Belfast City Council Core Multi-Annual Funding for arts and heritage organisations. Guidance notes

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1 Belfast City Council Core Multi-Annual Funding for arts and heritage organisations Guidance notes Contents Section Page number 1. Introduction 1 2. Purpose of funding 1 3. General information 2 4. Filling in your application form 5 5. What happens next Useful contacts Glossary Further resources Introduction Belfast is a dynamic, diverse and unique city and having a dynamic, diverse and unique culture is vital for its success. Culture, arts and heritage improve our quality of life by creating a shared, welcoming and proud city. They create wealth by supporting jobs, attracting visitors and increasing investment. In October 2012, Belfast City Council launched its Cultural Framework for Belfast, which values how arts and heritage make Belfast a better, more prosperous and successful city to live in, work in and visit. Its vision is that: By 2020, everyone in Belfast experiences and is inspired by our city s diverse and distinctive culture and arts. Arts and heritage are valued for enriching quality of life and creating wealth, and the city s culture and creativity is renowned throughout the world. The framework is on our website at 2. Purpose of funding Providing funding for arts and heritage organisations is vital to the success of the Cultural Framework. Core multi-annual funding is to support the core activities of arts and heritage organisations that meet the strategic objectives of the Cultural Framework. It is open to professionally run organisations that require ongoing year-round funding to run a core programme of activities. Grants will be offered for a four-year period (April 2016 to March 2020) as long as the organisation s performance in the previous year was satisfactory. The amount of grant will be the same for each of the four years. Page 1 of 22

2 3. General information These guidance notes are designed to tell you what you need to know about applying for core multi-annual funding. Before you fill in the form, you should consider whether this is the right grant for you as the application process can be time consuming. You must at least be able to meet the eligibility criteria listed under Who can apply? below. However, funding is very competitive and just meeting the eligibility criteria is not enough to guarantee funding. The council has a range of other grants, including project funding for shortterm arts and heritage projects and community festivals funding, which may be more suitable. You can get information on other grants from our website at or by contacting our grants officers. Our contact details are at the end of these guidance notes. You can also talk to our grants officers. We will be running information sessions in mid-september log on to our website at to find out more information and book your place. Our grants officers with be at these information sessions, or you can contact us direct to arrange a meeting. Our contact details are at the end of these guidance notes. As well as these guidance notes, we have produced a marketing and audience development plan toolkit. You can get this from our website at Some of our partners and other organisations have also produced guidance that you may find useful, and we have listed these in Further resources at the end of these guidance notes. Core multi-annual funding cannot cover the costs associated with filling in this application form or activities before 1 April Who can apply? The following list is the basic eligibility criteria that your organisation must meet to be able to apply for core multi-annual funding. If your organisation does not meet the eligibility criteria, your application will not be considered for funding. Your organisation must meet all of the following criteria. It must be an arts or heritage organisation. This means that its constitution or memorandum and articles of association (the document that governs how the organisation is run and its purpose) must state that arts or heritage is a primary objective of the organisation. It must be a legally constituted group and supply evidence of this (a constitution or memorandum and articles of association). It must have ongoing year-round costs. It must have paid full-time staff (or a number of paid part-time staff that is equivalent to having at least one full-time member of staff) on its payroll throughout the year or plan to appoint paid fulltime staff in the first year of this grant. If you do not currently employ staff but are considering it, this should be because you are planning to grow and develop your organisation. You should not plan to make changes to your staff simply to be eligible for this funding as the value of a grant may be less than the cost of a new staff member, and your grant will be withdrawn if this condition is not met. It must have an office in and operational focus in the Belfast City Council local government district. (The Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service has maps of Belfast with a postcode search function. See It must not be able to share out profits to members or shareholders. Page 2 of 22

