ORGANIZATIONS MUST

• Be a registered non-profit organization.
• Have received Programming or Operating funding from the Edmonton Arts Council in the past 12 months.
• Have an up-to-date profile in the Edmonton Arts Council’s online portal, SmartSimple.
• Not be in arrears with the City of Edmonton.

WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN APPLYING

Projects must:

• Have a defined start and end date.
• Clearly describe:
  • The anticipated change for your organization,
  • How you will function differently after the change, and how the change will be sustained.
  • What measures and indicators you will use to understand the effectiveness of that change.

Consider if your project meets one or more of the following EAC funding strategy priorities:

• Demonstrated commitment to the fair and professional payment of Edmonton artists and arts workers; 
• Effective pursuit of their primary mandate(s) to support, engage, produce or present work by and for Indigenous communities and/​or equity-deserving groups; 
• Provision of accessible or low-cost public programming to a wide range of Edmontonians; 
• Effective operational management of Edmonton arts facilities that are accessible and available for the use of multiple artists, audiences, and communities.

WHAT IS A GOOD FIT

Examples of work that might align with Invent & Adapt Funding:

• An Indigenous dance company seeks to establish a centralized booking service for their participating artists.
• An emerging art gallery is seeking to transition from a working volunteer board to a working board that works in tandem with a paid curator and a paid administrator. 
• Due to audience feedback, a musical ensemble that has been heavily focused on Western baroque and classical music, is working to change their mission to include classical music from China and Korea. 
• A theatre company that presents locally wants to expand its organizational capacity to undertake a province-wide tour.
• A local literary publication seeks to amplify marginalized voices and will engage in consultation with stakeholders and an independent specialist to develop policies regarding equity, diversity, inclusion and access to integrate into their editorial processes, outreach strategies and organizational culture.

WHAT IS NOT SUPPORTED

• Direct spending on capital projects or acquisitions.
• Projects that are primarily focused on artistic creation, production or presentation.
• Activity that the City of Edmonton already supports through other sources.
• Any expenses paid before the application deadline.

RESOURCES

This document describes a set of tools that your organization may find helpful in planning for organizational change. It provides more detailed information about an analysis of organizational maturity, adapted to the specifics of the arts sector, and offers a case study in how this tool might be applied. The document includes links to third-party resources that may help in determining next steps for your organization once you have determined a more specific course for organizational change.

DOWNLOAD RESOURCES PDF

Please visit the Resources section of our website for more information on profile and application expectations:

• Video resources
• Funding FAQ

DRAFT APPLICATION ASSISTANCE

The EAC offers an opportunity for organizations to have their draft application reviewed before the deadline. The review process could include: 

• Help to clarify the intentions, outcomes or goals of the initiative in relationship with the organization’s planning.
• Reviewing budgets and support materials
  

If you would like someone to review your draft application with you, please email no later than 5 business days before the application deadline. Requests for review made after this time may not be possible.

REVISION REQUESTS

In the two weeks following the application deadline, if your application requires an update or additional information, you may receive a revision request by email. If this information is mandatory, you will be informed, and if not completed, it may result in your application being withdrawn from assessment. You must log in to the SmartSimple portal to see the details of your revision request, as well as the deadline for submission. Revision requests are given no more than one week to complete. Instructions for accessing revision requests are provided as a PDF in the email notification. Revisions that are incomplete after the deadline will be contacted with a notice of withdrawal, where applicable.

Please add support@​edmontonarts.​ca to your safe senders list to ensure you don’t miss notifications from SmartSimple, and check your email regularly to see if your application requires attention.

FEEDBACK

Applicants can request feedback on their applications after the assessment process is complete and decisions are finalized. Feedback can be provided at any time for any applications submitted using the SmartSimple portal. We encourage all applicants, successful or not, to get feedback, especially if you are working on an application for a similar project. 

The deadline for submissions is August 1, 2025 by 11:59 AM (noon). 

Please note, the deadline is 11:59 AM (noon), not PM. Late applications or those that do not include all required information will be considered incomplete and will not be assessed.

Apply through the EAC’s online portal, SmartSimple: 

Ensure you have updated all required fields of your Organization Profile in SmartSimple before submitting your application. 

The Invent & Adapt grant application form is available in SmartSimple under the ​“Open Opportunities” icon of your Organization Profile, a minimum of 30 days before the application deadline.

ASSESSMENT PROCESS

The Arts Development and Investment team ensures the submitted applications meet the program’s eligibility criteria and are complete. As a part of this process, the application may be sent back for clarification and revisions to ensure that there is a common understanding of the project to be undertaken.

Then, a panel of diverse, knowledgeable members from the community will review the applications and conduct an assessment. Assessors will use:

• The submitted application;
• The program guidelines;
• EAC’s knowledge of the organization’s operational effectiveness;
• An assessment form focused on criteria related to the intentions of this funding.

The assessors will make recommendations to the EAC. Following assessment, EAC staff summarize all relevant information when presenting investment outcomes for approval. Decisions made through this process are final.

