Full guidance for applicants has now been published with the first part of the scheme now open for heritage applications.

Catalyst is designed to enable arts and heritage organisations to diversify their income streams, attract significantly more funding by increasing their fundraising potential and help them to develop and explore innovative new approaches to securing private giving - building long-term resilience, sustainability and innovation.

The £100million Catalyst fund will be invested through:

Catalyst: Endowments

• a £55m scheme jointly funded by Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)

Catalyst Arts: capacity building and match funding scheme

• a £30m Arts Council capacity building and match funding scheme

Catalyst Arts and Catalyst Heritage fundraising capacity building programme (to be launched spring 2012)

• a £7m Arts Council fundraising capacity building small grant scheme 
• a £5m HLF investment in capacity building, including a small grant scheme

The Arts Council will also invest £3m in a programme of learning and knowledge sharing.

Catalyst: Endowments

Catalyst: Endowments offers match funding to arts and heritage organisations to help them build endowments that provide additional annual income. The scheme intends to give organisations with a successful track record of fundraising the chance to set up and manage an endowment.

Arts and heritage organisations can apply for an endowment of between £500,000 and £5million with awards conditional on applicants at least matching this with funding from private givers.

Read the full criteria and guidance for applicants wishing to apply to Catalyst: Endowments. Applications for Heritage awards are now open. Applications for Arts awards open on 1 November 2011.

An Advisory Panel, chaired by Michael Portillo will provide input and guidance to the decision process for both the arts and heritage sections of the Catalyst: Endowments scheme in England. Final decisions on Arts Council/HLF funding will be made by their respective governing body.

Catalyst Arts: capacity building and match funding scheme

The £30million Catalyst Arts: capacity building and match funding scheme will support arts organisations that have already had some success in fundraising to develop more successful and sustainable fundraising models.

The Arts Council wants to help bring about a change in the culture of asking by investing in organisations that are committed to making a step change in their approach to fundraising so they become more financially and organisationally resilient. Awards of between £120,000 and £240,000 over three years will be tailored to reflect the specific circumstances and needs of organisations applying, encouraging applicants to embrace creative and innovative ideas to raise funds.

Read the full criteria and guidance for applicants wishing to apply to Catalyst Arts: capacity building and match funding scheme (MS Word, 61KB). Applications to the scheme open on 1 November 2011.

Catalyst Arts and Catalyst Heritage fundraising capacity building grants

In the Spring of 2012, the Arts Council and HLF will open schemes offering grants of between £15,000 and £25,000 to build the fundraising capacity and capability of arts and heritage organisations with little or no fundraising experience.

Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England said: “Increasing the amount of private giving to the arts remains a long term ambition but we hope these measures will start a significant shift in both the culture of asking and the culture of giving.

“One of the Arts Councils 10 year goals is to make the arts more sustainable and resilient and increasing the amount organisations attract from private giving is an important part of this. Critically, Catalyst is about attracting new money to the arts, increasing the pool of donors whose generosity continues to make such a vital contribution to our mixed economy funding system.”

Carole Souter, Chief Executive of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: “Catalyst is offering organisations of all sizes an exciting opportunity to help build financial resilience at a time when it is really needed.  We expect the Heritage Lottery Fund’s £20millon investment to have a really positive impact on heritage across the UK.”

Jeremy Hunt, Culture Secretary, said: “Supporting a culture of giving is one of my top priorities. Today’s announcement shows that we are making rapid progress, with £100million now available to help culture and heritage organisations strengthen their fundraising skills and attract significant sums from private sources. I remain incredibly grateful to everyone who gives money to support these vital sectors and look forward to the Catalyst scheme making a huge impact on the financial resilience of organisations across the country.”

Read a summary of the whole Catalyst scheme and access links to all guidance.

Notes to editors

Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2011 and 2015, we will invest £1.4billion of public money from government and an estimated £0.85billion from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.

Catalyst Arts is one of the ways in which Arts Council England will use its Lottery income in flexible ways to support its Grant in aid investment. The strategic use of Lottery funds will help the Arts Council realise the goals set out in Achieving great art for everyone – its ten-year strategic framework for the arts.

Other areas for which strategic funding is being developed include digital, capital and touring.

Heritage Lottery Fund
Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) sustains and transforms a wide range of heritage for present and future generations to take part in, learn from and enjoy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology, natural environment and cultural traditions, we invest in every part of our diverse heritage. HLF has supported more than 30,000 projects, allocating £4.7bn across the UK. 

HLF’s commitment to the Catalyst programme followed a strategic consultation early this year which widely endorsed proposals for giving more support to help organisations build their financial resilience and engage more with private giving. HLF is currently developing the detail of proposals for a new strategy to be launched in April 2012, covering the period from 2013 onwards.

DCMS
DCMS provides funding for the arts in England, sets arts policy and supports arts based initiatives, often in partnership with other government departments. DCMS funding is distributed through Arts Council England, which make all funding decisions at ‘arm’s length’ from Government. DCMS is also responsible for ensuring that the historic environment of England is properly protected and conserved for the benefit of present and future generations. The department funds English Heritage, the Government’s statutory advisor on the historic environment, and the largest source of non-lottery grant funding for heritage assets.

Further information

Contact Nick Adams, Corporate Communications Officer, at Arts Council England on 020 7973 5549 / nick.adams@artscouncil.org.uk.

Or speak to Lydia Davies, HLF Press Office, on 020 7591 6032 / 07973 613 820 / LydiaD@hlf.org.uk.