Arts Council England
Grants for the arts
Eddie Thomas
Senior Manager, Grants for the arts
Adrienne Hart taking part in Dance SCAPES project, Swindon
Photo: Kevin Clifford
This session
• Grants landscape
• Arts Council England
• Grants for the arts
• Any questions
Grants
What is a grant
• Financial backing for a not for profit
project, awarded through a competitive
application process and paid back by
furthering the grantor aims
Eddie Thomas, 2012
Who are they, how do you find them?
• Government grants
o (International, national, regional)
o Lottery distributors
• Trusts and foundations
• Identify your need - don’t trawl for cash
• Desk research – web search & dedicated databases
– DCMS web site is a good start (money map)
Common themes
• Funder purposes (not financial)
• Competitive process
• Eligibility & Criteria
• Match funding
• Profits not allowed
• Ethics and good practice
• Project not Revenue funding
• You don’t repay in money
(Not yet anyway)
• The process improves you
Some pointers
• Consider partners (can you be a partner)
• Timing is everything – apply early!
• Try to make personal contact
• If you are not committed don’t apply
Arts Council England
Great Art for Everyone
• National development agency for the Arts in England
• Government body – at arms length
• 9 regional offices (currently restructuring)
– Relationship Managers
• 2011 – 2015 will invest £2.4 billion in the arts
– National Portfolio
– Strategic funds
– Grants for the arts
Grants for the arts
Grants for the arts background
•Open access – rolling programme (reactive)
– Anyone, anything, any time
•Around £60m a year awarded (£1k - £100k)
– 2,681 awards in 2011 (43% success rate)
• Competitive process
• 6 or 12 week turnaround
• online application
Who does it fund?
• Individuals
– artists, performers, promoters, presenters, curators, producers,
writers, individuals or groups of individuals working in, or with,
the arts
– £1,000 to £30,000 normally awarded - average £10,000
• Organisations
– local authorities, public organisations, partnerships, collectives,
organisations whose activity is not arts-related, including
voluntary and community groups
– £1,000 to £100,000 – average £33,000
Who does it not fund?
• organisations that are able to share out profits to
members or shareholders UNLESS the activity you are
applying for is a self-contained arts project and has a
clear benefit to the public
•
students, for activities related to their course of study
•
Educational establishments where the activity does not provide
benefits to the wider community or artists
•
Applicants based (living) outside the European Union
What does it fund - ARTS RELATED ACTIVITIES
•
projects and events
•
public art
•
commissions and productions
•
professional development
•
research and development
•
bursaries
•
Participatory activities
•
fellowships
•
audience development
•
organisational development
•
marketing activities
•
residencies
•
Assets
•
touring & national activities
–
Equipment
–
Instruments
–
vehicles
–
£10k - £200k
What does it not fund?
• self-promotional activities ?
• retrospective stuff
• On-going overheads ?
• activities with no public benefit
• film or video not supporting artistic work
• activities not arts-related
• activities outside England (some exceptions)
• statutory provision (such as in education)
Making an application
The assessment process
Offer
Contract
Grant monitoring
Reject
Feedback
Assessment – the 4 criteria
• It is an EVIDENCE based assessment
• The criteria we use
– Quality (You and your work)
– Public engagement
– Management
– Finance
(there are also some overview scores)
Budget headlines example
Income from your activity
Ticket sales
Merchandise
Trusts and foundations
Sponsorship
Own resources
Expenditure for your activity
1,500
500
Artistic spend
5,000
Organisational development
1,000
Marketing
3,000
Overheads
1,000
2,750
500
500
Assets
Total income from others
5,750
Other spending
Amount from ACE
Total income
Support in kind
750
0
5,000
10,750
3,000
Total expenditure
10,750
Final points
• Grants should be on your horizon for project funding
• Align your need with the fund aims and criteria
• Source quality partners
• Prepare an evidence based application using criteria
• Get match funding
• Apply early and prepare for rejection
• If successful
– Do a good job!!
– Keep funder informed of changes
• If unsuccessful - Listen to feedback!!
Any questions ?
- Eddie Thomas
- Arts Council England (grants for the arts)
- www.artscouncil.org.uk
- There is a lot of information on our web site!
- Enquiries team 0845 300 6200
www.artscouncil.org.uk