Funding is a crucial part of any creative project or business. Here are some of the organisations you can approach for financial support.
Grants for the arts
Funded by the National Lottery and awarded by Arts Council England, grants for the arts are for activities which engage people in arts activities, and help artists and arts organisations carry out their work.
Shell LiveWIRE
The Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Awards gives out 4 prizes of £1,000 to innovative young entrepreneurs every month.
If you are aged 16-30, based in the UK and starting a new business, you can apply.
The Co-operative Enterprise Hub
Small grants are available to businesses already receiving support from the Co-operative Enterprise Hub. The Co-operative Loan Fund specialises in providing finance to co-operatives.
They have already helped creative businesses, such as High Bridge Studios and Tees Music Alliance.
Artists’ international development fund
The Artists’ international development programme is a £750,000 fund, jointly funded by the British Council and Arts Council England.
The programme offers early stage development opportunities for individual freelance and self-employed artists based in England to spend time building links with artists, organisations and/or creative producers in another country.
Ideastap
If you’re looking to get a creative project off the ground, theIdeas Fund offers the chance to apply for funding.
The Ideas Fund is split into themed categories, which are open at different times throughout the year. To date, more than £500,000 in funding has been awarded to IdeasTap members.
Clore Poetry and Literature Awards
Clore Awards aim to support organisations and schools in trying out new ways to engage children and young people in poetry, literature and creative writing.
The Awards are open to schools, colleges, community groups and other arts/cultural organisations. They also fund poetry and literature initiatives for under 19s costing between £1,000 and £10,000.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the process of raising funding from the public, often using a website resource as a platform and
publicising the project using social media. People who donate may be offered a reward of some kind in return for contributing.
Donation-based platforms designed specifically for creative projects:
- Kickstarter
- WeFund
- Crowdfunder
- PledgeMusic, for musical projects.
Other platforms:
- Bloom Venture Catalyst, which hosts a mix of projects
- Buzzbnk, aimed at social enterprise and community ventures.
Examples of equity-based crowdfunding platforms, for start-ups and investor-backed businesses:
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