Economic Development, Placemaking and Branding/Marketing Committee TO: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, DATE: May 19, 2022
PLACEMAKING AND BRANDING/MARKETING
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
FROM: COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WARDS: ALL
DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: fISCAL YEAR 2022/2023 CITY SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM, July 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022, Value of $139,396 ISSUE:
Receive, review, provide input on and recommend City Council approval of staff recommendations for the City Sponsorship Program support in the form of monetary funding and/or in-kind contributions of $139,396 for charitable and community events, which are produced by local non-profit organizations for the six-month period of July 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the Economic Development, Placemaking and Branding/Marketing Committee:
Receive, review, and provide input on staff recommendations for the City Sponsorship Program for the six-month period of July 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022; and Recommend that City Council approve City Sponsorship support in the form of monetary funding and/or in-kind contributions of $139,396 for charitable and community events, which are produced by local non-profit organizations; and Review and provide input regarding edited verbiage in the City Sponsorship Program Agreement.
BACKGROUND:
The City Sponsorship Program (Program) provides local non-profit organizations with the opportunity to apply for City Funds and/or in-kind services twice each fiscal year. The July 31 deadline covers applications for charitable and community events and meetings for the following January 1 – June 30 funding cycle. The January 31 deadline covers applications for charitable and community events and meetings for the period of July 1 – December 31.
Individual organizations were notified of the process via e-mail notifications in late spring and early summer, prior to the July 31, 2021 deadline, and staff led a Sponsorship 101 webinar in June 2021. The City Sponsorship Program Agreement, guidelines, and processes are posted on the City’s website and included as Attachment 1. The Sponsorship Program Agreement was recently submitted to the City Attorney’s Office for review of language related to religious organizations’ sponsorship requests and minor revisions were recommended (Attachment 1).
There are process/policy changes in several City departments that will have an impact on some of the recommended projects in this round of funding and/or future funding, resulting in an increased need for in-kind support or monetary support.
The Program is administered by the Community & Economic Development Department; fund availability from the Arts & Cultural Affairs Division Budget is as follows:
Arts & Cultural Affairs Budget for City Sponsorships, Fiscal Year 2022/2023 Proposed Cash Sponsorships from Arts & Cultural Affairs Budget for Fall 2022/2023 $135,545
$67,200
DISCUSSION:
The sponsorship applications were evaluated by various City departments based on each organization’s ability to create or enhance its events in the spirit of Seizing Our Destiny, as indicated in the Sponsorship Program Agreement. Other factors that were considered included projected attendance (virtual or live, as appropriate), event/organization history, event budget, and City Sponsorship history.
Forty-one (41) local, non-profit organizations applied for monetary and/or in-kind sponsorship during the current application process for events to be produced from July 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022, and thirty-nine (39) organizations are recommended as sponsorship recipients (Attachment 3). Two organizations were not recommended for sponsorship because: 1) An event was scheduled in the wrong funding period; and 2) A project did not include significant outreach. A component of the recommendations for sponsorship includes funding from Riverside Public Utilities (RPU), which is included in its budget, as well as in-kind sponsorship awards from the Fire Department; Library; Police Department; Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department (PRCSD); and Riverside Public Utilities.
The Sponsorship Program Agreement was recently submitted to the City Attorney’s Office for review of the language related to religious organizations’ sponsorship requests. A minor change update to the language was recommended, which is reflected in item number 9 on page 2 (Attachment 1).
A summary of the recommended sponsorship values for Fall 2022/2023 appears below:
Fall, 2022/2023 Recommended Funding
Cash Sponsorships (Arts & Cultural Affairs)
Cash Sponsorships (RPU)
Total Cash Sponsorships
Total Value of In-Kind Sponsorships
Total Value of Sponsorship
FA 2022/2023
$67,200
$6,950
$74,150
$65,246
$139,396
All impacted Department Heads concur with this report: Chief, Fire Department (RFD); Director, Library; Chief, Police Department (RPD); Director, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department (PRCSD); and General Manager, Riverside Public Utilities (RPU).
