New schemes for new cash

£100m will be up for grabs by arts and cultural organisations following the launch of ‘Catalyst’, the Arts Council England (ACE) scheme aimed at helping them diversify their income streams and raise more cash from private sources. Billed as the scheme that will offer organisations “the opportunity to move their fundraising and development expertise on to the next level, whatever their current starting point”, Catalyst has three strands, through which it sets out to create opportunities for organisations of all sizes and levels of fundraising expertise to apply for money to boost their fundraising potential. Organisations with the most established fundraising infrastructures are encouraged to apply for an amount between £500,000 and £5m from a £25m fund, as match funding to build a new endowment fund or to increase an existing one. Applications will be assessed by an independent Advisory Panel, chaired by Michael Portillo, which will make award recommendations to ACE.

A further £30m has been set aside for a match-funding scheme that will support organisations to build their fundraising capacity and capability over a three-year period. Grants of between £120,000 and £240,000 will be made to organisations that “show commitment to wanting to raise their game”. Organisations will use their grants in the first year to gear up resources and build capacity, and subsequently using the funds as match funding to incentivise gifts. The aim is to enable these organisations to develop successful and sustainable fundraising models that will continue to generate new money for the arts sector beyond 2015. Only organisations that are or have recently been regularly funded by ACE will be eligible to apply, and applicants must have a track record of success in raising funds from trusts, foundations, legacies, corporate sponsors or private givers.

The final strand of the scheme is open access, and £7m will be earmarked for arts organisations with little or no fundraising experience. Grants of between £15,000 and £25,000 will be awarded to organisations for the purpose of making themselves more attractive to donors, securing new donors or ensuring that existing funders keep giving. Collaborations with other arts or heritage organisations to attract new funds are encouraged, as is the use of new technologies or techniques such as crowd-sourcing.

The concept for Catalyst was first announced by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt in December last year (AP230). Welcoming the launch of the scheme, he said: “Supporting a culture of giving is one of my top priorities. Today’s announcement shows that we are making rapid progress, with £100m now available to help culture and heritage organisations strengthen their fundraising skills and attract significant sums from private sources.”