Arts, heritage and community funders: what they judge and how to budget

Arts Council England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the National Lottery Community Fund, PRS Foundation and the charitable trusts publish their criteria, their risk checks and, increasingly, their odds. This guide puts them in one place, as at 18 October 2026, and turns them into what to write and what to put in the budget, because the budget, not the art, is where most applications die.

The odds, the waits and what changed

The latest published success rates¹²²³³ are counted differently (by application or by value, by programme or across a funder), so compare them only roughly:

The Heritage Fund supported over 900 projects against over 2,100 new applications in 2025–26; the two counts are not the same cohort, so that is not a true rate.¹⁸ Count and value differ too: the Community Fund's 2025–26 equalities table shows about 37,200 applications and 13,800 grants (about 37% by count) against about £5.4 billion requested and £939.7 million awarded (about 17% by value).³² Many winners get less than they asked for.

ACE awarded over £96 million to more than 2,900 Project Grants in 2025/26 (about £33,000 each, pulled up by the strategic strands); 2026/27 budgets are up to £102.5 million for Project Grants and £14.4 million for DYCP.¹ Demand outpaces them: the total asked was projected at £355 million in 2024/25, up from £295 million in 2022/23.¹¹

Arts Council England Project Grants

Two criteria, then a risk gate

From September 2026 ACE's guidance for £30,000 and under sets out "the two criteria": how your project will help to make a difference, and how likely it is to achieve what you want it to. The four-criteria model (quality, public engagement, finance, management) still on blogs and council pages is not in it.⁴ The risk check rates planning and budget factors as major, moderate or minor; a major risk means it "will not go to a decision meeting", and moderate risks become payment conditions.⁴⁷

The tie-break names underrepresented groups ("Black, Asian and ethnically diverse people and disabled people") and Priority Places, and, at October 2026, the museum collections and library offers priorities.⁴² If you are in a Priority Place, say so. Relationship managers add: "Can you use data to support the need for your project?" and "Is the level of match appropriate for the project?"⁶

The form, question by question

You choose one main focus: the public taking part (Creative People), a place or community (Cultural Communities), or professional practice (A Creative and Cultural Country). Keep to the character counts even where the system lets you type more.⁴

The work example is one webpage, up to five pages, or up to three minutes of audio or video, 10MB at most.⁴

£30,001 to £100,000, and refusals

The same two criteria apply, plus: "Are there appropriate partnerships"; "Is the level of match funding appropriate?"; "Is the budget and cashflow appropriate"; "Has risk been appropriately considered and are there reasonable mitigations?" Where relevant, the four Investment Principles (Inclusivity and Relevance, Ambition and Quality, Dynamism, Environmental Responsibility) are used, ACE may contact partners, and there is a 1,500-character environmental responsibility question.⁵ A cash-flow template is part of the application.⁶

Under £30,000, a refusal gives one of four standard reasons: "It didn't clearly show us how it met our criteria"; "We had specific concerns about your project" (fair pay sits here); "less strong than other applications"; or "Our funds are limited, we decided to fund a mix of different applications". There is no appeal; a re-application must address the letter.⁷ Above £30,000 you get the full appraisal: change what it names, and say what you changed.

Developing Your Creative Practice: one shot a year

DYCP gives individuals (or a small group that usually collaborates) £2,000 to £12,000 for up to a year of development. You must live in England, be 18 or over, have a UK individual bank account, have a year of practice outside formal education, and have no Project Grants application in at the same time. "You cannot apply if you have had one successful or two unsuccessful DYCP applications since 09 November 2021". The guidance's comparison table still says "up to four deadlines per year"; ignore it.⁹ After IT problems in summer 2025 ACE paused DYCP and moved to one round a year,¹ so a weak bid costs a year and one of your two permitted failures.¹⁰⁸

The rate was 21.5% in 2025/26¹ and 20% across the first 11 rounds (3,670 awards from over 18,000 applications), per an evaluation published around 2022.¹² ACE: "Many of the applications we receive are either not ready to be funded or DYCP is not the right fund for the idea", so use its "Are you ready to apply?" tool.¹⁰ It judges track record, a plan leading to "a meaningful shift in your practice", why now, and future opportunities.⁹

DYCP: the three answers

1. You and your practice (up to 1,800 characters)
   - what you make, for whom, since when
   - two or three specific things you have done, with dates, places and partners
   - the honest gap: where your practice is stuck or ready to change

2. The development opportunity (up to 1,500)
   - exactly what you will do, with whom, for how long (extended and tailored, not a stock residency)
   - what will be different about your practice at the end: the "meaningful shift"
   - your own fee and the other costs, each as days x rate

3. Why now, and what it leads to (up to 1,500)
   - why this year, not last year or next
   - the named future opportunities it makes possible, and who has said so

Plus: one work example (a document of three pages at most) and a letter of
support from someone "involved in your career" who "understands the
development opportunity" and "can explain the future opportunities".

