Seeding Cultural Treasures

Propel is grateful for the guidance and recommendations of the 34 arts and cultures leaders for serving on the Design Team and/or Selection Committee for Seeding Cultural Treasures.

These two groups provided input that led to the inclusion of elements we hoped represented the needs and wants of the groups we were aiming to work with through this cohort opportunity. Those included, but were not limited to:

• A long application period with flexible deadlines, and multiple touchpoints for conversation with grant staff including technical assistance days and informational webinars.
• The creation of an inclusive and accessible Request for Proposals.
• Inclusion of the opportunity for interviews if needed to clarify information in the application. (The Selection Committee ultimately decided interviews were not necessary to clarify the applications for those they selected to participate in the cohort.)
• Provide enough funding to truly make a difference in moving organizations from surviving to thriving. We committed to making grants starting at $40,000.
• Focus on developing all the other elements of the cohort that can nurture the organizations (networking, convenings, learning labs, technical assistance) and not only the funding.
• Offer optional, ongoing nonfunding opportunities (learning labs, technical assistance, networking) to all applicants and not only organizations selected for the cohort.
• Provide scoring and comments by the Selection Committee for each application, if requested.
• Share learnings with funders to impact the philanthropic systems.

All applications were reviewed by 3 members of the Selection Committee. The Committee was provided training on how to avoid unintended bias in their application review, and reviewed each application based on its own merits.