Excellence:

• Mission statement is aspirational, direct, and actionable.
• The retail/exhibition space lower-level and 20 upper story ArtLofts and creative loft (common area/classroom) mirrors other creative class model studio models
• Attracting 70K annual visitors to the gallery and CraftFestival is an indicator of need and/or visibility and potential program viability
• Goals are clear/concise but activities were interspersed with objectives.
• Consider adding numerical targets and stretch targets for all objectives and/or activities as guide posts for how to collect measure, assess and respond to data
• Confident in the ability of the organization to carry out the proposal.
• Extensive partnerships were listed (after Goal 6) but without a heading or clear delineations of the relationship or deliverables unique to each partner.

Impact:

• Demonstrates significant economic impact of the event that relate to the organizations mission and ability to carry out the proposal and sustain the event (i.e., using AFTA’s AEP5 Prosperity Calculator to calculate that FCA has a $2.6 million impact on the Pinellas County, which adds credibility to this value-added creative economy success).
• Consider data and quotes from other credible sources to verify other claims: (e.g., Creative Placemaking by Markusen and Gadwa, and a couple white paper briefs from The National Governor’s Association: Center for Best Practices.)
• Reasonable activities are proposed and are achievable in the grant cycle.
• Marketing and educational outreach activities are appropriate for the program/project

Management:

• FCA occupies/owns its headquarters OE valued at over $3M (12yrs remaining on mortgage).
• With reserve funds of $36K (and up to $50K line-of credit) steps to mitigate fixed costs are wise (switch over to LED Lighting). Also mentioned FCA was taking steps to increase revenue (but that was not readily apparent)
• Commissioning an independent assessment of the organization to prepare for the next growth phase in a positive indicator of an organization looking to reflect/react/grow.
• Tracking attendance (quantitative), and comments in visitors books, surveys (marketing, workshop/lecture feedback), and social media analytics are part of the solution but the data has limited assessment value. Consider adding more quantitative measures and possibly inviting external consultant or team.
  

Accessibility:

• Appears to meet ADA accessibility criteria (504 Self Eval, compliance staff person, etc.)

Very impressive grant application, timeline, list of activities, partners, and strong impact.

Excellence: This section was very clear, concise, and to the point. All of the objectives fed directly back into the goals. Adding how statements would strengthen them (ie increase the number of artist members by 15% through discounted promotions on Facebook). Suggest grouping partnerships based on purpose/partnership type. Liked that you include brief description of exhibitions in timeline. The mural tours seemed outside of the mission/scope of the organization. Is there more context you could provide to clarify?

Impact: Diverse spread impact populations. Strong economic impact

Management: Fiscal condition strong given you own your building, have reserve funds, an endowment, and an untapped line of credit. To strengthen, add how many months of operation your reserves cover.

Accessibility: The Experience Collection demonstrates a commitment to accessibility. Would like to see how many organizations have utilized it and if how you promote this resource.