メインのコンテンツブロックにジャンプします

The Rainbow Initiative Funds for Collaborative Cultural Projects

The Rainbow Initiative

Funds for Collaborative Cultural Projects


Taipei-based Very Mainstream Studio was a participant of the 2014 Rainbow Initiative.

Project eligibility:

 

Content production, curation/event planning, research, conservation, maintenance, promotion and personnel/technical exchanges or training in the fields of the humanities, arts, community development, cultural assets, handicrafts, comics and animation, film, television, and pop music; or a cross-disciplinary combination of these fields.

 

Applicant eligibility:

 

Domestic legal entities, public and private educational institutions or civic groups registered in accordance with domestic law are eligible to apply; political parties or affiliated groups will not be eligible to apply.

 

Conditions:

 

  • All collaborating entities must have signed a bilateral or multilateral cooperation agreement, a copy of which shall be included in the project proposal.​

  • At least one of the collaborating entities must have its headquarters based in Taiwan, and at least one must have its headquarters based in an overseas location, mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau.

  • Application for funding may be made for a minimum of NT$3 million and a maximum of NT$10 million.

  • At least 50 percent of the project’s activities must take place in Taiwan.

  • The duration of the project shall not be more than twenty-four months. The project start date shall begin after the application has been approved and a contract has been signed with the Ministry.

  • No application for funding has been previously made to the Ministry, its subordinate organizations, the National Culture and Arts Foundation, or the National Performing Arts Center for the proposed project or a similar project.

 

Funding principles & qualifications:

 

  • Funding shall not exceed 50 percent of the project’s total budget, and shall not exceed NT$10 million overall.

  • Costs incurred by the participating parties in their home nation(s) or in mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau during the period covered by the contract are eligible for funding, but capital expenditures on buildings, equipment and other fixed assets will be excluded.

  • Personnel costs incurred directly as a result of executing the project, as well as transportation costs and living expenses incurred by overseas project partners in conjunction with the project, are eligible for funding. The number of personnel required needs to be listed for each approved project and personnel costs may not account for more than fifty percent of the total budget.

  • Costs incurred by third parties providing highly specialized services are eligible for funding.

  • Where the terms of Article 4 of the Government Procurement Act apply, procurement shall be carried out in accordance with that Act. Where costs incurred for third-party personnel expenses exceed fifty percent of the total estimated budget, the portion exceeding fifty percent shall not be reimbursed by the Ministry.

  • The budget for funding items in these Guidelines and Procedures is subject to approval by the Legislative Yuan. The Ministry reserves the right to lower the funding amount, or to cancel funding entirely, depending on budgetary resources, and funding recipients thus affected may not seek compensation.

 

Application process:

 

  • Applications, documentation and all relevant information shall be submitted in accordance with these Guidelines and Appendix I of this Article.

  • Submission deadline and methods:

  • ​In principle, the Ministry will announce, one period each year during which it will accept applications. Applications made during that period are to include ten (10) copies of application materials and project plans and one (1) copies of a CD-ROM containing all requested documents. Applications are to be sent by registered mail or delivered in person to the Ministry. For mailed applications, the postmark serves as proof of receipt by the set deadline. Where the prescribed date falls on a holiday, or where force majeure prevents mailed applications from being received by the set deadline, relevant provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act shall apply. Application packages will not be returned regardless of the funding decision; Applicants are not to request their return.

  • Applications and proposals shall be entirely submitted in Chinese.

 

Review process:

 

  • The Ministry will first conduct a review of application documents and their content to determine whether an onsite visit is warranted. Where applications are incomplete, but the situation can be remedied, the Ministry will inform the Applicant of the deadline for submitting required but missing documentation. Applications will not be processed in cases where Applicants have failed to submit said documentation or have submitted insufficient documentation. Applicants will be granted only one opportunity to remedy incomplete applications.

  • The Ministry shall form an evaluation committee composed of its personnel as well as non-ministry experts and scholars appointed for reviewing project proposals. The committee will recommend a proposed list of funding recipients and respective award amount. The committee shall score and rank Applicants’ proposals. At least 50% of committee members shall consist of individuals from outside of the Ministry. The quorum for evaluation committee meetings shall be one-half of the total number of committee members. The committee shall keep records of its meetings. Committee reports shall be approved by the Minister or his/her designee. Interviews will be arranged where deemed warranted. Committee members shall recuse themselves when the provisions of Article 32 and Article 33 of the Administrative Procedure Act apply.

