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Cultural Organizations Program (COP)

The CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS PROGRAM is the support program through which the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture contracts for cultural services with established Dallas-based non-profit arts and culture organizations for a variety of cultural programs that include concerts, plays, exhibitions, performances, workshops and other cultural programming for the benefit of Dallas residents and visitors. These cultural service contracts are awarded annually using a review panel approach to evaluate applications. Program eligibility and review criteria are published annually.

The COP application for the 2023-24 fiscal year, funding organizations from October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024, is now OPEN.

Applications will close at 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. 

WHAT’S NEW?

Last year, the Office of Arts and Culture asked COP candidates to provide feedback on the application process. Based on this feedback, we are excited to share the following key changes to the FY 2023 – 24 application, passed unanimously by the Arts and Culture Advisory Commission and Dallas City Council:

  • FY 2023 – 24 applicants do not need to complete the SMU DataArts Cultural Data Profile used in FY 2022 – 23. Instead, applicants may complete the same projection matrix used in FY 2021 – 22 applications and before. 
  • Applicants in the smallest revenue tier are now eligible for increased funding (up to 30% of annual revenue). Funding level adjustments were made to a marginal rate based on reported unrestricted revenue of applicant organization.
  • Applicants will be grouped by the higher of the previous year’s revenue or the average of the previous three years, to allow for pandemic and other exceptional variations.

Please reach out to OACFundingPrograms@dallas.gov with any questions. We hope that these changes help make the COP application process as streamlined as possible!

WHAT’S THE SAME?

  • Applicant organizations must have an annual operating budget of greater than $100,000 in revenues from the most recent fiscal year.
  • Applicants must be Dallas based, with at least half of the year’s programming located within the Dallas city limits. (To review Dallas city limits, please see: Dallas City Info).
  • Applicants must have received 501c3 designation at least three years prior to the application deadline and have at least three years of operational history.
    • For this year, the latest date that organizations could receive 501c3 designation is April 12, 2020.
  • In lieu of in-person presentations, applicants must include a video to present to the panel (for more information, see Guidelines.) Applicants must also attend a virtual Q&A session on their assigned date, May 16 – 22, 2023.
  • Applicants must submit complete applications by the deadline of 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 to be considered. This includes all videos, financial documents, and required forms.

HOW TO APPLY

APPLY HERE: FY 2023-24 COP

INFORMATION SESSIONS

Friday, March 24 | 11:00AM – 1:00PM
VIRTUAL | Join Virtually Here

Friday, March 31 | 11:00AM – 1:00PM
Oak Cliff Cultural Center (223 Jefferson Blvd.)

VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS

Monday, April 3 and Tuesday, April 4 | 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. | Join Virtually Here

Wednesday, April 5 and Thursday, April 6 | 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | Join Virtually Here

PROGRAM TIMELINE

  • Online Application Period: March 9 – April 12, 2023
  • Virtual Panel Review Period: April 14 – May 15, 2023
  • Web-meeting Panel Question and Answer Sessions: May 16-22, 2023
    • May 16 – Tier 1 Organizations
    • May 17 – Tier 2 Organizations
    • May 18 – Tier 3 Organizations
    • May 19 – Tier 4 Organizations
    • May 22 – Tier 5 Organizations
  • COP Application Review to Arts and Culture Advisory Commission: June – September 2023
  • COP Funding Recommendations approved by City Council; initiation of COP Contracts: October 2023

FY 2022-23

FY 2022-23 COP Web Portal

FY 2021-22

FY 2021-22 COP Web Portal

Questions? Contact OAC at OACFundingPrograms@dallas.gov OR:

Julia Hosch
Cultural Programs Manager
julia.hosch@dallas.gov 

Cultural Funding Programs

Artists & Organizations Additional Resources

Community Arts