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 2024-25 fiscal year, funding organizations from October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025, is currently CLOSED for applications. 

WHAT’S NEW?

Based on applicant feedback, we are excited to share the following changes to the FY 2024 – 25 application, passed unanimously by the Arts and Culture Advisory Commission and Dallas City Council:

  • More transparent guidelines: FY 2024-25 guidelines include an applicant checklist, key resources, and more detailed descriptions of scoring metrics and award expectations.
  • Explanation of awardee requirements: This year’s COP recipients will be required to nominate at least one person affiliated with the organization to the Office of Arts and Culture Funding Review panel, as well as other requirements that remain the same from previous years.
  • Addition of a new funding tier: Although this in no way changes funding award amounts, the OAC has added an additional review tier grouping to allow for smaller groups of applicants. (Last year, Tier 4 included organizations with $1M – $5M in revenue, and Tier 5 included organizations with over $5M in revenue. This year, Tier 4 will include organizations with $1 – $3M in revenue; Tier 5 will include organizations with $3M – $10M in revenue; and Tier 6 will include organizations over $10M in revenue.) This will ensure that panelists can review manageable groups of applications in approximately the same revenue tiers.

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 at least one employee.
  • 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 17, 2021.
  • 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 14 – 20, 2024.
  • Applicants must submit complete applications by the deadline of 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 to be considered. This includes all videos, financial documents, and required forms.

PROGRAM TIMELINE

  • Online Application Period: March 11 – April 17, 2024
  • Latest day for new applicant to email OAC of intent to apply: April 10, 2024 (organizations that were not funded in the FY 2023-24 year only)
  • Virtual Panel Review Period: April 19 – May 10, 2024
  • Web-meeting Panel Question and Answer Sessions: May 14-20, 2024
    • May 14 – Tier 1 Organizations
    • May 15 – Tier 2 Organizations
    • May 16 – Tier 3 Organizations
    • May 17 – Tier 4 Organizations
    • May 20 – Tier 5 and Tier 6 Organizations
  • COP Application Review to Arts and Culture Advisory Commission: June – September 2024
  • COP Funding Recommendations approved by City Council; initiation of COP Contracts: October 2024

HOW TO APPLY:

APPLY HERE: FY 2024-25 COP

INFORMATION SESSIONS

Session 1: Wednesday, March 13 | 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
VIRTUAL | Join Virtually Here

Session 2: Friday, March 22 | 11:00AM – 12:00PM
VIRTUAL | Join Virtually Here

Session 3: Tuesday, March 26 | 11:00AM – 12:00PM
VIRTUAL | Join Virtually Here

Session 4: Thursday, April 4 | 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM* (Note: This will be an application workshop, rather than a traditional information session. Bring your laptop, work with others present, and ask staff questions in real time.)
Latino Cultural Center

VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS

Friday, April 5 | 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Join Virtually Here

Monday, April 8 | 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Join Virtually Here

Wednesday, April 10 | 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Join Virtually Here

Thursday, April 11 | 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Join Virtually Here

Monday, April 15 | 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Join Virtually Here

Tuesday, April 16 | 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Join Virtually Here

FY 2023-24

FY 2023-24 COP Web Portal

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