cultural tourism initiative (cti)
grant program

Guidelines: Evaluative Criteria

Guidelines Home - About the Grants - Timeline - Eligibility Criteria - Evaluative Criteria

Funds will be made available on a highly competitive basis in accordance with the following selection criteria:

All Applicants
The proposed project demonstrates:

• Goals of the Cultural Tourism Initiative, which are to:
• Stimulate community economic impact by attracting visitors, increasing expenditures, lengthening stays, or extending seasons.
• Collaborate/partner with multiple organizations and across different sectors. Collaboration between arts and tourism groups is required. Collaboration between large and small arts groups is encouraged. Each partner is expected to actively participate in the development, management, promotion, and financial responsibility of the project.  
• Increase visitors’ awareness of New York’s arts and cultural heritage.
• Market existing cultural heritage products to visitors in a new way or to a new tourism market or develop and market new cultural heritage products in a new way or to a new tourism market.
• Reasonable, achievable project objectives.
• Organization and experience.
• Cost-effectiveness and thoroughness of proposal.
• A mechanism for timely evaluation, including quantitative measurement of economic impact.

In addition, all Lead Applicants must:

• Provide a feasible work plan and timetable for the proposed project.
• Provide a feasible proposed project budget.
• Provide a project or activity that will be accessible and promoted to the general public. 
• Propose development of new cultural tourism products, significant enhancements to existing products, or new marketing mechanisms for existing cultural tourism products that demonstrate the ability to significantly increase tourism growth to the community and region.

In reviewing applications, the funding panel will consider:

• Clarity of narrative, marketing plan, and budget presentation.
• Evidence of active cultural tourism partnerships.
• Quality, authenticity, uniqueness, and vision.
• Organizational strength of the Lead Applicant
• Qualifications of project personnel.
• Interpretive plan to engage the visitor in understanding the cultural product.
• Economic impact and visitor attraction potential of the proposed project through increased or extended visitation to the area.
• The mechanism(s) to track and measure the impact and results of the project.
• Projects that may have the potential to be replicated.
• Evidence that the grant can be matched at least dollar for dollar (1:1) in cash. Additional match of cash or in-kind is encouraged. The quality and depth of the partnership involvement of an appropriate Primary Tourism Partner and/or tourism region within the arts organization’s area is also considered. Attention is paid to the extent to which the Primary Tourism Partner is helping to support the project financially, and it is strongly recommend that the tourism partner be providing at least 10 percent of the cash matching funds.

For Previous CTI Grantees
Previous CTI grantees are encouraged to contact ABC/NY in reference to their new or continuing project application in order to ensure fulfillment of the following criteria.

• Organizations must be in good standing with the Arts & Business Council of New York in accordance with all aspects of the previous grant agreement(s).
• If the previously funded project has not yet been completed, with a final report submitted, then a detailed project-to-date status report must be submitted as part of the application.
• Applications for previously funded projects must detail sufficient documented project success to date, detail significant enhancement of the original idea, demonstrate reasonable and significant evolution of the project concept, and make the case for long-term potential success.
• Any previously funded organization may apply for funding of a new project.  In such cases, the application will not be subject to the above criteria and will be reviewed as a new proposal. Successful completion of a previous project will, however, be a factor in the review process.