The Flying Squad: An Organizational Assistance Program for Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, Media Arts and Inter-Arts
GUIDELINES
Deadlines
1 April and 1 October (Dance, Music and Theatre)
15 April and 15 October (Visual Arts, Media Arts and Inter-Arts)
If the date falls on a weekend or statutory holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. Your completed application and all required support material must be postmarked on or before the deadline date.
The Canada Council will not accept applications that are postmarked after the deadline date, incomplete applications, or those submitted by fax or email. You will not be contacted if your application is incomplete.
Program Objectives
The specific objectives of this program are to:
- assist professional arts organizations in targeted organizational development
- assist groups and associations of non-profit organizations that propose innovative organizational development activities
- assist individuals working in the management of organizations to develop skills, networks and support systems within their communities and the community at large.
Program Description
The Flying Squad program enables Canadian professional arts organizations to work with consultants/specialists who can advise or assist them with an aspect of internal organizational challenges, opportunities and (or) new developmental directions. The consultants/specialists may recommend measures or a plan of action, and leave the full responsibility for implementation to the organization. The Canada Council is not accountable for the advice given by consultants/specialists.
The program has four components:
I. Organizational Research and Planning - Organizations may apply for funds to assist with research and planning related to their organizational development.
II. Mentorship - Organizations may apply for funds to allow their management personnel to be mentored, for a minimum of one week, by an in-service artsprofessional at another arts organization.
III. Collaborative Initiatives - Organizations may apply for support of initiatives involving a group or association of professional organizations connected by region or sector, or for support of collaborative initiatives that serve the general needs of their artistic milieu.
IV. Professional Development - Organizations may apply to assist up to two individuals (such as artistic directors, administrative directors, marketing managers and (or) board directors) to attend professional development workshops and seminars that directly relate to specific organizational development needs identified by the organization.
Applicant Eligibility
General Applicant Eligibility
Note that meeting the eligibility criteria allows your organization to apply to the program. This does not, however, guarantee that you will receive a grant.
All eligible organizations are encouraged to apply for support of activities that meet an organizational development need. This includes organizations that are new and emerging, geographically isolated, undergoing restructuring or reorganization, in transition or experiencing growth. This also includes organizations that are producing or presenting works for young audiences.
This Canada Council program is accessible to Aboriginal arts organizations and arts organizations from diverse cultural and regional communities of Canada.
Specific Applicant Eligibility, by Component
Components I and IV
To be eligible to apply to Components I and IV, your organization must meet all of the following criteria. It must:
- be a Canadian non-profit organization
- be directed by individuals who are recognized as professionals in their artistic disciplines
- have received an operating, project or touring grant from the Canada Council within the last three years.
Component II
To apply to this component, your organization must meet all of the above eligibility criteria for Components I and IV. In addition, the individual(s) being mentored must meet all of the following criteria. They must:
- be Canadian citizens or have permanent resident status, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada
- be currently employed in a management position at an eligible organization
- demonstrate the ability to meet all of the terms of the mentorship agreement.
Component III
To apply to this component, your group or association of organizations must:
- consist of Canadian non-profit organizations
- have a majority of partner organizations that have received an operating, project or touring grant from the Canada Council within the last three years.
Project Eligibility
(Note: You must contact the appropriate Flying Squad Coordinator to discuss your project before submitting an application to this program.)
Components I, II and III
You may apply for assistance in research, planning, professional development, mentoring or collaborative initiatives in dance, music, theatre, visual arts, media arts and (or) inter-arts management. Specific project activities that are eligible for funding include:
- organizational vision and strategic planning
- developing management and administrative capacity
- crisis management
- marketing and audience development
- planning for touring and circulation activities
- collections management
- education or public programs development/management
- financial management
- fundraising
- capital projects (only assistance relating to pre-project feasibility, impact of capital projects on the organization’s operations, or planning for acquisition, renovations, equipment or construction)
- governance/board development
- leadership development.
While the research and planning phases of the above activities are eligible for support when done in collaboration with a consultant/specialist, implementation of the activities is considered to be part of the ongoing operations of organizations and is not eligible for assistance. For example, planning a new marketing strategy is eligible, but implementing it is not.
Component IV
You may apply for individuals from your organization to attend professional development workshops and seminars offered in Canada and abroad.
Grant Amount
Amount Available
The maximum grant amounts that may be awarded under each component are as follows:
Components I, II and III − $10,000
Component IV − $2,500 each year
If your application is successful, your organization may not be awarded the full amount that it requests.
Eligible Expenses
Components I and III
The Flying Squad program supports the professional fees of consultants/ specialists for both the time they spend doing off-site research, planning and report writing (which may include time spent analyzing the project) and the time they spend in on-site meetings and activities. When you are negotiating fees with consultants/specialists, ask them to provide a breakdown of the time they will bill for off-site and on-site activities. You will need this breakdown to complete your application form.
The program will cover a maximum of $8,000 for consultants’/specialists’ fees and $2,000 for travel/accommodation/per diem expenses. You may use the services of more than one consultant/specialist in your project, but their combined fees cannot exceed $8,000.
Component II
The program will generally cover a maximum of $600 a week toward the salary of the person being mentored and an honorarium of $200 a week (to a maximum of $1,000) for the mentor. Other eligible expenses include travel, accommodation and per diem allowances.
If you are requesting a contribution toward salary, see Part C of the application form for support material requirements.
Component IV
The program will cover registration fees for workshops, programs and seminars and (if this applies) travel, accommodation and per diem expenses.
Application Form
Application Form (PDF Acrobat format).
This form can only be printed and cannot be filled out on-line.
Further Information
You must contact the appropriate Flying Squad Coordinator indicated below to discuss your project before submitting an application to this program. You should do so well before the application deadline.
Telephone: 1-866-359-7782 (toll free) or 613-566-4443. You can leave messages at these numbers for the Coordinators, as instructed by the voice message system. Calls are usually returned within 48 hours. The Flying Squad Coordinators are external to the Canada Council and cannot be reached directly at the Canada Council.
Flying Squad Coordinators:
Anglophone dance and music organizations
Joan Bosworth,
joan.bosworth@canadacouncil.ca
Anglophone theatre organizations
Claudia Buckley
claudia.buckley@canadacouncil.ca
Anglophone visual arts, media arts and inter-arts organizations
Su Ditta
susan.ditta@canadacouncil.ca
Francophone organizations
Francine d’Entremont
francine.dentremont@canadacouncil.ca
Canada Council for the Arts
350 Albert Street, P.O. Box 1047
Ottawa ON K1P 5V8
TTY: 1-866-585-5559
Fax: 613-566-4409
March 2010