Fiscal sponsorship

Please note that you have until 5:00 p.m. to submit your application on the deadline date.

Who is eligible to apply?

Incorporated non-profit organizations or artist cooperatives that do not pay dividends.

What are the program objectives?

Provide arts organizations with the opportunity to solicit donations from the community as representatives of the Conseil. In so doing, the organizations’ fundraising activities increase the Conseil’s ability to financially support the arts.

IMPORTANT: No fundraising activities eligible for the Fiscal Sponsorship Program may begin unless the organization has already received funding from the Conseil des arts de Montréal, the management agreement has been signed and received by both parties, and the activity-related promotional materials have been reviewed and approved in advance by the Conseil.

What type of assistance is provided?

The Conseil awards larger grants to organizations, based on the new funding generated by fundraising efforts.

What is the duration of the support?

Support is non-recurring for the fiscal year in which fundraising efforts take place, and the results must meet the program criteria. The duration is indicated in the grant contract and management agreement between the organization and the Conseil des arts de Montréal.

Fiscal sponsorship is a transitional program.

The Conseil reserves the right to withdraw its fiscal sponsorship support after five years if the organization has not applied at least once to be registered as a charitable organization with the Canada Revenue Agency.

How does the fiscal sponsorship program work?

Fiscal sponsorship prolongs the Conseil’s support to organizations that are eligible for its support programs. More specifically, the program is a component of the Conseil’s General Funding Program for Arts Organizations. Organizations that organize fundraising activities and apply for fiscal sponsorship work as a representative of the Conseil, which in turn commits to awarding larger grants, provided that the fundraising has generated new revenue. As part of its fiscal sponsorship, the Conseil has the exclusive authority to receive donations and issue tax receipts.

What does an arm’s length relationship between a donor and the arts organization that solicited the donation imply?

For each donation it receives, the Conseil must ensure an arm’s length relationship between the donor and the arts organization that solicited the donation and that anyone who is not at arm’s length with the donor does not receive any personal benefit from the donation.

A non-arm’s length relationship is defined as the relationship between two people, whether connected by blood, marriage, or common-law union. An organization and an individual or corporate entity could be deemed to be in a non-arm’s length relationship if the latter controls the former.

An organization and a corporate entity could also be considered to be in a non-arm’s length relationship if they are controlled by the same person or group of people. A non-arm’s length relationship may also exist according to the situation: a member, director or board member of an organization could be deemed to have a non-arm’s length relationship with the organization.

If there is any doubt as to whether the donor (or any person associated with them) could be in a non-arm’s length relationship with the organization, the donor must notify the Conseil prior to the donation.

Can the Conseil withdraw its support?

The Conseil reserves the right to withdraw its support if:

• It is not clear in the eyes of the Conseil that the relationship between the donor and the representative arts organization is at arm’s length
• In the eyes of the Conseil, the relationship between the donor or someone associated with the donor and the funded arts organization could be considered not at arm’s length
• The donor or a person associated with the donor could benefit, directly or indirectly, from the donation made to the Conseil
• A non-arm’s length relationship is proven between the organization, its management, its board of directors and its donors (see previous paragraph)
• After five years of fiscal sponsorship support, the organization has not applied at least once to be registered as a charitable organization with the Canada Revenue Agency
• The organization has an affiliated foundation that supports it by soliciting donations as part of its ongoing fundraising activities
• The representative arts organization does not adequately carry out its fundraising activities based on the criteria set out in its grant contract and the management agreement with the Conseil (in accordance with Canada Revenue Agency rules)

Does the Conseil provide any support to funded organizations?

The Conseil has developed various programs and partnerships to help arts organizations expand their resources and knowledge of philanthropy. To learn more, please see our webpage on philanthropy for the arts community.

The Conseil is seeking to make it easier for organizations nearing the end of their fiscal sponsorship funding to gain charitable status by offsetting a portion of the expert consulting expenses they incur in relation to support fees for their application to the CRA in order to become registered charitable organizations themselves. This additional assistance will be provided to organizations in their third year of funding under the Fiscal Sponsorship Program.

What types of projects are eligible?

• Research
• Creation-production
• Specialized or multidisciplinary dissemination
• Publication of cultural magazines
• Production of an event or festival
• A museum
• Service organization, association or alliance

What are the general eligibility conditions?

