LCC Program Deadline Extended to November 1

Dear LCC Applicant,

The Community Initiative Team at Mass Cultural Council has received feedback from LCCs and applicants regarding challenges associated with navigating the Agency’s new grants management system.

To be sure that applicants have the best chance of applying for an LCC grant, we have decided to extend the FY22 LCC deadline to November 1, 2021 at 11:59pm(ET). Please note that while the application will close at 11:59pm (ET), the help desk will only be staffed until 6pm that evening.

Please review the following steps which outline and clarify how to navigate the grants management system to apply for an LCC grant:

1) Registering in the New Grants Management System

If you have not registered or started or submitted an application, please register in the new system. Please begin by clicking on REGISTER in order to access any grant opportunities.

screen shot of the grants management home page

Once you hit "Register" you will follow the prompts to apply as an Individual or an Organization.

If you register as an individual, you will follow the prompts to put in your name, address, and email address that will become part of your user profile. There is a demographic section that you must fill out, too, so be sure to read the questions carefully. Once registered, you will be brought to your personal portal page which will tell you what grants are available to you as well as applying for an LCC grant. (Review this video for more instruction.)

If you want to apply as an organization, you will need to register your organization in the system. Click "Organization". On the next page you will search for your organization in the search field:

If you CANNOT FIND your organization in the search field, click the link at the top of the page to register your organization manually. The first part of the form is about the organization, the second part of the form is where you enter your name and email which will become your user profile information. Your email will be your username. Most previous LCC applicants will not be found in the search field and will need to register their organization manually. Once you complete the registration you will receive an email to activate your account and you can set your password and login.
If you do find your organization in the search field, simply select it, and enter your name and email which will become your user profile information. Your email will be your username. Once you complete the registration you will receive an email to activate your account and you can set your password and login.
You will now be associated with that organization and any grants you apply to with that email address will be on behalf of that organization. Once registered you will be brought to your personal portal page which will tell you what grants are available to your organization as well as applying for an LCC grant. (Review this video for more instruction.)

If you are part of an organization or an LCC and your email is associated with that organization, and you want to apply as a “grant-seeking individual” you MUST register using a different email address.

If you get a message saying your email address is already in the system when you register, you can click "Forgot Password?" to trigger an email that will direct you to reset your password so you can login. Some applicants who have applied directly to the Mass Cultural Council in the past may have a user profile in the grants management system already.

2) Navigating the Application Form

Personal Portal Page. Upon login, you will see a "329 Apply to a Local Cultural Council" button on the portal page. Click it to see a list of all 329 LCCs. Then select the LCC you wish to apply to, review their priorities, and click "Apply Now". You will be brought to the Eligibility Quiz.

Eligibility Quiz. For each application you will be required to fill out an eligibility quiz. Please read the questions carefully. If you fail eligibility, and you feel you are eligible to apply, you can try again.

Budget. The budget section is new this year. We are only asking you to itemize your expenses. To do this you need to click on the blue budget button, and it will open in a new window. From here click on the "+" sign to add your expenses and scroll to the right to complete each line in the form. You will list your income in the box below the budget button. It is a narrative section where we want you to tell us where your income will be coming from. The budget section is not meant for you to demonstrate a balanced budget.

screen shot of project budget navigation

screen shot of where to add a budget expense

screen shot of more details from the budget expense section

Project Overview. Here you must give a description of your program. Please note, you are only allowed a certain number of characters. If you see "-X" numbers of characters left (in red), you have too many characters and need to edit that box by removing characters.

Additional Supplemental Materials. Not all LCCs require these materials. You must check a council's priorities to see if you need to attach any extra information to your grant application.

3) Disregard Any Requests for Hard Copies by LCCs

When you check a council's profile to review their priorities and local guidelines, you may see language requesting that hard copies of your application be sent to the LCC. Please disregard this specific instruction as it is due to a technical glitch in our system.

4) For Further Assistance

Please check our FAQs for answers to other common questions. If you need any further support, please contact the help desk at 617-858-2707 or send an email to LCC@state.ma.us.

Sincerely,
Community Initiative Team

If the images in this email are not accessible to you, please contact LCC@state.ma.us for assistance.

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Header image: KAIROS Dance Theater.

About the Mass Cultural Council

Mass Cultural Council is a state agency supporting the arts, sciences, and humanities, to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts and its communities. It pursues its mission through a combination of grants, services, and advocacy for nonprofit cultural organizations, schools, communities, and artists.

About the Community Initiative

Mass Cultural Council’s Community Initiative unleashes the power of culture in cities and towns across the Commonwealth. We help communities create rich cultural experiences that improve our quality of life, foster growth and economic development, and celebrate the authentic power of place. We form partnerships between developers, cultural leaders, and municipalities that transform cities and towns through culture. And we’re leading a movement to bring people of all backgrounds in the arts, humanities, and sciences together for a common cause: to elevate the importance of culture to create a better Commonwealth.

Community Initiative Team

Lisa Simmons, Community Initiative Program Manager
Festivals, Cultural Districts, Local Cultural Councils
Regions: Boston, Martha’s Vineyard, The Berkshires, Plymouth County, North Central Mass

Luis E. Cotto, Program Manager
Cultural Districts, Local Cultural Councils
Regions: Greater Merrimack Valley, Metro West

Ricardo Guillaume, Program Officer
Local Cultural Councils, Cultural Districts
Regions: Franklin County, South-Central Mass, Cape Cod (excluding Gosnold)

Mina Kim, Program Officer
Cultural Districts, Local Cultural Councils
Regions: Hampshire County, North of Boston, Bristol County

Timothea Pham, Program Officer
Local Cultural Councils, Cultural Districts
Regions: Greater Springfield, Greater Boston (excluding Boston), Nantucket

Verónica Ramírez Martell, Program Officer
Local Cultural Councils, Cultural Districts
Regions: Berkshire, North-Central Massachusetts, Plymouth County

Map of staff assignments by region (PDF)
List of staff assignments by city/town