Top 10 Tips for Applying for NAVA Grants:
1. Read the guidelines. We've had years of developing these guidelines and they're there to help. Everything you need to know will be there and anything you don't need, won't be.
2. Be clear and concise. Although we appreciate that you're passionate about your project and could talk about it for a week, being able to succinctly describe it to someone who has never seen it before is the key. The assessors have a lot of applications to go through and the quicker they understand what you're trying to tell them, the better it is for everyone.
3. Income equals Expenditure. You should cost your project properly so you know what your expenses will be. Income for the project will usually be shown as coming from a number of sources including the grant you are asking for, money and in-kind contributions from others, expected sales or fees etc. if you still have an income shortage but expect the project to go ahead, then the shortfall will be your own personal contribution, and you should note that.
4. Kill two birds with one stone. If you're an artist living in NSW, you can apply for both the Marketing and Visual and Craft Artists Grant Scheme. The funding bodies are different for both grants and each are assessed on their own merit.
5. Know your tax and GST. If you are registered for GST we need a tax invoice to pay you so provide one at the time of applying. You will be applying for the amount of the grant plus GST.
If you are not registered for GST and have an ABN you need to provide us with the ABN so that you will not have tax withheld from the grant.
If you are not registered for GST and you do not have an ABN then you need to either fill in a Statement by a Supplier or pay withholding tax on the grant (remember this is currently 48.5%). Most of our grant applicants in this category would submit a Statement by a Supplier but you may need to get further advice from your accountant or the Australia Taxation Office.
For more information about tax, go to the Advice Centre.
6. Don't panic - Post it. Once you decide to apply, give yourself plenty of time to fill out all the questions, write up all your paperwork and send us in any images, attachments etc – if they are asked for. NAVA is a national organisation and we accept that not everyone has access to metro postal services, which is why we accept grants postmarked by the closing date. Which means that you just need to get it in the post box on the day and you'll be OK. This means that an artist in Perth has the same amount of time to prepare the application as someone living in Sydney.
7. All NAVA grants are assessed externally. The small grants are assessed by a different pair of assessors in a different state each round. The Freedman Foundation Travelling Scholarship, Windmill Scholarship and the Art & Australia/ANZ Private Bank RIPE Award are all assessed by selection panels. This means that it takes time to assess because your projects are all worthwhile. It also means that NAVA staff don't have any influence over the decision. We can only give limited feedback after the grants have been assessed depending on the level of feedback the assessors have, or haven’t, given us.
8. If at first you don't succeed, try and try again. Just because you aren't successful, doesn't mean your exhibition, project, marketing plan isn't great.
9. If you are successful, don’t forget to bank the cheque! And you have to acknowledge the funding as outlined in your letter of offer.
10. Don't forget to tell us all about it! We love to hear how the project went, so after it's all over, download an acquittal form from the site and let us know. Don't forget to include copies of the invitations/web printouts/posters/flyers, etc. so that we have something to look at too.
