History of the Awards

The Future Focus Program is a funding collaboration between Calgary Arts Development, the Rozsa Foundation, and the Calgary Foundation. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, who provided additional funds to support the program in 2025.

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October 8, 2025: Program guidelines have been revised and published. Updates include the introduction of separate application questions and assessment criteria for the Exploration and Implementation phases of the program. 

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IMPLEMENTATION PHASE OVERVIEW

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The Future Focus program provides funding to arts organizations who want to explore a key question or challenge facing their organization to enable a significant shift or transformation and to develop ‘future focused’ directions for operations that diverge from previous or current practice.  

 

Building upon work undertaken as part of an Exploration Phase or previous projects, the Implementation Phase is intended to enable arts organizations to execute recommendations, plans, and learnings to make possible significant and impactful change. 

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Arts organization’s must demonstrate they have enough information to inform them how to respond to their challenge,  question, or opportunity, and the Implementation Phase would support arts organizations to take action to purposefully adapt and enable their future work. 

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FUNDING AMOUNTS​​​

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Implementation Phase - up to $25,000  

Builds upon exploration phase or previously related work, implementing change within the organization.  

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Organizations may apply for more than one Investigation or Exploration Phase prior to seeking Implementation Phase support.  

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DEADLINES

 

There is one remaining deadline for the Future Focus Implementation Phase in 2025:

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Final date for consultation and/or approval to make an application - October 24, 2025

Application deadline - November 7, 2025

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Applications are due by 11:59pm on the deadline date.​​

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Funding decisions are typically made within 8-weeks of the application deadline. 

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EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION PROJECTS

 

The following examples are to demonstrate the kind of work that is feasible within the implementation phase of the Future Focus program. They are not intended to be prescriptive, but to give a sense of scope and use of funds that are appropriate.

 

You are encouraged to discuss your specific ideas with Organizational Strategy Advisor, Jennifer DeDominicis prior to application to ensure program fit.

 

Example One: A multidisciplinary arts organization recently undertook an exploration of its educational offerings, comparing them to similar programs in the sector and assessing what an expansion of the program would cost. Based on the findings, the organization determined that scaling up its educational programs could become a sustainable and revenue-generating element of its business model. Funding might support the implementation of this strategy, including developing and piloting an expanded slate of classes and workshops; investing in the necessary increase in instructor capacity; establishing effective systems for registration, marketing, and evaluation; or building partnerships with schools, community groups, and other organizations to increase reach and participation.

 

Example Two: A downtown arts organization operating a large venue recently explored the potential impacts and opportunities of introducing a new film series to their programming and partnering with a local brewery to develop a new business model with sustainable new revenue streams. Based on their forecasting and partner conversations, they decided to pursue the film series, and learned it would be more beneficial to operate their own bar services. Funding might support implementation of the next phase of this strategy, including piloting a series of cinema programming or formalizing partnerships with community groups, food vendors, and other arts organizations.

 

Example Three: A local community association has been operating a popular annual public festival that has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years. After examining the ongoing operational needs of the festival, the community association and festival board and staff determined that it was time for the festival to establish itself as a separate and independent non-profit arts organization. Funding might support the execution of a strategy and ‘disentangling’ framework that ensures the requirements and expectations of both organizations are clear, so they start in a good and confident way!

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​POTENTIAL AND INELIGIBLE PROJECTS​​​

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Organizations can access funds to engage external expertise and to develop and execute plans and strategies to navigate the questions, challenges, and opportunities they face. This work may include projects such as:  

 

• Making changes to established business models and organizational or incorporation structures. 

  • Note: the program does not provide seed funding for the establishment of new organizations, but to support existing entities make necessary changes to ensure their structures are serving the broader needs of the organization and community. 

 

• Developing strategies for new directions and/or organizational sustainability, specifically around: 

  • major shifts in organizational mission or the activity to support the mission. 

  • venue and space-related investigations. 

  • assessments of organizational capacity and ‘right sizing’ for sustainability. 

  • plans for succession from founding organizational leaders.  

 

• Investigating and implementing alternative revenue generating activities or diversifying revenue sources.

  • ​Note: the program does not support the creation or implementation of fundraising plans or events. 

 

• Forming strategic partnerships with other organizations, including resource sharing.  

• Addressing organizational life cycle questions, including potential mergers and closures. 

 

While the projects completed with the support of Future Focus Funding will likely influence the development and delivery of your organization’s existing and future programs, this funding program DOES NOT support: 

 

• the development and delivery of artistic programming 

• emergency operating funds 

• fundraising plans and events 

• routine, cyclical strategic planning 

• seed funding for the establishment of new organizations 

• learning processes around nonprofit and charitable operating and registration requirements.​​

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INELIGIBLE EXPENSES

 

Please note that Future Focus Funding cannot be used to pay for:  

 

• ongoing administrative salaries  

• ongoing administrative costs  

• deficit financing & debt repayment  

• capital campaigns  

• ongoing programming activities  

• retroactive costs - if you are incurring costs related to the project prior to the application deadline, those expenses may be ineligible for support. 

 

While we do not support ongoing salaries, we understand that projects may require additional staff resources to complete work directly related to the project, which may be an eligible expense. This may be new, short-term staff specific to the proposed project, or additional time for existing part-time staff to undertake the work.  

 

For organizations or groups without salaried administrative staff, project-related human resource costs may be included in the budget.

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HOW TO APPLY

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​Step One: Read the guidelines. 

Please read through the program guidelines to get an initial understanding of the Future Focus program, the types of projects it supports, and how applications are assessed. 

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Step Two: Book a conversation.

If you are interested in applying, you must begin by booking a conversation with us. We will help to determine if your organization and project are eligible.

 

The final date for consultation and eligibility confirmation is two weeks before each intake deadline.

 

We strongly recommend you book a conversation AT LEAST FOUR WEEKS prior to the deadline you plan to apply for.

 

Step Three: Complete your application.

If your project and organization are eligible for the funding program you will be sent access to the online application form, which must be completed by midnight of the application deadline. 

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WHO CAN APPLY?

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Your organization or group may be eligible to apply if:

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• Your organization is arts-focused or is an organization engaging the arts to fulfill its mission, and

• Your organization is operating in the Treaty 7 region (including Red Deer), and

• Your organization is a registered charity, registered non-profit, ad-hoc group, grassroots organization, or operating with a comparable alternative organizational structure, and

• Your organization does NOT have an active Future Focus project or outstanding Future Focus reporting, and 

• Your organization does NOT have an active funding agreement from the Rozsa Foundation, CADA, or Calgary Foundation for the same project. 

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Organizations can have only one active Future Focus project at any given time. 

Organizations can submit only one application per deadline. 

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Not sure about your eligibility? Contact Ayla Stephen at ayla@rozsafoundation.com.​​​​

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