BUSINESS AND ARTS SOUTH AFRICA NPC (BASA) champions business investment within the arts, cultural and heritage sector. To this end the BASA Supporting Grants programme is calling for applications throughout 2020.
Says CEO, Ashraf Johaardien, “BASA is a public-private partnership that formed part of South Africa’s strategy to secure greater involvement in the arts, and support from businesses in South Africa. In line with that, the purpose of the Supporting Grants Programme is to amplify and augment the impact of partnerships between arts and business partners.”
Funded by a generous allocation from the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DAC), the Supporting Grants Programme assists in activating sponsorship for a cross-section of arts projects in different regions of the country, by providing vital financial support to a project that is in an already existing business and arts relationship.
Since inception, BASA has disbursed an astounding R40 million to more than 1 600 projects, which have leveraged over R515 million in sponsorship from the business sector – that equates to R19 million of business support for every R1 million of Supporting Grant funds during the 2018/2019 financial year.
“To apply for a BASA Supporting Grant, applicants have to adhere to a rigorous process that has been designed to add value to an already existing partnership between an arts organisation and business sponsors,” explains BASA Grants Officer, Sipho Mthiyane.
“Both the arts applicant and the sponsor must submit a joint application on the prescribed forms and clearly demonstrate how the partnership benefits both the sponsor and the recipient. New, emerging and established arts projects that already have sponsors on board are eligible, and forms are available for download from the BASA website.”
Interested applicants must take note of the following key dates, when they can apply for BASA’s 2020 Supporting Grants:
| Closing date | Outcome available |
| 28 January 2020 | 03 March 2020 |
| 18 May 2020 | 30 June 2020 |
| 20 July 2020 | 25 August 2020 |
| 19 October 2020 | 24 November 2020 |
Supporting Grant guidelines and application forms are available for download from https://www.basa.co.za/home-page/growth/supporting–grants-2/. Enquiries may be directed to Sipho Mthiyane at sipho@basa.co.za. BASA Supporting Grants are made possible through the generous support of DAC.
Notes to Editors
BUSINESS AND ARTS SOUTH AFRICA NPC (BASA) is the connector catalyst for businesses and the arts, driving focused and sustained partnership by unlocking shared value and fostering social cohesion. Constituted in terms of the Companies Act, BASA is registered as a public benefit organisation and is accountable to its stakeholders, namely government, BASA members and the creative sector. To join BASA go to www.basa.co.za/join-us.
