New Pinellas CARES Grant Available
In an effort to support local visitor attractions and cultural facilities while lessening the financial challenges of the local tourism industry, Pinellas County is providing one-time grants to eligible open attractions and cultural facilities that are owned and/or operated by private (non-governmental) non-profit organizations.
If you received a notification or link to this page, it is because your organization has been pre-qualified and may be eligible to receive this sliding scale grant based on annual income reported to the Internal Revenue Service (see table below for grant amount).
Eligibility Overview
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Private (non-governmental) non-profit tax exempt organizations that make $25,000 to $10M in annual income (as reported to the IRS) may qualify for up to $500,000 in grant assistance based on a sliding scale (see below):
- Organization must have a physical location or provide services (including performances) in Pinellas County.
- Organization must be open or serving the public (including performances) in Pinellas County and expected to remain open or serving the public (including performances).
- Organization must charge admission or fees for services.
- Organization must have paid professional staff that work at least 20 hours per week.
- Organization suffered from business interuption caused by required closures after March 1, 2020 resulting from the COVID-19 public health emergency.
- Organization suffered economic damages from business interruption caused by COVID-19 exceeding grant award since March 1, 2020, excluding those damages covered by insurance or reimbursement from any federal program. NOTE: CARES funds can only be used to reimburse losses caused by COVID-19 that are not paid by insurance or another federal grant or program.
- Organization is a private (non-governmental) non-profit tax exempt entity under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3).
- Repayment to the County is not required.
Next Steps
Please send the email address for the person who will complete the CARES grant application to Visit St. Pete/Clearwater at [email protected]. This individual should be authorized to complete a certification on behalf of the organization as part of the grant application.
VSPC will use this email address to setup your account in Pinellas County’s Neighborly grant portal. Once the application is ready, VSPC will send an email with instructions for creating a Neighborly account and applying for the CARES Non-Profit Attractions & Cultural Facilities Grant.
Portal Tip Sheet
If you have questions, or need assistance, please email [email protected].
