Organizations must:
- Be a not-for-profit organization
- Be registered and in good standing under the appropriate legislation and have been in operation in Alberta for at least three years
- Have at least 50% of the organization’s board members living in Alberta
- Pay a ‘fee for service’ at minimum industry standard rates (such as a union or nationally recognized rate) to at least 75% of the artists involved in the organization’s performance program for all performances
- Demonstrate the ability to operate using good governance principles, effective administration practices, and a commitment to fiscal responsibility while maintaining an artistic mandate
- Operate as a stand-alone arts organization at arms-length from municipalities, commercial enterprises, or organizations and institutions receiving annual operating funds from the Government of Alberta or its affiliates
- Comply with all Canadian Arts Database (CADAC) financial and statistical data requirements
- Have a board-approved cash reserve policy
First time applicants must have met all eligibility requirements for the three annual fiscal periods prior to application. You must also provide board-approved financial statements that demonstrate the organization has positive net assets and has been operating with no annual deficit for each of these three fiscal periods.
Organizations that engage primarily in competition-based activity are not eligible for AFA funding. Organizations can only receive operating funding from one AFA grant program.
To be eligible for Professional Performing Arts Organizations operating funding, you must:
- Have public performing arts programming as your organization’s principal mandate as stated in its incorporation documents
- Engage in on-going development, implementation and promotion of performing arts programming as its core primary activity in an annual program or full season of professional self-created and self-produced work for public presentation
- Employ at least one full-time equivalent administrative and/or artistic staff member for the minimum duration of your programming season
Ineligible expenses for operating funding include, but are not limited to:
- Alcohol
- Amortization
- GST expenses
- Fundraising expenses
- Bad debt and other paper losses
- Capital expenses