Types of Funding
The following links detail the main types of fundraising sources plus useful contact details and lists of funders under each section.
- Public Money
- Businesses - Sponsorship and Company Giving
- Grants, Trusts and Foundations
- Individual Giving
Public Money
Public money can be in the form of funding from central, regional or local government or from the National Lottery (through the various lottery funds), Arts, Craft and Design Councils, Government departments (such as DCMS or DfES), or government funded bodies such as Resource or the Learning and Skills Councils. Public money could also take the form of Regeneration funding, or European funding.
Area Museums Councils
Most AMCs give grants to registered museums in their areas. These will often
be to help with collections work or education and access projects.
Council for Museums in Wales
The Courtyard, Letty Street, Cardiff, CF24 4EL
T: 029 2022 5432 F: 029 2022 8238
E:
info@cmw.org.uk
East Midlands Museums Service
www.emms.org.uk
PO Box 7221, Nottingham, NG12 3WH
T: 01949 81734
F: 01949 81859
E:
emms@emms.org.uk
North East Museums, Libraries and Archives
Council (NEMLAC)
www.nemlac.co.uk
House of Recovery, Bath Lane, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 5SQ
T: 0191 222 1661 F: 0191 261 4725
E: nemlac@nemlac.co.uk
North West Museums Service
www.nwmuseums.co.uk
Griffin Lodge, Cavendish Place, Blackburn BB2 2PN
T: 01254 670211 F: 01254 681995
Northern Ireland Museums Council
www.nimc.co.uk
66 Donegal Pass, Belfast BT7 1BU
T: 028 90 550215 F: 028 90 550216
E:
info@nimc.co.uk
Scottish Museums Council
www.scottishmuseums.org.uk
County House, 20-22 Torpichen Street, Edinburgh EH3 8JB
T: 0131 229 7465 F: 0131 229 2728
E:
info@scottishmuseums.org.uk
South East Museums Service East of England
Manor House Museum, 5 Honey Hill, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 1HF
T: 01284 723100 F: 01284 701394
E:
admin@semseast@eidosnet.co.uk
London Museums Agency
www.londonmuseums.org
London Museums Agency
Cloister Court, 22-26 Farringdon Lane, London EC1R 3AJ
T: 020 7549 1700
F: 020 7490 5225
E: info@londonmuseums.org
South East Museum Library and Archive Council
www.semlac.org.uk
Winchester HQ
8 City Business Centre, Hyde Street, Winchester, Hants SO23 7TA
T: 01962 844909
F: 01962 878439
E: info@semlac.org.uk
Chatham sub-regional office
The Garden Room, Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TE
T: 01634 405031
F: 01634 840795
E: office@semlac.org.uk
South West Museums Council
www.swmlac.org.uk
Creech Castle, Bathpool, Somerset TA1 2DZ
T: 01823 259696 F: 01823 270933
E: general@swmlac.org.uk
West Midlands Regional Museums Council
www.wm-museums.co.uk
Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove, Worcs B60 4AD
T: 01527 872258 F: 01527 576960
E:
wmmc@wm-museums.co.uk
Yorkshire Museums Council
Farnley Hall, Hall Lane, Leeds LS12 5HA
T: 0113 263 8909 F: 0113 279 1479
E:
info@yhmc.org.uk
Arts Council of England
www.artscouncil.org.uk
Distributes money from the Government and from the National Lottery directly
and through the 10 regional Arts Boards (listed separately later).
The website has plenty of advice and application forms.
14 Great Peter Street, London SW1P 3NQ
T: 020 7333 0100 F: 020 7973 6590
Arts Council of Northern Ireland
www.artscouncil-ni.org
Gives funding to arts organisations in Northern Ireland. These are negotiated
each year and the deadline for applications falls in October.
Awards for All
www.awardsforall.org.uk
Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Arts Council, Sport England, the
New Opportunities Fund and the Community Fund, Awards for All funds projects
which involve people in their communities. It is aimed at community groups. To
apply, groups need an annual income of under £15,000.
T: 0845 600 20 40 (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)
T: 0131 659 7000 (Scotland)
The Community Fund
www.community-fund.org.uk
The operating name of the National Lottery charities board. Only funds
charities, voluntary organisations and community groups.
St Vincent House, 16 Suffolk Street, London SW1Y 4NL
T: 020 7747 5299
E:
enquiries@community-fund.org.uk
Department for Culture Media and Sport
www.culture.gov.uk
DCMS is a major funder of the museums, galleries and heritage sector. It does
this through directly funding 17 national museums or museums of national status.