Status and conditions

• Be a non-profit organization or an artists’ cooperative that pays no dividends
• Be headquartered on the Island of Montréal
• Have a board of directors whose members are mainly Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada
• Have the principal mandate to create, produce or distribute creative work in the arts, or to bring together or represent artists or cultural workers in a specific artistic discipline or multidisciplinary arts.

Professionalism

• Possess a level of recognized and demonstrable competence
• Be managed by qualified individuals
• Have stable artistic leadership
• Have presented activities of a recognized artistic quality
• Bring together, represent or employ professional artists and/or cultural workers

Are there any special eligibility conditions?

• Agree that the Conseil has full discretion and control over whether a donation can be accepted and how it will be used, in accordance with its Donation Acceptance Policy
• Recognize that the Conseil charges administration fees on the sums collected by organizations, equal to 4% for the first three years under the program and progressively increasing to 6% during the fourth year and then to 8% for the fifth year. This progressive increase on the administration fee will only be applied to first time applicants for the March 8th 2023 deadline and for future deadlines. (This percentage may change at the sole discretion of the Conseil.).

What types of fundraising projects are eligible?

Authorized fundraising activities are:

• Benefit events
• Direct solicitation of individuals, foundations, and companies via an annual or special campaign

When must the fundraising project be carried out?

The fundraising project must be completed within the time frame established in the fiscal sponsorship application.

A new application must be submitted for each new fiscal sponsorship project. When renewing or submitting a second application, we recommended that you inform the project manager to check the process for submitting the new application or application for renewal.

When submitting an application for renewal or extension, arts organizations are responsible for allowing the Conseil sufficient time to study the application and issue a new decision. Organizations are also responsible for planning their applications for renewal under the program in accordance with the deadlines set by the Conseil des arts de Montréal and the information found in the fiscal sponsorship management agreement.

How many applications will be approved?

The number of applications the Conseil accepts varies depending on the number it receives, and its evaluation of the interest and relevance of the projects.

Who is ineligible to apply?

Ineligible applicants

• Organizations that do not meet the general eligibility requirements
• Organizations incorporated as general or limited partnerships
• Individual artists
• Artists’ collectives
• Cultural magazines with less than one year of publication activity to their credit, or that produce fewer than three issues a year, and that distribute free of charge or exclusively in electronic format
• Public or para-public organizations representing governments or municipal corporations
• Organizations dedicated to teaching, education, and professional training

Projects

• Projects completed before receiving the Conseil’s decision (approximately eight to ten weeks following the application deadline)
• Sound recording projects (albums, CDs, demos, etc.) of a promotional nature
• Projects whose main focus is cultural mediation
• Projects specifically related to film or web film production
• Projects that are essentially promotional, including video clips
• Projects intended primarily for training, internships or masterclasses
• National or international showcase or prospection projects
• Capital projects or projects to acquire specialized equipment
• Projects focusing primarily on acquiring products and equipment to meet public health-mandated health standards

Activity sectors

• Organizations working exclusively in variety arts or comedy
• Organizations working exclusively in cultural mediation

Applications

• Incomplete applications
• Applications received after the deadline

Ineligibility specific to fiscal sponsorship

The following fundraising activities do not align with the fiscal sponsorship program:

• Auctions
• Draws
• Crowdfunding campaigns

Sponsorship is not considered philanthropy and therefore not eligible for fiscal sponsorship.

Ineligible applications will not be considered by the evaluation committee

Can specific populations receive additional financial support to submit their application or complete their project (accessibility costs)?

Yes. Accessibility costs refer to costs that certain individuals, particularly those who are D/deaf and/or living with a disability, must pay to take advantage, in the same way as others do, of the services and programs offered by an institution for research, to create, produce or disseminate their art. Reimbursement of part of these costs by the Conseil des arts de Montréal may offset the financial disadvantage.

The Support Fund for Accessibility Costs is a financial assistance measure that complements the Conseil’s other programs. The deadline to apply for support for accessibility costs is the same as that for the program being applied to.

Artists, collectives or organizations that have obtained financial assistance from the Conseil to carry out a project can also file an application for accessibility cost support up to three months after the decisions related to the successful project have been sent out, provided the project is not completed before the deadline to send out decisions for accessibility cost support applications.

