CADAC, or Canadian Arts Data/Donees sur les arts au Canada, is a national database for tracking statistical and financial information for arts organizations. CADAC is a required part of the process for arts organizations applying for operating grants. Arts organizations making applications to multiple funding agencies submit their financial and statistical information in a single format, to a single source. Organizations also have access to their own historical data and to reports both on their own organizations and comparisons to all similar organizations in the database.
In general, companies or collectives need to register for and use CADAC when they apply for operating funding at the municipal, provincial, or federal level. It will be clear on the application forms that you need to register. It is not required for project-based funding.
If you are invited to apply to operating, or speak to your officer about applying to operating, they will ensure you are set up in CADAC.
Budgeting for CADAC
CADAC has very specific budget lines that may not be useful when creating your organization’s working budget. You may choose to adapt your budget templates to line up with CADAC, or to use Excel to create a version of your budget which collates your working budget lines into their relevant CADAC lines.
Reporting into CADAC
There are no easy ways to report into CADAC! It is painstaking, boring work. The only thing to do is to take your time, remove distractions, and have your budget, general ledger, and financial statements on hand.
When you are ready to submit your data into CADAC, you will “Save and Submit”. Your information is then reviewed by CADAC staff. If errors are found, detailed information will be sent to you about how to resolve any issues.
When should you make notes in CADAC? Many CADAC categories encompass a wide range of expenses or sources of revenue. In order to ensure those assessing your grants have the information they need, it is recommended to make notes explaining how larger sums break down.
Before you begin
CADAC is time consuming. The best thing to do is be prepared before you get started. here's what you will need:
- Statistics from recent years and projected figures for future years: you will be asked to account for number of audience members, activity participants, artists contracted, employees, students, etc.
- Approved financial statements from your auditor for recent years.
- Final financials for past years and budgets for your request year and up to three years into the future (yes, really!)