Partnerships at the core of BASA Supporting Grant scheme

The 11 business and arts partnerships that have received grants in this round include the Showtime 2013 Theatre Awards in Port Elizabeth, which applied for the grant in collaboration with a range of local businesses - Crackerjack Advertising and Design cc, Musikland, Multichoice, The Broadwalk Casino, Postnet, and Walmer Parking Shopping Centre.

Another project recipient was the Sixth Annual Conference of the South African Society for Research in Music (SASRIM) which made the application together with partners, the Tshwane University of Technology, North West University and SAMRO.

Increasingly, arts projects are looking for creative ways to work with business to meet the BASA Supporting Grant's very specific requirements.

The most important of these requirements is that the scheme, which is funded by the Department of Arts and Culture, is not a straight funding mechanism. Rather, the BASA Supporting Grants Scheme acts to specifically develop business sponsorship of the arts by adding value to an already exisiting relationship between an arts project and a business.

This means that any arts project or arts practitioner wanting to take advantage of the scheme must first engage with an appropriate business sponsor (or, as is the case with the Showtime 2012 Theatre Awards, for example, a range of sponsors) to ensure their project is financially viable - without the BASA Supporting Grant.

Once this is in place, the BASA Supporting Grant can be applied for, with the specific intention of adding value to the business that has come on board in support of the arts in South Africa. This can be through the form of using the grant for marketing and publicity, developing an education programme to run alongside the project, extending the run of a project that carries the sponsoring business's name - and other options.

Explains Carol Mokwena, Client Liaison Officer at BASA. "It is gratifying to note that there has been a growth in the number of applications to BASA and this demonstrates the need for equitable partnerships."

Mokwena cautions that BASA is not a fundraiser for arts projects and arts practitioners. "Although on a daily basis Business and Arts South Africa does work closely with arts organisations assisting them in sponsorship strategy," she says.

To apply for a BASA Supporting Grant, both the arts applicant and the sponsor/funder must complete the application forms, which are designed to encourage the two partners to work together and identify areas of potential benefit. The Grant Form is now available in English, isiZulu and seSotho. Business and Arts South Africa allocates funds to the project once it has assessed how the partnership benefits both the sponsor and the recipient. Applications must be made at least 12 weeks before the start of a project.

Once recipients have been identified, the projects and sponsors can be further profiled through Business and Arts South Africa's media partners - SAfm, Summit TV, Radio Today, Ilanga newspaper, and Ofm. In addition, successful partnerships are also encouraged to enter the Business Day BASA Awards, supported by Anglo American.

For more information on BASA's Supporting Grants visit www.basa.co.za or contact Carol Mokwena on az.oc.asab@stnarg or 011-447 - 2295.

About Business and Arts South Africa NPC:

Business and Arts South Africa NPC is an internationally recognised South African development agency which incorporates the arts into, and contributes to, corporates' commercial success. With a suite of integrated programmes, Business and Arts South Africa NPC encourages mutually beneficial partnerships between business and the arts. Business and Arts South Africa NPC was founded in 1997 as a joint initiative of government and the business sector, to secure the future development of the arts industry in South Africa, through increased corporate sector involvement. Established as a Non-Profit Company, Business and Arts South Africa NPC is accountable to both government and its business members.