grant application.
Prior fiscal year budget: the last completed budget year’s income, not including in-kind contributions.
Project and service description: a brief list of the who, what, when, where and how long details of a proposed project; for example – Central Los Angeles Youth Theatre Camp – a free 4-week series of workshops for 50 youth from Council Districts 8, 9, and 10 culminating in one public showcase in Council District 8 in late July.
Project support: funds given to assist with the defraying of expenses associated with a project.
Public benefit: something which is open and accessible to citizens at low or no cost and has some type of artistic, educational, or social value. Public benefit projects are accessible regardless of their affiliation with the artist(s) or the site(s).
Public relations: the promotion of understanding and awareness of a project, issue or entity within the community, large and small.
Rent: payments specifically identified for office, rehearsal, theatre, hall, gallery and other such spaces for the project.
Revenue: the total yield of income sources for the organization during a fiscal year.
Statement of authenticity: for Traditional/Folk Arts artists. Most traditional crafts are learned and expressed through a master/apprentice relationship. A description of how an applicant’s master learned his craft, how it was passed to the applicant, a description of the master’s background – as well as a listing of how much time was spent in observation of, and practice with, the master, and how many presentations the applicant participated in with the master – would serve as a statement of authenticity.
Strategic planning: a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, when it does it and why it does it.
Target audience: see Target marketing
Target marketing: the commercial processes involved in promoting, selling, and/or distributing a product or service to a group you have decided to reach (target audience). An organization’s program and mission often determines the audience it decides to target. Once a target audience has been identified, a savvy organization will make sure that there are enough people within the target audience and that they want or need what is being marketed to them.
Theatre: all forms of theatre including professional and regional companies, experimental, street puppets, mime, children’s ensembles, musical comedy, and theatrical storytelling. Cultural Affairs recommends that Theatre applicants submit video as their Artistic Work Sample.
Ticket sales: revenue derived from the sale of entry passes to a specific shows, services or seasons exclusive of membership dues for membership cards, newsletters, etc.
Traditional and folk arts: authentic craft or artistic activities relating customs, traditions, principles or practices that are either indigenous or related to a group as expressions of ethnic heritage, language, religion, occupation, or geographic. Folk and Traditional Art applicants should submit video or a data CD with 10 images as their Artistic Work Sample, depending on whether their craft is a performing or a visual art form.
Underserved communities / constituencies: These groups include geographically underserved, culturally specific and multi-cultural communities such as homeless persons, persons with disabilities, people living with AIDS/HIV+ or cancer, seniors, recent immigrants and at greater/greatest risk youth. The City is interested in having artists and arts organizations offer programs that will interest and educate these populations as other populations of our city.
Venue: see Host Venue
Visual arts: see Design / Visual Arts
Work plan: project plans that include weekly/ monthly/timely benchmarks such as research, scheduling, production, promotions/sales, invoicing, reporting and evaluation.
Youth (see also At-risk, at-greater-risk, and at-greatest-risk youth): an individual 24 years old or younger. The DCA grant office strongly prefers that its applicants (upon first use of the word “youth” in a grant-narrative) define the age/type of youth being served. Preschool can be used to describe youth from birth to age 4. Kindergarten describes ages 5-6. Elementary describes ages 7-11. Middle describes ages 12-14, High School describes ages 15-19. And Pre-professional describes ages 20-24. When providing services in a school, additionally telling DCA the percentage of youth by ethnicity in each particular school offers another set of facts for panelists to assess when scoring of Relevance.