Include your own fee ("this is something we want you to include"; ACE's example is "specialist mentoring, 2 days @ £200 per day = £400"), and use no paywalled links such as LinkedIn: "If we can't access your document or web page then we may view your application as ineligible."⁹

The Heritage Fund: four principles, one urgent need

Grants of £3,000 to £10,000 closed in December 2023; open grants now start at £10,000 under Heritage 2033. Advice about "priority outcomes" and a mandatory "inclusion outcome" is the old framework.¹⁶¹³

Word limits from the questions page, updated 3 July 2026; "you don't need to reach this". If 75% or more of your beneficiaries come from specific communities, say so using the DEI Data Standard categories.¹⁴ On AI: "We will not reject an application just because AI was used", but AI "won't be able tell the unique story" and "We do not advise using AI to generate your budget".¹⁷

The Community Fund: community first, paperwork second

The Community Fund does not judge your art. A community choir is "bring people together" for isolated older people; write the difference for people, then the activity.

Show involvement the Fund's way: "do a survey", "hold a meeting or community event"; people could "volunteer" or "join your board or committee".²³ Reaching Communities will "look at background statistics to understand the level of need", so quote them first.²⁷ And: "Don't rely on AI-suggested budgets".³¹

PRS Foundation: the music is half the mark

"A UK tour with 6 confirmed dates is more likely to receive funding than a tour with no dates confirmed"; with nothing confirmed, show promoter conversations or "consider waiting for a future deadline". Match each cost to related income: "It is hard for advisors to support recording and releases if there is zero related income."³³ The guidance says "3 deadlines a year", but the 2026 deadlines page listed two Open Fund rounds (18 March and 7 September) and two PPL Momentum Accelerator Liverpool rounds (11 May and 26 October).³⁴³⁵ Trust the deadlines page and watch coming-soon.html.

Trusts and foundations: fit first

GrantNav, 360Giving's free search of grants published to its Standard (over £300 billion by 31 March 2025), filters "by location, recipient, award amount or funding organisation" and downloads to a spreadsheet.³⁶

Weston's share rule means a £50,000 project asks it for £5,000 to £10,000, inside a mix of funders. It fails "work which is being delivered by similar organisations in the same area as you", missing income plans, and "large cash reserves or relatively high cost work" left unexplained.³⁷ Its one-off 2019 Anniversary Fund made 156 grants from over 2,300 applications (about 7%), 1,700 of them in the last three days; winners showed "Clear leadership" and "Sensible business plans that could absorb additional revenue costs".³⁹

Esmée's 2023 figures show its decision is made at the expression of interest.⁴¹

On the invited and follow-on route, 169 of 191 were invited and 164 funded,⁴¹ so good delivery on a past grant is your strongest asset. Esmée funds work "doing something new to create systemic change", "informed by evidence" and "driven or shaped by those with lived experience"; its pre-application webinars (latest found 3 June 2026) tell you early if you do not fit.⁴⁰⁴²

Over 140 grantmakers have signed IVAR's open and trusting commitments, including "We will give feedback"; prefer them where you fit.⁴⁴⁴⁵ Foundations report "a growing volume of funding applications powered by AI",⁴⁶ so specific applications stand out.

Try 30% for Project Grants, 10% for the Open Fund or 7% for a crowded open trust round. Below 10%, fit, pre-application contact and resubmission move the odds more than volume.

Outcomes and a one-page theory of change

NCVO: "Outcomes are the changes that come about as a result of your work". Describe single changes, not "service users feel more empowered", use neutral indicators ("level of", "number of"), and "set at least two indicators to measure each outcome". Evaluation "commonly make[s] up 10-15% of an overall project budget", as "a very rough guide".⁴⁹⁵⁰ NPC's ten-step method gives the full theory of change;⁴⁸ this one page answers ACE's "difference", the Heritage Fund's "need" and the Community Fund's missions.