It works closely with Resource, the Council for museums Libraries and Archives
and with the Department for Education and Skills on museum education issues. It
is not a body however to which individual organisations can apply.
2-4 Cockspur Street, London SW1Y 5DH
T: 020 7211 6518 F: 020 7211 6195
Enquiries@culture.gov.uk
European Commission
Has a number of schemes and structured funds such as the European Regional
development Fund and Culture 2000. EUCLID is the official contact point for all
EC cultural enquiries and all requests and applications should go through them
(see below).
EUCLID
www.euclid.co.uk
Official UK cultural contact point for the European Commission. It also gives
UK organisations the opportunity to find partners throughout Europe.
46-48 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L3 5SD
07000 382 543 F: 0115 709 8647
Infor@euclid2000.demon.co.uk
European Social Fund
www.esfnews.org.uk
The European Social Fund is an important source of funding for activities to
develop employability and human resources, in line with the European Employment
Strategy. It will support five activities between 2000 and 2006:
Active labour market policies, equal opportunities for all and promoting
social inclusion, improving training and education and promoting lifelong
learning, adaptability and entrepreneurship, improving the participation of
women in the labour market.
The ESF normally provides up to 45% of the costs of a project.
The managing authority for the European Social Fund programmes in England and
Gibraltar is the Department for Education and Employment. In Scotland and Wales
the managing authorities are the Scottish Executive and the National Assembly
for Wales.
ESF Unit, DfES, Caxton House, Tothill Street, London SW1H 9NA
T: 020 7273 4816
Heritage Lottery Fund
www.hlf.org.uk
Distributes funds on behalf of the National Lottery. Grants are given to
projects which help to preserve and enhance, or widen public access to, or
understanding and enjoyment of, one or more aspects of physical heritage. There
are a number of different grants schemes:
Main Grants Programme
For capital expenditure and large projects
Small Grants Programme
For small capital expenditure projects.
Revenue Grants Programme
Supports projects aimed at widening the enjoyment, understanding and access
to heritage where the main costs are not capital.
Museums and Galleries Access Fund
Supports programmes aimed at widening physical and intellectual aces in
museums and galleries. Any registered museum can apply but projects have to be
linked to making collections more accessible. Low priority is currently given to
venues that are closed on Sundays.
Your Heritage
A new grants scheme from HLF aimed at small projects between £5000 and
£50,000 and in particular those which will appeal to a wide range of people,
especially those not previously involved in heritage and those which harness the
involvement of local community groups.
HLF application processes take some time. However, there is a large amount of
help and advice, including full, details of their current priorities, available
on their website and by calling their helpline.
7 Holbein Place, London, SW1W 8NR
020 7591 6041 F: 020 7591 6271
Enquiries@hlf.org.uk
Landfill Tax Credit Scheme
www.entrust.org.uk
Landfill Tax was introduced in 1996. Under this scheme, up to 20% of the
taxes collected by landfill operators can be claimed against environmental
projects. The money must be used to implement social and environmental projects
and comply with the scheme’s ‘approved objects’.
To be eligible to apply, your organisation has to be non-profit making but
not necessarily a registered charity. It also has to be an approved
‘environmental body’ and projects have to be within 10 miles of a landfill site.
Information on the scheme is available from Entrust, the Environmental Trust
Scheme Regulatory Body Ltd.
Profex House, 25 School Lane, Bushey, Herts WD23 1SS
T: 020 8950 2152 F: 0208 950 3862
Learning and Skills Councils
www.lsc.gov.uk
From April 2001 the Learning and Skills Councils have been responsible for
funding and planning education and training for over 16s in England. Their
mission is to raise participation and attainment through high quality education
and training which puts learners first. LSCs have a combined budget of £5.5
billion and operate through 47 local offices. The national office is based in
Coventry. The local offices are responsible for matching learning opportunities
to the needs of local employers. Each LSC will have the flexibility to work with
local representatives from employers, learning providers and community groups to
identify skills shortages and implement training and education to address them.
The national offices are at:
Cheylesmore House, Quinton Road, Coventry CV1 2WT
T: 0845 019 4170 F: 024 7686 3100
Leonardo da Vinci II
Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges
Promoting a ‘Europe of knowledge’ through actively supporting lifelong training policies. It supports innovative transnational initiatives for promoting the knowledge, aptitudes and skills necessary for a successful integration into working life and full exercise of citizenship. Applications must include partners from at least 3 member countries. The priorities are: the acquisition of new skills, forging closer links between educational training establishments and enterprises, combating social inclusion, promotion of investment in human resources and promoting access to skills through the information society.
