New England Presenter Travel Fund

The New England Presenter Travel Fund enhances the performing arts in the region by supporting travel costs for curatorial staff at presenting organizations associated with researching artistic work that may eventually be presented in New England.

Travel grants are also available for arts presenters or curatorial staff to travel for the purpose of seeing projects currently supported through the National Dance Project.

Program Goals

• Broaden the experience and knowledge of non-profit New England arts presenters
• Increase the diversity of artists presented in the region.
• Expand reach and presence of New England arts presenters nationally and internationally

Eligibility 

Organizations are only eligible to receive one New England Presenter Travel Fund grant per NEFA's fiscal year (starting June 1 and concluding May 31 the following calendar year).

To be eligible for the New England Presenter Travel Fund, applicants must:

• Be a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, school, federally recognized Indian tribal government, or unit of state or local government. (Nonprofit organizations do not have to be arts organizations. Organizations that do not have a federal tax identification number may apply if part of an official government agency). Fiscal agents cannot be funded through New England Presenter Travel Fund.
• Be based in New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont).
• Have a Unique Entity ID in SAM.gov. The federal government requires that all NEFA organizational grant recipients supported by federal funds register for a SAM.gov UEI (Unique Entity ID). Getting a UEI is a free process and can be done by visiting SAM.gov. Read our blog post with more details.
• Provide documentation of their compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Please visit our Arts & Accessibility page for details.
• A “presenter” is defined as an organization that financially compensates an artist/ensemble (where the artist/ensemble is a separate entity from the presenter) for performance(s) in the presenter’s community. Producing organizations that solely create artistic work or assemble artists to perform as ensembles for performances are not eligible to apply. Presenters may include arts centers, festivals, social service organizations, libraries, schools, and more.

Presenter Travel Fund will not fund:

• Travel for individual artists or ensembles to perform their own work or seek artistic collaborators.
• Travel to conferences that do not provide opportunities to see artistic work.
• Multiple staff members from the same organization for the same travel opportunity
• More than one grant per organization in each fiscal year.

Funding Criteria

Applicants may apply for funding to help cover expenses of attending festivals, showcases, conferences, or other cultural events where they will preview artistic work that they are seeking to bring to their community.

The Presenter Travel Fund grants to New England-based nonprofit organizations will cover up to 100% of travel  fees up to $1,000, including personal auto mileage, economy class transportation, meals, lodging, admission, and conference or showcase registration fees. Grants range from $500 to $1,000.

Presenter Travel Fund gives priority to:

1. Travel for staff who have limited access to other funding sources for researching artists.
2. Travel plans that maximize the number of artists/works/genres seen in during a single trip (for example, by attending a festival, showcase, or conference).
3. Travel to conferences with strong showcasing components.

Compliance with Federal Travel Requirements

New England Presenter Travel grants are supported by federal funds and as such are required to follow federal guidelines.

Fly America Act

If your travel does not comply with the Fly America Act, NEFA will not reimburse your airline ticket.

In accordance with the Fly America Act, all air travel and cargo transportation services paid for with Federal funds are required to use a “U.S. flag” air carrier service. You can find a complete list of certified U.S. flag air carriers on transportation.gov.

You cannot cross the U.S. border to use a foreign airline to avoid being subject to the Fly America Act. 

Codesharing

Occasionally, two or more airlines will “codeshare” a flight by publishing and marketing the same flight under their own airline designators and flight numbers. You can purchase a seat on each airline’s designator and flight number, but the flight is only operated by one of the cooperating airlines. To comply with Fly America regulations, you must purchase the flight via the U.S. airline’s designator and flight number if the flight is shared between a U.S. and a foreign airline.

Exceptions to the Fly America Act

There are some circumstances where it’s not reasonable to use a U.S. flag air carrier, and you can make an exception to the Fly America Act. These circumstances are:

1. When a U.S. air carrier is not available.
2. When using a U.S. carrier service would extend the travel time by 24 hours or more.
3. When a U.S. carrier does not offer a nonstop or direct flight between origin and destination, and using a U.S. carrier:
   • Increases the number of aircraft changes outside the United States by two or more;
   • Extends travel time by six hours or more; or
   • Requires a connecting time of four hours or more at an overseas interchange point.
4. When the flight time from origin to destination is less than three hours and using a U.S. flag carrier doubles the flight time.
5. When there is an applicable Open Skies Agreement in effect that meets the requirements of the Fly America Act.

Note: Ticket cost and convenience are NOT exceptions to the Fly America Act.

Open Skies Agreements

“Open Skies Agreements” are bilateral or multilateral agreements between the U.S. Government and the governments of foreign countries that allow travelers to use foreign air carriers from these countries for government-funded international travel. Many Open Skies Agreements exist but only (4) four agreements meet Fly America Act requirements which the key factor is the statement for “U.S. Government Procured Transportation: in either the Article or Annex of the agreement.

The United States currently has Open Skies Agreements in effect with:

• European Union (28 countries) (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, including Iceland and Norway)
• Australia
• Switzerland
• Japan

The agreement with the European Union permits the use of an EU air carrier for travel outside the United States. Iceland and Norway are not EU members, but are members of the EU air treaty. This is the only one of these four agreements that allows for an origin or destination in a third country as long as the flight stops in the EU.

Class

When booking, business and first-class travel is not allowed unless it is at the traveler’s expense. If a traveler purchases a flight with a class upgrade, only the base fare is considered allowable and can be requested for reimbursement or to substantiate and advance.

As per federal regulations, costs in excess of the basic least expensive unrestricted accommodations class offered by commercial airlines will not be reimbursed unless such accommodation would:

• Require circuitous routing;
• Require travel during unreasonable hours;
• Excessively prolong travel;
• Result in additional costs that would offset the transportation savings; or
• Offer accommodation not reasonably adequate for the traveler's medical needs. The recipient or subrecipient must justify and document these conditions on a case-by-case basis for the use of first-class or business-class airfare to be allowable in such cases.

Meals & Incidentals

Meals and incidental expenses will be reimbursed at a per diem rate. Per diem rates are set by the federal government and are discounted at 75% on first and last days of travel. 

Process & Deadline 

Process

• Presenters must apply at least three weeks in advance of their departure date. Priority will be given to applications received at least a month in advance of travel.
• Funding decisions are made on a rolling basis within three weeks of application receipt.
• Final grant report (complete with receipts for reimbursement) will be due within 40 days of return date. 

Rolling Deadline

Applications are due no later than 30 days prior to the departure date of the proposed trip.  

Requirements & Reports for Grant Recipients 

New England Presenter Travel Fund grants are fully supported by federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. All funded projects be must in full accordance with the U.S. Constitution, federal law, public policy requirements, and applicable Executive Orders to the extent permitted by law. All applicants and grantees should review the Legal Requirements and Assurance of Compliance as stated by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Grant reports enable NEFA to fulfill reporting obligations to its funders, including the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Grant payments will be made upon receipt of the following which must be submitted within 40 days after the funded trip:

1. A completed Presenter Travel Fund Report Form for each grant. Access your grant report by clicking below:
   Return to Your Grant Application
2. Copies of all line-itemized receipts for reimbursable travel expenses. Bank or credit card statements will not be accepted as proof of purchase. Receipts are not required for per diems. excluding meals, and a completed Receipt Form.
3. A short narrative which summarizes the artistic quality of the work you saw, heard, and/or experienced, and the value of this trip and the subsidy to your arts institution.

Failure to provide this material within 40 days of the trip may result in cancellation of the grant and all pending NEFA grants. If the travel dates change or the trip is cancelled, please contact NEFA staff.