Support is divided into three components:

• Component 1 – Financial support to submit a grant application or to apply for one of the Conseil’s initiatives
• Component 2 – Financial support for accessibility costs for a project funded by the Conseil
• Component 3 – Financial support for presenter organizations for accessibility costs to welcome audiences for a project funded by the Conseil

For more details, please see this additional information on the Support Fund.

Can I submit more than one application in the same year?

Organizations can only submit one application per year. Three calls for applications are planned each year for this program. The first submission is usually scheduled for November, the second for March and the third for September.

Who should submit the application?

The organization’s designated representative (administration, management).

What information and documents must I include in my application?

• Project summary and financial objectives
• Mandate and brief history
• Description of the proposed fundraising project and artistic project
• List of staff and board members
• Potential and confirmed donors
• Self-identification form (voluntary, for statistical purposes)
• Financials

Important: Please note that if you do not complete your application, the initial draft will be deleted four weeks after the application deadline. You will not be able to reuse it for future applications. You may therefore wish to create a PDF version of your application and download it for your files.

How are applications evaluated?

Applications are reviewed by an evaluation committee composed of peer evaluators from the same discipline as the organization applying for support.

What are the evaluation criteria?

Applications are assessed according to the evaluation criteria of the General Funding Program.

What is the response time?

It will take eight to ten weeks from the date of the application for the Conseil to process it and reach a decision.

How will I be informed of the decision?

The representative for the organization will receive an email invitation to view the results on the ORORA platform. No decisions will be communicated by phone.

Can I appeal the decision?

The Conseil’s decisions are final and not subject to appeal. However, Conseil staff are available to answer any questions regarding decisions.

Applicants agree not to communicate with members of the evaluation committee or the Conseil’s Board of Directors about the management or evaluation of their application, or about decisions related to their application.

How will the grant be paid?

The grant is paid six to eight weeks after receipt and verification of collected donation cheques and three to four weeks after online donations.

Payment of the grant is conditional on the receipt of donations solicited by the organization receiving fiscal sponsorship.

The first payment will be made via cheque. Subsequent payments will be made via direct deposit.

Commitments

Accepting payment of the grant constitutes, for the organization, an undertaking to complete the activities covered by the fiscal sponsorship and to comply with the accompanying conditions, which will be communicated upon selection of the application.

Organizations agree to:

• Carry out the proposed project as planned
• Notify the Conseil as soon as possible if unable to carry out the fundraising project in the fiscal year for which the grant was awarded
• If requested, submit activity reports and financial statements at the required times
• If applicable, include in the report photographs, videos or any other relevant, royalty-free visuals that the Conseil may use for promotional or archival purposes

Specifically, once the project is accepted, the organization must:

• Obtain the Conseil’s approval for any documents relating to its fundraising efforts before undertaking such efforts
• Obtain approval for its donation form, which must be completed and signed by each donor
• Ensure that all donation cheques received are made out to the Conseil des arts de Montréal, and verify that the address on the cheques corresponds to that of the Conseil: 1210 Sherbrooke Street East, Montréal, QC  H2L 1L9
• Send the Conseil the compiled donation cheques received with an enclosed table that lists the amounts of the cheques and the names of the donors, as well as the benefit and donation portions of each cheque, if applicable
• Send the Conseil the donation cheques by December 1 at the latest so that the receipts can be applied to the fiscal year underway
• The Conseil issues tax receipts based on the date indicated on the cheque or the transaction date, in the case of online donations
• Provide the Conseil with an activity report and financial statements within four months of the end of its fiscal year
• List the grant received through the fiscal sponsorship program in the financial statements, not under “donations,” but under “Grant—Conseil des arts de Montréal—Fiscal Sponsorship”
• Comply with all other conditions outlined in the grant contract and management agreement with the Conseil including, but not limited to, the organization’s obligations to publicly acknowledge the Conseil des arts de Montréal for its support.

In the event that the organization violates the conditions of the grant contract and the management agreement, the Conseil can terminate the organization’s participation in the fiscal sponsorship program. If any funds remain to be paid to the non-compliant organization, the funds will be withdrawn from the program and used by the Conseil at its discretion, given that these funds belong to the Conseil.