3 It must be a not-for-profit organisation. We cannot support commercial programmes or activities that could be undertaken on a commercial basis. If, in the reasonable opinion of the council, the organisation applying for funding is a de facto commercial organisation, whatever the legal makeup of the organisation, then the council will not fund that organisation. The decision of the council shall be final in this regard. Regardless, our funding must only be used to support elements of your programme that are not commercial and can demonstrate public benefit. It must have a business plan covering at least one year of your programme and supply a copy. It must have a marketing and audience development plan(s) covering at least one year of your programme and supply a copy. If your marketing plan is a separate document from your audience development plan, you should supply copies of both of these. It must have up-to-date annual and management accounts signed as agreed by the board or management committee and supply copies of them. (More information on the evidence you must provide is given under Section E: Eligibility, enclosure checklist and declaration on page 14.) It must hold a bank account in the organisation s name and provide evidence of this. (More information on the evidence you must provide is given under Section E: Eligibility, enclosure checklist and declaration on page 14.) Belfast City Council is highly unlikely to fund an organisation that is in poor financial health or that cannot prove that it has effective financial controls. It must have a board or management committee and supply a list of members. It must have a child protection policy and equal opportunities policy and keep to relevant laws including the Race Relations (NI) Order 1997, the Sex Discrimination (NI) Order 1976, Fair Employment and Treatment (NI) Order 1998, and the Disability Discrimination Act It must complete and provide detailed financial budgets in the tables provided in Section D of the application form. The organisation completing the form must be the same organisation that will receive the grant and manage the programme. We will not consider an application made by one organisation on behalf of another. We must receive your application on or before 12 midday on 30 October We will not accept applications we receive after this time. Grants available The minimum grant available through this funding scheme is 10,000 per year. The council s budget is finite, and funding is always very competitive. Applicants should note that the average grant awarded under this scheme when it first opened in 2012 was 26,400 per year or approximately 4 per cent of organisations annual turnover. Organisations that are currently in receipt of core multi-annual funding should request a similar level of grant to that they were awarded previously unless they can demonstrate significant changes to their annual programme or their organisation. This is because the criteria for assessing applications have not changed, and the total pot of money available through the scheme is likely to remain the same. For organisations that do not currently receive core multi-annual funding, the Cultural Framework identified that in England, local councils funded approximately 8 per cent of organisations turnover. New requests for funding should be realistic, and this may provide a reference point. Financial management and value for money will make up 10 per cent of your overall score, and we will consider the amount you have requested when assessing value for money. If we do not think that the amount requested is good value, we may also offer you less than the amount you applied for. If this is the Page 3 of 22

4 case we will talk to you about the effect this may have on your programme before we issue the funding agreement. Ultimately, the amount of funding you receive will depend on the strength of your application form and the demand for the funding. Even if an application scores highly, we cannot guarantee funding. The amount offered to successful applicants will be the same for each year from 2016/17 to 2019/20 inclusive. What the funding can be used for Core multi-annual funding can be used towards any costs associated with running your organisation and providing your core programme of activities. However, you do not need to identify what you intend to spend your core multi-annual funding grant on. If successful, your grant will be a contribution to your overall costs because of the strength of your overall programme. For this reason, you may not be eligible to apply for other funding from Belfast City Council to support your core programme of activities. Please note, this fund does not support capital expenditure (that is the cost of buying physical assets for long-term use, such as buildings, land, vehicles, equipment and so on). The application process and timescales Closing date to receipt of applications Notification to eligible applicants 30 October 2015 February 2016 The above dates are subject to council approvals. To apply for funding you must fill in the core multi-annual funding application form online at If you would like us to or post you an application, phone the Central Grants Unit on or send an to cgugrants@belfastcity.gov.uk. We are committed to making sure that our services are available to all sections of the community. We may be able to provide these guidance notes and the application form in different formats on request. We must receive your application on or before 12 midday on 30 October We will not accept applications we receive after this time. All the applications will be logged on receipt. However, we will not send you a letter to confirm that we have received your application. Assessment process Stage one: eligibility check We will first make sure your organisation meets the eligibility criteria listed under Who can apply? on page 2. If information relating to your governing document, most recent signed annual accounts, signed management accounts or 3 most recent bank statements is missing, we will contact you and ask you to send the information within five working days. No other information will be requested. If your organisation does not provide missing information within five working days; or Page 4 of 22

