CHAPTER 13
IOWA CULTURAL TRUST
221—13.1(303) Program purpose. The purpose of the Iowa cultural trust is to assist Iowa nonprofit arts, cultural and historical organizations in building stability and sustainability through the Iowa cultural trust fund.
[ARC 8087B, IAB 8/26/09, effective 9/30/09]
221—13.2(303) Program description. The cultural trust fund receives, preserves, invests, and expends moneys appropriated by the general assembly together with any other gifts, bequests, donations, or grants from federal or private sources directed to the fund’s purposes.
[ARC 8087B, IAB 8/26/09, effective 9/30/09]
221—13.3(303) Definitions. The following definitions shall apply when used in this chapter unless otherwise noted:
“Application” means an official cultural trust grant application form as provided by the department.
“Arts organization” means an eligible organization with the arts as its primary mission and purpose. The organization must operate as an arts organization, including but not limited to an art museum, performing arts-producing organization, or community arts agency.
“Board” means the board of trustees of the Iowa cultural trust, as provided in Iowa Code section 303A.5.
“Cash match” means funds that are locally contributed for a cultural trust grant project. Matching funds shall be provided by the eligible applicant and shall not include any portion of another department of cultural affairs, Iowa arts council, or state historical society of Iowa grant.
“Cultural organization” means an eligible organization with culture, the sciences or humanities as its primary mission and purpose. The organization must operate as a cultural organization, including but not limited to a cultural center, civic arts-presenting venue, botanical center, science museum, children’s museum, arboretum, or zoo.
“Department” means the Iowa department of cultural affairs (DCA).
“Director” means the director of the department of cultural affairs or the director's designee.
“Endowment” means a collection of funds, typically invested in long-term assets that produce income for an organization. Generally, the endowed asset is kept intact, and a portion of the income generated by it is used by the organization for operational costs.
“Grantee” means any applicant receiving grant funds under a cultural trust grant program.
“Grant review panel” means a group of at least three individuals with knowledge of cultural organizations, nonprofit best practices, and strategic planning who review grant applications according to the published criteria, with the responsibility to make funding recommendations to the board.
“Historical organization” means an eligible organization with history as its primary mission and purpose. The organization must operate as an historical organization, including but not limited to an historical museum, interpretive center, historical society, historical library or archival repository.
“Trust fund credits” means moneys raised by Iowa nonprofit arts, cultural and historical organizations to increase the amount of their endowments and other resources, as reported to the department.
[ARC 8087B, IAB 8/26/09, effective 9/30/09]
221—13.4(303) Trust fund credits.
	13.4(1) Annually, the director shall certify to the state treasurer the trust fund credits gained by Iowa arts, cultural, and historical organizations in the previous year.
	13.4(2) Criteria. In determining trust fund credits, the director shall:
	a. 	Review reports from major arts, cultural, and historical organizations to determine the amount which has been given to their endowments in the previous year.
	b. 	Review final reports from departmental grants to determine the amount of cash match contributed to granted projects in arts, cultural, and historical organizations. Cash match amounts indicate nonpublic support provided to organizations.
[ARC 8087B, IAB 8/26/09, effective 9/30/09]
221—13.5(303) Cultural trust grant programs.
	13.5(1) Grant program eligibility. Applicants may include any arts, cultural, or historical organization that is either an Iowa organization that is federally tax-exempt under United States Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) and incorporated under the Iowa nonprofit corporation Act or an Iowa organization that operates as an arts, cultural, or historical department or division of a municipal or county government that is also federally tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) and incorporated in Iowa under the Iowa nonprofit corporation Act (does not include public libraries, parks, or recreation departments). Additional eligibility criteria are as listed in published guidelines for individual grant programs.