The British Council, 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN
Tel: 0171 389 4389 Fax: 0171 389 4426
e-mail:
leonardo@centralbureau.org
Local Government
www.info4local.gov.uk
This website is an online one stop gateway to local government related
information. It contains links to other local authority sites as well as
documents relating to policy affecting local government.
Many museums will receive much of their funding from local government. Local authorities may also from time to time have extra funds to which you can apply.
Often, joint applications with other local authority services such as social services or the Local Education Authority will be a good way of attracting funds from other funding sources.
Local Heritage Initiative
www.lhi.org.uk
Part of the Heritage Lottery Fund and devised by the Countryside
Agency. The fund helps local groups to investigate, explain and care for their
local landscape, landmarks, traditions and culture. It was launched in February
2000 and is planned to run for 10 years. At present the scheme only runs in
England but it may develop to Scotland, Ireland and Wales. It provides funding
for projects that are started, supported and carried out by local people. New or
existing voluntary or community groups can apply.
New Opportunities Fund
www.nof.org.uk
Part of the National Lottery. Gives grants to health, environment,
and education. Current priorities include citizenship and those who are most
disadvantaged.
Heron House, 322 High Holborn, London WC1V 7PW
T: 020 7211 1800
F: 020 7211 17750
Regeneration Schemes
www.dtlr.gov.uk
There are many different types of regeneration scheme and the way they are
run is informed by government policy. The principal mechanism for delivering
regeneration programmes is the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB). This is
primarily aimed at housing, jobs, training, social exclusion and environmental
improvements but often they will refer to cultural and community development.
Applying to these is sometimes lengthy but there may be ways that you can help
an SRB programme deliver their ’outputs’. You should contact your Council’s Arts
or Economic Development Department for details of any bids that may be ongoing
in your area.
News and information on SRB is available on the Department for Transport, Local
Government and the Regions website
www.detr.gov.uk
and through a specialist service for regeneration
www.regen.net
One North East
www.onenortheast.co.uk
The Regional development Agency for the North East. Responsible for
co-ordinating economic regeneration in that area.
North West Development Agency
www.nwda.co.uk
The Regional development Agency for the North West. Responsible for
co-ordinating economic regeneration in that area.
Yorkshire Forward
www.yorkshire-forward.com
The Regional development Agency for Yorkshire. Responsible for co-ordinating
economic regeneration in that area.
East Midlands Development Agency
www.emda.org.uk
The Regional development Agency for the East Midlands. Responsible
for co-ordinating economic regeneration in that area.
South West Regional Development Agency
www.southwestrda.org.uk
The Regional development Agency for the South West. Responsible for
co-ordinating economic regeneration in that area.
LDA (London Development Agency)
www.lda.gov.uk
The Regional development Agency for London. Responsible for co-ordinating
economic regeneration in that area.
Regional Arts Boards
www.arts.org.uk
Administers the Regional Arts Lottery Programme (RALP). Each of the
10 regional arts boards will have different priorities under each of the 5 areas
that it gives grants under.
The website has lots of very useful information sheets on funding and several
email discussion lists (including one on fundraising).
Scottish Arts Council
www.sac.org.uk
Funds about 80 arts organisations in Scotland and makes project funds
available to individual artists. Distributes arts lottery money in Scotland on
behalf of National Lottery.
12 Manor Place, Edinburgh EH3 7DD
T: 0131 240 2443/2444
F: 0131 225 9833
Help.desk@scottisharts.org.uk
The Youth Programme
www.britcoun.org
The objective of the programme is to give a greater sense of solidarity,
develop an active involvement in the European ideal and encourage a spirit of
initiative and enterprise. For young people from 15 years upwards. For 2001 the
priorities are the inclusion of disadvantaged
youth, better access to media and the internet and training for youth leaders
and youth workers. Next year, however, these priorities may be different.
Economic and Social Research Council, Polaris House, North Star Avenue,
Swindon SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 413 062 Fax: 01793 413 001
e-mail:
yec.enquiries@britcoun.org
Business Sponsorship and Company Giving
Business support for arts, culture and learning is becoming more and more popular. This can be either in the form of commercial sponsorship or company giving. Whoever you intend to approach it’s wise to research the company thoroughly beforehand. Company websites often contain give you annual reports and a good indication of what the company’s main charitable interests are. They can also help your to find out who to contact! There are a number of publications and other sources that can help you to find companies for sponsorship or donations. (see our sections on ‘books and references’ and ‘useful contacts’).