What will happen with my application once it’s received?
When Council receives your application, you will receive an automatic confirmation. Council will then do an initial assessment of your application and may:
- Confirm that your application is suitable as it is
- Ask for more information to help Council better understand your application
- Confirm that you are not eligible for funding in accordance with Council's Event Funding Guidelines
After the application deadline, any eligible applications will be evaluated by an Event Funding Panel and a report will be prepared to be presented at a future Council briefing workshop. After discussions, a draft budget will be developed which will include any proposed successful applications.
Once the budget has been adopted, Council will let you know whether your application was successful. If your application is not successful, you will be given feedback regarding why it was unsuccessful.
What if I don't apply during the application period?
Council also has an Event Funding Program discretionary fund with the budget allocation to be determined by Council annually. The discretionary fund may be used to provide funding for events that apply outside the Event Funding Program application period if the event otherwise meets the criteria in the Event Funding Guidelines.
Any applications for funding from the Event Funding Program discretionary fund will be assessed by the Event Funding Evaluation Panel and a recommendation will be made to Council on the allocation of discretionary funds.
What might cause my application to not be successful?
While every eligible application will be considered, it may not be possible for all eligible applications to be included in the final budget. This could be due to a number of factors, including:
- The application does not meet the criteria of the relevant funding tier per T2 in the Event Funding Guidelines
- The application does not meet some or all of the General Assessment Criteria in the Event Funding Guidelines
- The application demonstrates little or no alignment with Council’s strategic priorities
- The applicant has the means to fund the event without funding from Council
- The application has multiple attributes that are considered economically, socially or environmentally detrimental with no associated benefit
- An application for logistics support falls outside the scope of services provided by Council
- The application is beyond Council’s financial capacity
What would cause my application to be ineligible?
The following will not be considered for funding:
- Applicants that have demonstrated non-compliance with previous acquittal requirements for Council funding;
- Applicants that have demonstrated non-compliance with critical timeframes;
- Applicants that have not previously complied with event permit conditions or other conditions of Council, or who have failed to apply for required permits;
- Applicants seeking support for the entire cost of an event;
- Applicants that have the means of funding the event without external funding, where the lack of external funding will not impact the quality or growth of the event
- Private events or functions;
- Events that may offend or exclude parts of the community;
- Retrospective applications for funding;
- Events taking place outside Dorset (unless there is significant benefit for Dorset);
- Illegal activities or events;
- Events that are entirely tradeshows, conferences, teaching programs or lectures;
- School fetes, markets or fairs (unless there is considerable community benefit);
- Events that fundraise in nature (unless there is considerable community benefit); and
- Extensions to normal business operation.
If I apply for multi-year funding, will I have to reapply every year?
No. Approved multi-year funding applications will be governed by a multi-year funding agreement and the applicant will only need to apply once.
I've received event funding or in-kind support from Council before, will that continue?
All previous recipients of cash sponsorship or in-kind support for events from Council will be required to apply for ongoing funding through the Event Funding Program, so that each application can be evaluated against all other applications. Council will advertise the application period directly to past funding recipients as well as via public advertising channels.