The Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau is hosting an information session on its advertising grant program.
The event will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Greenwood Youth Center, 927 W. Henry St. The session will provide potential grant-seekers with how to obtain funds from the CVB, specifically for advertising grants to promote events that will bring people to Greenwood from at least 50 miles outside the city.
“Our hope is that when you come from outside 50 miles, you’re potentially going to stay in a hotel and eat out, so we’re trying to drive tourism into our businesses and our hotels and our restaurants,” said Cyndi Long, a member of the Greenwood Tourism Commission. The commission is the CVB’s governing body.
The grants fund an estimated 12 to 15 applicants a year. She said part of the workshop will be focused on educating people on what the CVB can and cannot fund.
The money comes from Greenwood’s tourism tax on customers of restaurants and hotels.
“We can only spend the money in certain ways,” Long said. “Part of what we can do is try to help not-for-profit events.”
She added, “We’re going to explain for people exactly what is a not-for-profit. Sometimes people confuse that with a nonprofit with a 501(c)(3)” designation. To apply, “you do not have to be a charity. You just have to be a not-for-profit.”
She said another purpose for the session is to provide clarity to those who may not have applied due to this misunderstanding.
“Part of what I was hearing in some communities was, ‘Oh, I didn’t apply because I’m not a charity,’ and I said you don’t have to be.”
She provided an example of applying for the grant herself as part of the Greenwood Air Show. The successful application gave the event funding for two billboards in Canton and Southaven as well as an advertisement in a magazine.
Applying for grants is a detailed process, she said, and applicants will need to justify why their event should receive a grant.
“If they ask for $4,000, what are you spending that $4,000 on?” she said. Once the application is approved, the organization is provided the grant as a reimbursement for money spent.
She said she wants the grants program to be “inclusive, not exclusive” and reach more applicants through this information session.
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwards@gwcommonwealth.com.
