March 1, 2024 – March 31, 2024
Capital Grant Program developed to grow tourism assets in Sampson County
The Sampson County Convention & Visitors Bureau (SCCVB) has announced today that open enrollment will start effective March 1, 2024 and will run through March 31, 2024 for the Capital Grant Program Applications. All applications must be postmarked by March 31, 2024 to be considered in the second application cycle.
The Capital Grant Program is to assist in the development and growth of tourism throughout Sampson County.
The SCCVB Capital Grant Program (CGP) was developed to stimulate economic growth by supporting non-profit visitor attractions in Sampson County, NC. The program allows the SCCVB to award capital grant funding to organizations whose projects are designed or developed to attract visitors to Sampson County. The program allows eligible organizations to receive funding for the development of new visitor attractions or to organizations that are working to enhance or restore existing structures and other projects whose primary mission is to serve visitors to Sampson County.
“Capital Grant Funds may be granted for projects such as new brick and mortar construction, maintenance and preservation of historic attractions, cultural and historical acquisitions, conservation of artifacts, or other infrastructure that improves the CVB’s ability to promote tourism and that assists in attracting visitors to Sampson County” stated Sheila Barefoot, Executive Director of the Sampson County CVB.
Organizations that may apply for CGP funding include any legally chartered 501-(c3) nonprofit Sampson County organization or chartered municipality representing a visitor attraction, which includes tourism promotion among its major activities. Documentation of legal status, tax exemption, federal identification number, budget, and organizational purpose are required with all applications. The organization applying for funds must show that they own the property, and it is not leased by the organization. However, if an organization making a request does not own the land or the structure to be preserved or built on a site, the organization may provide properly executed documents that state the organization has a permanent easement for the site, including ingress and egress.
The Sampson County Convention & Visitors Bureau CGP will use a matching grant formula whereby organizations may be awarded one grant dollar for each dollar spent by the organization, up to $50,000 per project. Due to the potential number of grant applications that may be received annually, the full amount of an organization’s grant request may not be awarded. It is anticipated that typical grant awards may average between $5,000 and $10,000. The SCCVB Capital Grant Program has a cap of $50,000 per organization. Once this amount has been distributed to an organization, the organization must sit out of the grant application process for a period of three (3) years from date of final funding from the CVB. In addition, multiple non-profits may not apply to receive funding for the same project.
SCCVB Director, Sheila Barefoot stated, “The Sampson County CVB’s Capital Grant Committee approved to have four cycles per year, from the two cycles we previously had, The new cycles are January, April, July, and October that we will process Capital Grant Applications, or until such time that the annual allocation is exhausted.
The Sampson County CVB Capital Grant Committee processes Capital Grant Applications four times per fiscal year (January, April, July, and October) or until such time that the annual allocation is exhausted. Applications may be submitted as follows:
First cycle (December 1st – December 31st) Must be postmarked no later than December 31st for consideration during the 1st cycle.
Second cycle (March 1st – March 31st) Must be postmarked no later than March 31st for consideration during the 2nd cycle.
Third cycle (June 1st – June 30th) Must be postmarked no later than June 30th for consideration during the 3rd cycle.
Fourth cycle (September 1st – September 30th) Must be postmarked no later than September 30th for consideration during the 4th cycle.
Capital Grant applicants must have written approval or a formal resolution of the governing board, relevant municipal government endorsement, and a list providing other contributions to the project. Before an organization can apply for a Capital Grant, they must have a projected budget outline prepared and a business plan for securing funding if not already in place.
The Sampson County CVB was approved and enacted to be a public authority established through legislation by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina and adopted, approved, and enacted by the Sampson County Board of Commissioners with the purpose of promoting the development of travel and tourism related activities in Sampson County, through state, regional and national advertising, marketing and promotional activities and campaigns.
For more information or details about the SCCVB Capital Grant Program or to receive grant guidelines and applications, contact Sheila Barefoot, Director at 910-592-2557 or via email at sbarefoot@visitsampsonnc.com. The Sampson County CVB’s offices are inside the Sampson County Exposition Center located at 414 Warsaw Road, Clinton, NC.