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT
The City Sponsorship Program supports Strategic Priority 1 – Arts, Culture, and Recreation by assisting with events and projects that cover all elements of Goals 1.1 and 1.2: learning, arts, culture, recreation, senior programs, and partnerships, as well as facilitation of requests for in-kind sponsorship related to various City amenities. Because of the diversity of requests, the Program also addresses Goal 1.5: programs and services related to literacy, health, and education for all ages. It also supports Strategic Priority 2 – Community Well-Being (Goals 2.3 – 2.5) and are addressed through programs related to development of a sense of community, community engagement, neighborhoods, and partnerships.
This item aligns with each of the Cross-cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust:
Each round of City Sponsorship funding is documented fully in the reports that are presented to the Economic Development, Placemaking & Marketing/Branding Committee and to the City Council, including each request item and each staff recommendation item Sponsorship 101 workshops are offered to prospective applicants every six months to ensure that they are informed of the processes and requirements Equity:
As staff members evaluate applications, they give particular attention to organizations that seek to serve populations representing the diversity of Riverside Access is a key factor in the evaluation process; each event or project must include significant outreach, with a preference for events and projects that are offered at no cost to the participants, and those applicants that cannot do that must eliminate significant barriers to entry, usually by offering free or reduced admission prices for specific populations (children, students, veterans, and seniors) Fiscal Responsibility:
The City Sponsorship program is included in the Arts & Cultural Affairs Division operating budget, placing it directly within the sphere of accountability that encompasses each staff member’s work, through the supervision of City Management, to the City Council The events and projects do not, generally, provide revenue directly to the City budget; however, sales tax revenue is generated through budget expenditures related to the production of each event or project and through the commerce generated by an event or project participants Additionally, these Sponsorship dollars are leveraged through the funded projects to provide community-enhancing activities throughout the calendar year, which multiply the value and impact of those dollars On average, the non-profit organizations that spend the City’s Sponsorship dollars utilize about one City dollar per each person who receives services, based on the estimated number of individuals served through these Sponsorship-funded programs and across a broad spectrum of causes Innovation:
Because the Program operates through two rounds of funding each year, there is broad opportunity for applicants to innovate in response to community needs, new trends, and fresh inspiration The frequency of the application process encourages innovation, because it mitigates risk in a way that a project of longer duration cannot, and that frequency also allows for flexibility in response to emerging needs in the community The Program provides opportunities (primarily during the Sponsorship 101 Training) for nonprofits to interact, opening doors to innovation through collaborations and partnerships Sustainability & Resiliency:
Funded projects promote the health of our nonprofit community, which makes this an investment in the capacity of the nonprofit community, as well as an investment in each life served by that community The nonprofit organizations in our community represent such broad and diverse areas of interest that they serve as a barometer of need in the community FISCAL IMPACT:
The total fiscal impact of this action is $139,396 for Fiscal Year 2022/23. Monetary contributions total $74,150 and in-kind contributions total $65,246. Funds will be budgeted in the General Fund, Community Development, Arts & Cultural Affairs expenditure account 2850000-450302 ($67,200) and in the Electric Fund, Public Utilities Customer Engagement, Community Outreach expenditure account 6020000-456022 ($6,950). Appropriations for future fiscal years will be included in the Department’s Budget submissions for those fiscal years to be presented to the City Council for approval.
Prepared by: Chris Christopoulos, Acting Community & Economic Development Director
Certified as to
availability of funds: Edward Enriquez, Chief Financial Officer/City Treasurer Approved by: Rafael Guzman, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Phaedra A. Norton, City Attorney
Attachments:
Program Agreement/Guidelines (with amended language)
Staff Funding Recommendations for Fall, 2022/2023
Presentation for Summary of Funding Recommendations
City Sponsorship Program – FALL, 2022/2023 Page 3