	13.5(2) Ineligible applicants. The following entities are not eligible to apply for cultural trust grants:
	a. 	Any individual.
	b. 	An entity of federal or state government.
	c. 	An organization applying through a fiscal agent.
	d. 	An organization with an outstanding late final report to the department or any of its divisions.
	e. 	A public (nonhistorical/cultural) library, park, or recreation center.
	f. 	A for-profit corporation or business.
	g. 	A religious organization, labor union, political party, or national service/professional organization.
	h. 	An educational institution, organization, or K-12 school, whose primary orientation, mission, and purpose is education and the awarding of academic credits.
	i. 	An organization that has already received funding for the same project from another department grant program.
	13.5(3) Cultural trust stability grants. Stability grants support projects that will help Iowa cultural organizations reach goals of fiscal stability and institute best practices in organizational strategic planning and management.
	a. 	Applicants may request support for one or more of the following:
	(1)	Contractual costs for a consultant to advise on strategies to attain long-term financial stability and sustainability.
	(2)	Salary or contractual costs for a fundraising consultant or to support a fundraising staff position.
	(3)	Costs related to board or staff training in fundraising or endowment building or both.
	(4)	Costs related to a strategic planning process that includes development of strategies related to long-term financial stability and sustainability.
	b. 	General stability grant program policies.
	(1)	Applicants may request up to 50 percent of the project cost, to a maximum of $2,500.
	(2)	All applications must show a dollar-for-dollar cash match.
	(3)	No organization may receive more than one stability grant in a single fiscal year.
	(4)	Applicants must have been incorporated in their community for a minimum of three years.
	(5)	Applicants must participate in training for nonprofit strategic planning and administrative best practices prior to applying for grant funding or receive a waiver of the training requirement from the department.
	13.5(4) Application procedures. All cultural trust grant inquiries and correspondence, including the submission of completed application forms for consideration of funding, shall be addressed to the Department of Cultural Affairs, 600 E. Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50319. All applications shall be submitted according to the department’s published guidelines.
	13.5(5) Review process. All applications submitted shall be reviewed by a grant review panel, and the panel’s recommendations for grantees and grant awards shall be submitted to the board. The board shall determine final grant awards to the extent funds are available.
	13.5(6) Review criteria. Review criteria shall include, but not be limited to, the project’s ability to enhance the future stability and sustainability of the eligible applicant. Additional review criteria are as listed in the published project guidelines.
	13.5(7) Grant deadline. The department may establish one or more grant deadlines for the submission of cultural trust grant applications each year funds are available.
	13.5(8) Contractual agreement. The department and each successful grantee shall enter into a contractual agreement prior to the expenditure of project-related funds. No grant or matching funds may be obligated or expended for the project prior to the execution of the contractual agreement by the department and the grantee. A grantee must expend all awarded funds within the time frame named in the contractual agreement.
	13.5(9) Auditing requirements. The department reserves the right to request an audit of the expenditures of any cultural trust-funded project at the expense of the grantee.
	13.5(10) Informal appeals.
	a. 	An informal appeals process shall be made available only to applicants whose applications were declined on procedural impropriety or error as evidenced by one or more of the following reasons:
	(1)	Application declined on the basis of review criteria other than those appearing in rule or relevant guidelines;
	(2)	Application declined based on influence of the review panel willfully failing to disclose conflicts of interest;
	(3)	Application declined based upon highly erroneous information provided by staff or advisory committee members at the time of the review despite the fact that the applicant provided the department with accurate and complete information on regulation forms as part of the standard application process.
	b. 	Incomplete or ineligible applications, or applications failing to meet the application deadline, are specifically denied any appeals process.
	c. 	All requests for appeals shall be made in writing and shall be hand-delivered or bear a U.S. Postal Service postmark within 30 days of notification of the decision. The director shall consider and rule on the appeal and will notify the appellant in writing of the decision within 30 days from the receipt of the appeal. The decision of the director is final except as provided for in Iowa Code sections 17A.19 and 17A.20.
[ARC 8087B, IAB 8/26/09, effective 9/30/09]
These rules are intended to implement Iowa Code section 303.1A(6) and chapter 303A.
[Filed ARC 8087B (Notice ARC 7925B, IAB 7/1/09), IAB 8/26/09, effective 9/30/09]