Can you explain in more detail what you mean by 50% matching funds?
A Sister Cities – Connecting Places grant requires matching funds at the same amount as the requested funds, in other words 50% of the total budget. In other words, if you request $20,000, we expect you to add $20,000 in matching funds, whether monetary or in-kind.
IMPORTANT: we accept both monetary and in-kind funding, or a mix of both. So, for example, any contributions your required partnering arts or culture organizations make can be included as in-kind contributions towards your matching funds.
Here are some examples of in-kind contributions:
- donated event space,
- donated services or equipment needed for carrying out the events,
- donated food or refreshments
- donated accommodations (home stays, etc.)
- any other donations
Note: we will not accept partial salaries for organization employees or any other organizational admin costs.
How do I communicate these matching funds in the application?
We understand that at this point in time and until the project is accepted and funded, you are working with promises and conditional commitments from organizations and potential funders. This is totally fine. However, we do expect these organizations or funders to submit a Letter of Intent (see attached template) that lists their proposed contributions if the project goes ahead. Details can be worked out later, but we do need to see partner intentions to support the project through monetary or in-kind contributions. In the event that contributions are dependent on funds that are not 100% secure, please add wording to explain.
The submitted preliminary budget should list your parters’ proposed contributions. All in-kind contributions should be given a realistic monetary value to be listed in the budget. All contributions should be backed up with a Letter of Intent from the contributing organization or funding source.
What if we cannot submit a Letter of Intent for all proposed matching funds?
In exceptional case it may not be possible to submit a Letter of Intent. Please reach out to
Annette.Klein@goethe.de to discuss if this is the case.
What are examples of past projects you can share?
Here are the links shared in the last meeting with examples of cultural projects organized by the Goethe-Institut:
Among Friends - Goethe-Institut USA
Foreign Correspondent Unplugged
Gegenüber - Goethe-Institut
Film Festival: Berlin & Beyond Film Festival -
Artist Intervention/Cocktail Event: Migratory Notes: New York City Edition
Home Visit USA - Rimini Protokoll
Feel free to take a look at the
Goethe-Institut USA and
www.goethe.de websites – both have links to individual Goethe-Institut websites in the US and around the World.
Do you have any recommendations for how to get started?
When brainstorming, I suggest starting by thinking about what arts/cultural organizations your cities have that are actively engaging young audiences through the arts and might be interested in partnering with you. Are there two arts/cultural organizations that you think have similar approaches and might enjoy working together? Are your cities known for something special in the arts? Could be anything….street Art, brass bands, some other music traditions, dance/theater programs, academies specialized in some art form, like film, music or whatever? Perhaps there are similar interests that could be exploited through an arts lens of some kind?
With this project we hope to encourage sister cities to really think about what ties them together and collaboratively design a project that explores topics that are important for both cities, taking advantage of arts/cultural organizations that the cities have. For example, a project could bring together a team of artists, musicians, dancers/choreographers, filmmakers, you name it, with representation from both cities, to develop a project that takes place in both cities and reaches a younger audience. Another example: bringing young artists from both cities together for a mural project that addresses a shared concern. Or bringing theatre or dance youth groups from both cities together to develop a show on an agreed upon topic to be performed at a city festival or other public event. Film students make a film together….I think you get the idea.
What we are trying to avoid is a classic exchange where groups or artists visit each other. Rather, we are looking for projects where these groups or artists develop something together with the goal of involving a broad and youthful audience.