Theory of change on one page

Need:        who, where, what is wrong, with one statistic (source, date)
             and one thing people told you (date, how many)
Activities:  what you will do, how often, for how many, with whom
Outcomes:    2 or 3 changes for people (not activities), each with
             2 indicators and a baseline
Impact:      the longer-term difference, and who else benefits
Assumptions: what has to be true (people turn up, the venue stays open,
             the partner delivers), and how you will know early if it is not
Why you:     track record, partners confirmed, how you manage and learn

Budgets that pass

Show every calculation and name the rate

ACE's own patterns: "2 x Creative specialists @ £150 per day for 10 days = £3,000"; "Ticket sales (7 dates @ 60% of 100 capacity x £8 ticket price) £3,360". Include your own fee; budget employer's National Insurance, holiday pay and pension; exclude reclaimable VAT; "Your budget must balance". Fees must be "in line with, or better than, recognised codes of practice" and at least the National Living Wage (23 and over) or National Minimum Wage, or "Your application will be negatively affected".⁴

Fair pay standard (600 characters)

Artists are paid at or above the Artists Now day rates (April 2026):
lead artist £262/day (5+ years' experience), workshop artists £204/day.
Performers at the sharing are paid the ITC/Equity daily rate (£139,
2026/27). The evaluator is paid £262/day. The BSL interpreter is paid
at their quoted professional rate. All rates exceed the National Living
Wage. My own time is costed at the lead artist rate, 20 days.

The rules differ by funder

The common 5–10% contingency is convention; none of these funders states a percentage. Volunteer time cannot be paid at the Heritage Fund, but volunteer expenses can.¹⁴ The Community Fund's full cost recovery method claims "a proportionate share of your organisation's overheads".³⁰ The National Archives adds: "Work with Finance staff from the start", and be open about other bids ("We have applied to X, Y & Z").⁴⁷

One narrative, cut to fit each form

1. The idea in one sentence: what, for whom, where, when.
2. The need: one statistic about the place or people (source, date) and
   one thing they told you (date, how many).
3. Who designed it with you: the community, the partners, the team, and
   how they reflect the people you serve.
4. What you will do: activities with numbers and dates.
5. The difference it makes: two or three outcomes, each with two indicators.
6. Why now: the moment, the risk of waiting, what happens without the grant.
7. Why you: track record, confirmed partners, how you will manage and learn.

Examples that won, and why

No funder here publishes annotated winning applications; none of these sources gives the amount or the assessors' reasons.

Pitfalls

See also guides/pitfalls and guides/start-here.

Checklist

• The right fund for the work, and a talk with it first
• ACE profile validated (up to 10 days)
• One dated statistic about the place; one dated thing the community said
• Evidence the community co-designed it and the team reflects them
• Two or three outcomes, two indicators each, with baselines
• Every cost a calculation; rate sources in the fair pay box
• Your own fee in; reclaimable VAT out
• Contingency and match done this funder's way, with dates
• Evaluation and access costed
• Risk register with owners
• Legal names match; bank statement under three months old
• Specific letters of support; open links; Unlisted videos
• Start after the decision period; cold read a week early

Questions

What are the Arts Council England Project Grants criteria in 2026?

For £30,000 and under, two: the difference your project makes, and how likely it is to achieve it, after a risk check on plan and budget (September 2026). Above £30,000, partnerships, match, cash flow and risk are tested too.

How long does an Arts Council Project Grant decision take?

Within 8 weeks for £30,000 or under from 1 September 2026, at least 14 weeks for £30,001 to £100,000, and 16 to 24 weeks for strategic strands. Allow up to 10 days first for profile validation.

When does Developing Your Creative Practice open again?

Round 25 opens in summer 2027, with details by March 2027; it is now one round a year. You cannot apply after one successful or two unsuccessful DYCP applications since 9 November 2021.

Can I put contingency in an Awards for All budget?

No: the Community Fund cannot fund contingency. The Heritage Fund makes it mandatory and Arts Council England allows it under "Other spending", so build one budget per funder.

How much should I ask a trust like Garfield Weston for?

Its grants "tend to be 10-20% of a total project cost", so £5,000 to £10,000 on a £50,000 project, as part of a mix. It needs a year of accounts as a registered charity, takes 4 to 6 months and gives no individual feedback.

What day rate should I put in an arts funding budget?

A published one, named: Artists Now's April 2026 visual-artist rates run from £204 to £377 a day, and ITC/Equity's 2026/27 minimums are £631 a week or £139 a day. Never go below the National Living Wage, and include your own fee.

Does the Heritage Fund require match funding?

Not from £10,000 to £250,000, though you must say why you have none. From £250,000 it is 5%, and 10% from £1 million.

Can I use AI to write my funding application?

The Heritage Fund "will not reject an application just because AI was used" but advises against AI budgets; the Community Fund warns generic content "may disadvantage your application". Write from your own evidence.

Written for businesses, founders and researchers in the North West of England and checked against the sources listed above on 18 October 2026. Funders change their rules, so always read the current call before you apply. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.