Overview

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Marketing Matching Grant Program - FY2010

 

The Colorado Tourism Office’s Marketing Matching Grant Program provides funding to not-for-profit organizations in the State of Colorado for the purpose of promoting the state or a region as a tourism destination.

 

Regional /Partnership Applicants
A region is defined as a group of multiple Colorado communities (cities, towns, or counties) large or small, whose regional identity may be based upon geographic similarities, traveler behaviors, cultural identities, thematically, infrastructure links, etc.  It is important to note that the use of the word “region” does not necessarily correlate to the seven Colorado travel regions identified by the Colorado Tourism Office.  It is encouraged to demonstrate strong alliances through collaboration with other partners, other communities and securing other matching sources. The projects involving three (3) or more partners demonstrating strong collaboration, may be evaluated as being more competitive in the grant review process, and may be awarded a collaboration bonus of up to 5 additional points.

 

Statewide Applicants
Statewide organizations, destination travel groups and tourism associations in Colorado currently involved in tourism development will also be eligible to participate in the grant application process.

This year, the Colorado Tourism Office will award grants up to $15,000.  Funds will be awarded to organizations whose objective is to promote the state or the defined region.  For every $1 the organization allocates to the program, the Colorado Tourism Office will provide $2 in matching funds.  Up to 15% of the match may be in-kind, which may include services such as staff time or donated services or materials relevant to your grant project.  The deadline for grant requests is Wednesday, September 9, 2009 by 4:00 p.m.

The CTO Matching Grant evaluation committee will review the applications and make recommendations for the awards.  The evaluation committee may have follow up questions for the applicant in order to better understand any or all aspects of the grant proposal. Please note that the week of September 28 - October 2, 2009 will be dedicated to the follow up questions from the evaluation committee. During that week, applicants need to make themselves available for the Q&A session from the evaluation committee via a conference call. The CTO and evaluation committee will contact the Primary Contact identified on the Grant Application Form to ask questions.  The answers will be shared with the evaluation committee and factored into the review process.  Follow up questions in no way indicate whether the proposal has or has not been approved.

 

*For more details on the FY 2010 Marketing Matching Grant Program, please visit Guidelines/Grant Criteria page.