Strategic Funding Programme

Arts Council

Relevent Country: Ireland

The Arts Council is seeking applications for its 2023 Strategic Funding Programme to invest in and support the organisations needed to lead, sustain and develop the arts in Ireland

Organisations that receive Strategic Funding must play a critical part in delivering the policy priorities of Making Great Art Work, the Arts Council’s ten-year strategy.

Objectives

In offering Strategic Funding to organisations, the Arts Council wishes to ensure:

  • The delivery of excellent artwork and/or events, activities and services
  • Excellent opportunities for artists and/or arts professionals to develop their practice and/or to create or to be engaged in high-quality work
  • That the diversity of contemporary Ireland is reflected in the work they support
  • That more people will enjoy high-quality arts experiences
  • Increased depth of engagement by and with the public
  • Excellent standards in governance and management in the arts.

What types of activities will be supported through Strategic Funding?

  • Strategic Funding is intended to support both the operating (core) costs of organisations and the activities that your organisation undertakes to deliver your mission.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Strategic Funding is only open to organisations. You can make only one application each year for Strategic Funding.
  • To be eligible for Strategic Funding, your organisation must:
  • Be formally constituted as either a Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) or a Designated Activity Company (DAC) or a statutory body
  • Apply in its own name, and not in the name of another company or individual
  • Have previously successfully applied for Arts Council funding either in the name of your organisation or in the name of a key person involved in the organization
  • Ineligible to apply
  • Organisations that have already applied for funding through Arts Grant Funding 2023 or the Festival Investment Scheme 2023
  • Members of the Council of National Cultural Institutions (CNCI) directly funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
  • If this is the first time your organisation has applied for Strategic Funding, you must contact the relevant arts team before applying. Applications received from organisations that have not contacted the relevant arts team will be considered ineligible.

Criteria

They will base their assessment of your application on the following criteria:

  • Artistic quality and development of the arts.
  • Engagement.
  • Organisational capacity.
  • The extent to which the organisation is critical to the arts infrastructure
  • Equality, diversity and inclusion.

Source: https://www.artscouncil.ie/Funds/Strategic-Funding/