This process will take 12 to 16 weeks. Thank you for your patience!

For more on assessment, please review the 2024 Investment Framework.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Assessment will be based on what is outlined in these guidelines, as well as: 

• The merit of the organization’s proposed change goals.
• The anticipated impact of the proposed change on the organization.
• The feasibility of the proposed work, based on the plan, timeline and budget. 
• The value of the organization’s continued strategic development within the context of the Edmonton arts ecosystem. 

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Organizations that receive funding through this opportunity will be required to submit a report on the actions undertaken. Applicants will be expected to provide a thorough assessment of the outcomes of the project with respect to the goals and key performance indicators articulated in their application, as well as account for the actual spending of budgets. Reports are to be completed in the SmartSimple portal and will be available after the completion of the project, as stated in the application timeline.

PROJECT EXTENSIONS

The EAC understands that projects may not go as planned, and a short extension might be required to complete the activities and outcomes of the project. If you have questions about project extensions, email grants@​edmontonarts.​ca for further assistance.

The Edmonton Arts Council acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts of the Invent & Adapt program.

Information about organizations funded under this agreement will be shared with the Canada Council for auditing and results measurement purposes. The Canada Council may contact recipients of its funding directly to invite them to take part in impact measurement activities. Successful applicants are required to use a Canada Council for the Arts logo, along with the EAC logo, on their marketing materials. 

GENERAL

• Project title. 
• Short project description (30 words).
• Project start and end date (must be after the application deadline) .
• Grant amount requested (maximum of $30,000) .

ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND 

SMARTSIMPLE PROFILE INFORMATION

This information will be directly imported into your application from your organization’s profile in SmartSimple. Please ensure your organization’s profile is up-to-date and submitted before completing your application.

• Organization’s operating or event name – the name that an organization uses in public communications, if different than the legal name;
• Organization’s primary and secondary discipline – the main artistic disciplines in which the organization has the most experience and focus. These may be different than the main artistic disciplines (s) of this application;
• Organization’s purpose and mission – purpose of organization as defined in your mission, mandate goals or other strategic statements;
• Organization’s primary and secondary mandate and objectives – Goals of the organization as defined by your board, staff or operations.
• Organization’s primary and secondary activities – Activities of the organization as defined by your operations.
• Organization’s social media and/​or web links – these links are used by the assessors as additional information on the organization’s work.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

• What strategic priority is your organization currently addressing that will be assisted by receiving this funding? 
• Describe the self-assessment or other reflective process that your organization has gone through to identify the need you have outlined above. (Additional documentation can be uploaded as supporting material.)
• Describe the project. 
• List the artists and or arts professionals to be contracted for the project and their fees and wages.
• Provide a project plan, including a clear timeline. 
• How will this project assist your organization in developing its capacity, resilience and/​or stability within the Edmonton arts ecosystem? 
• Other relevant information not already shared.

IMPACTS

• Provide the key performance indicators that you will use to measure your organization’s progress towards its goals (optional). 
• What are the anticipated benefits of the project with respect to the organization’s mission, mandate, activities, and/​or strategic goals?
• What does the organization anticipate the impacts of this project to be, in reference to:
  • Art form
  • Participating artists and arts workers
  • Audiences, and/​or
  • Community

PROJECT BUDGET

A balanced budget that shows:

• Revenues (including the amount requested in this grant application); 
• Expenses;

This information will be entered directly into the online form. Use the​“notes” section of each line to identify or explain each revenue and expense. 

If the budget incorporates in-kind expenses and revenues, they should be labelled as such and must be entered in both the revenue and expense sides of your budget. Up to 10% of the total grant amount may be requested for overhead costs in support of the project. An organization may request up to $30,000 in support through this program. 

Please also upload budget supporting documents (PDF), including but not limited to: 

• Quotations from suppliers. If you are including a quotation from a consultant, we strongly recommend including a breakdown of the scope of work and deliverables; 
• Standard fee schedules; 
• Correspondence that confirms rates; 
• Confirmation of other grants or funding in support of the project. 
  

Do not upload a spreadsheet of your complete budget – this must be filled in through the table in the application form.

SUPPORTING MATERIALS

Organizations may upload up to 10 audio/​visual/​PDF files and up to 5 direct links to external websites related to your proposed project. Assessors are encouraged to spend no more than 10 minutes taking in support materials.

These may include samples of the organization’s artistic work, but may also be letters of support, reviews, interviews, etc.

If you are using consultants or service contractors in your project, it is recommended that you include scope of work documentation in your supporting materials.

For each supporting material uploaded, you are required to provide a description of the material which could include creation date, medium, location, names of artists, etc. 

Uploaded video or audio files should be less than 2GB in size. Uploads are preferred to links whenever possible, so that access for assessors is as simple as possible.

Links must be direct and public. These links should go directly to the support material specified, rather than to a landing page or home page requiring further navigation by assessors. 

Please do not submit images as PDF files. Directly upload images in JPEG or PNG format.