  • In terms of review criteria, competitive reviews should consider the following: the extent to which the project will strengthen international ties, the overall quality of the proposal, the operational and financial capacity of the collaborative entities, the feasibility of the estimated overall budget, the scale and comprehensiveness of the project and its expected benefits.

  • The Ministry shall announce the list of funded projects and funding amounts, and shall send a written notice to funding recipients. Successful Applicants shall have 30 days to sign a contract with the Ministry; failure to do so will result in the forfeiture of the right to claim funding.

 

Remittances and audits:

 

Applying for remittances:

  • Stage One (30 percent of the total approved funding) shall, in principle, be remitted within 30 days of the Applicant’s signing of a contract with the Ministry and the submission of a receipt that has been subsequently verified as valid by the Ministry.

  • Stage Two (20 percent) and Stage Three (20 percent) shall, in principle, be remitted within 45 days of the Ministry’s review and approval of an Applicant-submitted interim implementation report for the previous stage, as well as a list of expenditures and original receipts reviewed and signed off by a certified public accountant. Prior to the second-stage and third-stage funds being remitted, 70 percent of the amount remitted in Stage One shall have been audited by the Ministry.

  • In Stage Four, a final implementation report as well as a list of expenditures and original receipts reviewed and signed off by a certified public accountant, shall be provided by the deadline stated in the contract for the Ministry’s review and approval. Funds will be remitted within 45 days of the Ministry’s approval of the aforementioned materials. Where actual expenditures total less than the original budget, the originally agreed-upon funding amount will be scaled down accordingly.

  • Audits shall be performed in accordance with domestic regulations, including the Executive Yuan’s “Guidelines on Central Government Agencies Funding (Donating) to Private Groups or Individuals” and the "Management Guidelines for the Disposal of Expenditure Vouchers." Original receipts, an expenditure list and a work in progress report or project implementation report shall be sent for review by the Ministry before December 15 of the year in which the project is being carried out. The Ministry reserves the right to withhold or cancel funding in the case of late submissions that do not comply with the aforementioned deadlines.

  • Items listed on receipts/invoices shall be directly related to the subject of the contract and shall have been listed in the estimated overall budget. Receipts must be identifiable and verifiable, allowing for proper review, and information in Chinese shall be added where not initially present.

 

Evaluation:

 

  • The Ministry may require project materials to carry information identifying the Ministry of Culture as the supervisor or sponsor.

  • The Ministry reserves the right to ascertain the quality of execution and the results achieved. Such evaluations will be taken into consideration when considering subsequent funding.

  • Funding recipients shall provide detailed progress reports and shall cooperate with the Ministry on jointly promoting the project.

  • Funding recipients shall carry out the project as approved by the Ministry. Where portions of the project cannot be carried out, or where changes are deemed necessary, a written explanation detailing the changes and remedial measures shall be submitted directly to the Ministry; the Ministry will then render a decision to approve the changes or to cancel the project. Project scope may not be altered for more than twice per year.

 

Other:

 

Should any of the following situations occur, applicants will not be taken into consideration for any further review. Where they have already been approved for funding, applicants shall have their funding revoked or may be required to return a portion or the entirety of funds already remitted; in addition, applicants who have violated this agreement will not be eligible for project funding from the Ministry for the next three years:

 

  • They have engaged in gross misrepresentation of the information they have provided, where expenditures have been falsified, or where a breach of these Guidelines and Procedures or other regulations has been discovered;

  • They have not abided by the Review Process, where it is verified that committee members who should have recused themselves have not done so;

  • They have previously failed to uphold fundamental contractual obligations to the Ministry;

  • They have, for the same or a similar project, already received funding from the Ministry, its subordinate units, the National Culture and Arts Foundation, or the National Performing Arts Center.

Where there are doubts about the content of these Guidelines and Procedures, the Ministry shall issue an explanation, or related laws and regulations shall be invoked.