April 21, 2004
CONTACT: Caryn Gresham
304-558-2288, ext. 347
cgresham@callwva.com
Click for April 21, 2004 new grant guidelines
The West Virginia Tourism Commission on April 15 revised guidelines for the Cooperative Tourism Promotion Fund grant program. The changes were made following recommendations by a Best Practices Committee and an industry comment period.
Of the more than 1,500 businesses that have received grants, about 40 industry members commented in writing and 30 spoke at an April 14 Commission meeting.
The new guidelines emphasize advertising and direct mail programs that will reach out-of-state audiences. In addition, the guidelines put more emphasis on developing partnerships that promote the states destinations and attractions.
The complete text of the amended grant guidelines can be found on the West Virginia Division of tourism web site, www.callwva.com, under Industry Information and at the Division of Tourism online newsroom at www.callwvanews.com, under News Releases.
The Commission will begin approving grants at its June 17 meeting, which will be at 10 a.m. at the West Virginia Division of Tourism office at 90 MacCorkle Avenue SW, South Charleston.
The Grants Committee will meet Wednesday, June 16 to review and score the grants that are to be considered at the commission meeting. The time for that meeting will be set in May.
All grants received since Dec. 1, 2003, must be revised to reflect the changes made to the other grants guidelines. The Division’s Cooperative Tourism Promotion Fund staff is contacting all grant applicants to provide them with the information they need to revise grants and submit them by the May 15 deadline.
Fairs and festivals and small businesses that have grant applications pending also will be notified if any changes need to be made to their applications. Once revised grants are received at the Division, they will be reviewed.
Grant applications that are being submitted for the June meeting must also reflect the revised guidelines and be received at the Division office by 5 p.m. on May 1. The Cooperative Tourism Promotion Fund staff will review these grants and, if any corrections need to be made, they will need to be completed by May 15, as well.
After the May 1 deadline for the June commission meeting, the commission will begin reviewing grants on a quarterly basis. New deadlines can be found in the new grant guidelines.
The following is a brief description of the changes made by the commission. For the full text and for new grant forms, visit www.callwva.com and click on Industry Information.
Billboards must be for destination and attraction advertising and must be outside of a 50-mile radius of the destination/attraction OR in a major out-of-state metropolitan market. The Division of Tourism Cooperative Tourism Promotion Fund Section must approve all creative for billboards in advance. Fairs and festivals are exempt from this guideline.
Two or more eligible entities must have a common call to action in the promotion of a collaborative marketing program.
TODS signage (Tourism Oriented Directional Signs posted by the Division of Highways) and logo signs for gas, food, lodging and camping are not eligible.
Chain restaurants are not eligible for matching grants.
Regional advertising is advertising in which at least 80 percept of the media placement dollars are spent outside of a 50-mile radius OR in a major out-of-state metropolitan market. Fairs and festivals are exempt from this guideline.
Postage is eligible only if it is used for direct mail marketing. Reimbursement requests must clearly separate direct mail postage for other postage costs.
Professional service fees used for creative development of direct marketing collateral are eligible at a rate of up to 12 percent of collateral printing costs, with a cap of $15,000. Applications must have three bids and the bids must include a quotation for reprinting material.
Collateral material eligible for grants must be used for direct mail. CDs and DVDs are not eligible. Fairs and festivals are exempt from this guideline.
All modifications must have prior written approval. No modifications may be made after the ending project date. Modifications are limited to six per grant and exemptions will be granted only for closing our reimbursement requests for expenses incurred during the grant period, not for expending unused dollars.
Trade shows are not eligible for the grants program.
All grant applications must include a description of how the applicant plans to evaluate the goals and objectives of the grant, along with tracking from any similar prior projects. Failure to adhere to the evaluation plan or to include a complete and accurate prior evaluation will result in disqualification.
No price-point advertising is eligible for the grants program. Retail advertising in not eligible with the exception of destination shopping. Destination shopping must be able to provide verification that the destination attract a minimum of 80 percent of it visitors from outside the local market.
The Tourism Commission will review the changes to the grant program after one year to determine the effectiveness of the changes.
# # #
West Virginia Division of Tourism • 90 MacCorkle Ave., SW • South Charleston, WV 25303
304-558-2200
or 1-800-CALL-WVA • FAX: 304-558-2459 • www.callwvanews.com