Missouri: Positioning Arts Organizations for Growth

The Missouri Arts Council (MAC) has announced a new grant program replacing its former Capacity Building grant. The new Accelerate program not only awards financial support, but also strengthens organizational capacity through a three-step process: assess, act and accelerate. First, boards and senior staff of participating organizations evaluate their programming, operations, fund-raising and leadership using the Unity Foundation‘s on-line Capacity Quotient™ tool. The cost of this diagnostic self-assessment and resulting report is covered by MAC. Organizations then develop an action plan, which must be approved by their board of directors, with hands-on assistance from MAC staff. Finally, organizations execute their plan with $1,500 in MAC funds (and $1,500 in matching funds). Funding may be used for a variety purposes—including strategic planning, technology upgrades, trainings, consulting and accessibility improvements—provided they build capacity. Accelerate launched in July and is operating as a pilot program in fiscal year 2014. To learn more, contact MAC Capacity Building Program Specialist Donald Rice.