Statewide Arts Service Organizations - SASOs

April 13, 2023 | Agency 2022 OhioDance Festival. Image by Jess Cavender General Operating and Partnership Support for Ohio’s Statewide Arts Service Organizations In place of competitive operating and project support funding, qualifying organizations that provide statewide professional services to arts and cultural organizations are supported via a parallel process that honors their unique and valuable contributions to Ohio’s arts sector. GRANT AWARDS Grants vary in size and are determined by a formula that considers panel evaluation of each application and the applying organization’s allowable operating income (as averaged over the most recently completed three fiscal years). All awards require a 1:1 cash match. ELIGIBILITY All applicants must possess nonprofit status. Additional eligibility requirements follow: Applicants must provide technical assistance, professional development, and resources that primarily serve Ohio’s arts, arts education, and/or cultural communities. Organizations with a mission of primarily providing arts programming as opposed to serving other providers in the arts community do not qualify. Applicants must maintain a statewide presence as demonstrated by both a geographically diverse board and service provision throughout the state. Applicants must serve a defined membership or constituency that includes organizations as well as individuals. Applicants must maintain a dedicated, paid staff administering core business functions. Applicants must consider constituents needs in designing services, including having both a demonstrated method of determining constituents’ needs and an evaluation process to gauge the effectiveness of services designed to address them. Applicants must have received at least two OAC grants in the last four OAC fiscal years. This support must have come from an OAC funding program that evaluated and scored the application through a panel process, which include ArtSTART, ArtsNEXT, Arts Partnership, ArtsRISE, Statewide Arts Service Organization, Sustainability, and former programs that include Artists with Disabilities Access Program (for Organizations) and Arts Access. Applicants must maintain an up-to-date profile in *SMU/DataArts, a national initiative focused on collecting and analyzing financial and participation information from arts and cultural organizations. A current profile must include the two most recently completed fiscal years of data as of the November 1 immediately preceding the deadline. *Note: FY 2026 - 2027 is expected to mark the final biennium of the SMU/DataArts Funder Report as a required financial material for SASO organizations. An alternative financial requirement will begin with FY 2028 - 2029. Applicants are encouraged to contact Ohio Arts Council staff to confirm eligibility prior to starting an application. Note: Recipients of SASO grant awards are not eligible to apply for or receive other competitive OAC awards during their SASO grant periods (Sustainability, ArtSTART, ArtsNEXT, Arts Partnership, and ArtsRISE). Please refer to Appendix A for other OAC funding restrictions that may affect your eligibility. HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS Grants are four-year awards for statewide arts service organization operating support. Funds may be used for a wide variety of expenses in the general operation of a statewide service organization. Many grantees use SASO funds to support administrative expenses, and other allowable expenses include member services, program planning, education, and evaluation. SASO grantees also work in partnership with the OAC in a variety of ways throughout the year that both highlight their unique roles within Ohio’s arts and cultural sector, as well as support the mission and work of the Ohio Arts Council. To satisfy the terms of their awards, each grantee collaborates with the OAC, completing generally three of the partnership activities from the list below each fiscal year (with substitutions or other arrangements made at OAC staff discretion): Provide professional development: develop and present at least one in-person or online professional development session during an OAC event or webinar series (the focus of which should be determined jointly with OAC staff). Nominate panelists: ensure experts representing their constituency are considered for upcoming OAC grant review panels by submitting panelist nominations for three to five panelists per year. Facilitate field visits: connect relevant OAC staff members with interested host organizations, artists, arts educators, or other people or destinations throughout Ohio representing their constituent group for at least one OAC site visit per year (with SASO representatives encouraged to attend as well). Highlight success stories: help publicize and highlight the great work being done by members of their constituent group by sharing standout success stories with OAC communications staff, ideally at least once per quarter, for wider dissemination and exposure. Lead collaborative initiatives: contribute to one-time-only or ongoing OAC initiatives by serving as the lead partner in project design, service provision, communications and marketing, and documentation and evaluation. Grantees who have accepted their award in ARTIE will automatically receive a partial payment. Final payment of the grant will be processed once a final report is received and approved. OAC staff may request additional information regarding grant activities prior to approving the final payment. HOW TO APPLY All SASO program applications must be submitted via the ARTIE system. Please refer to Appendix F for a step-by-step look at applying for, accepting, and managing a grant award through this program. Off-Year Updates Deadline: April 1 (2025, 2026) SASO grants are four years in duration, meaning that there is no panel review prior to the second, third, and fourth years of the award. However, grantees must submit a summary of upcoming programming, as well as updated financial informa