5 does not meet the eligibility criteria your application will be deemed ineligible. This means that your application has been unsuccessful and will not be recommended for funding. Stage two: assessment If your organisation meets the first-stage eligibility check, your application and supporting information will be scored against the following criteria: Criteria Weighting 1. Fit with the Framework s themes and impact on Belfast 40 per cent 2. Quality of programming 30 per cent 3. Marketing and audience development 10 per cent 4. Organisational culture, capability and commitment to excellence 10 per cent 5. Financial management and value for money 10 per cent Stage three: moderation Scores awarded at stage-two assessment will be scrutinised at two moderation panels, and the final score for each application will then be agreed. Stage four: allocation of funding Once all the applications have been moderated, we will agree the amount of funding to be awarded to each successful applicant. We will take in to account the amount of funding you requested, your scores, the viability of your programme and the overall demand for funding. We may award nothing or we may award less than the amount requested. Stage five: approval After all the applications have been assessed, recommendations for funding will be presented to and ratified by the council. Applicants will be notified of the council s decision in February Filling in your application form It is important to remember that we assess your application only on the information you provide. We cannot take in to account our own knowledge or experience of your organisation or information you do not provide in the form, including information and documents you provided previously in connection with applications for other grants. We will also not take in to account information we have not specifically requested, such as press clippings, photographs, evaluation reports, CVs and so on. For some questions we have set a maximum number of words you can have in your answer. The word limits are not just for guidance. We will not consider any words over the word limit. However, you can write shorter responses. Your responses should be well structured and clearly linked to the question. It is not enough to repeat what we say in the Cultural Framework for Belfast or in these guidance notes. We recommend you use bullet points and headings where possible. The information you provide in the application should match that in other relevant documents (for example, your business plan, strategy or marketing and audience development plan(s)). Page 5 of 22

6 Section A: Management and governance This section gathers information about how your organisation is set up and managed. The following text provides extra information you may need to answer particular questions. Question 14 You need to tell us what procedures you have in place to manage cheques, electronic payments and petty cash. For example, do two people need to sign cheques and authorise electronic payments? Are all account details locked away securely? Who has access to petty cash? Section B: Quality of programming In this section you need to describe your planned programme and activities. Your planned programme should be ambitious and reflect your organisation s purpose and objectives. The following text provides extra information you may need to answer particular questions. Question 1 Many arts and heritage organisations based in Belfast carry out work outside Belfast. If this applies to you, you must state approximately what percentage of your activities is carried out outside the Belfast local government district. Question 2 You should provide details of the core programme of activities you intend to carry out between 1 April 2016 and 31 March Your programme should be broken down into separate strands or projects with a description of each when and where it will take place, who are the beneficiaries, what staff, artists, practitioners and so on you will involve. We are only interested in activities that benefit Belfast (for example, activities taking place within Belfast local government district, work with Belfast-based artists, work from around the world that brings new practice to the city or opens Belfast audiences up to new experiences). Please note: Belfast City Council cannot support programmes which could be delivered commercially, and we will review your programme to ensure that, overall, it is aligned to your primary purpose and objectives and there is clear public benefit. Question 3 to 5 It is unlikely that you will have your programme for 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 fully planned at this stage. You should instead tell us about any significant developments or changes you intend to make to your programme in each year. Question 6 This question asks you to clearly explain your artistic/cultural vision and how your programme is of a high quality. We realise that quality can be defined in different ways for different sectors and art forms. This is your opportunity to demonstrate how you define, measure and deliver quality. Here are a few things you may want to consider when writing your response. Page 6 of 22

7 1. Do you have a clear artistic/cultural vision? For example, is your programme ambitious, unique and innovative and clearly linked to the vision? Do your supporters (your staff, volunteers, artists, practitioners, audience and participants) have a good understanding of what you are trying to achieve? 2. Do you have a track record of delivering high-quality programmes and projects? For example, have your activities won awards, had critical reviews or media coverage? What have your audiences and participants said about your work? Have you carried out surveys or evaluations? Have you had an independent evaluation of your work? What have stakeholders, such as other funders, said? 3. Do you use high-calibre artists and practitioners? For example, what is the experience and expertise of your staff? Does your activity attract, nurture and retain talent? You will have other evidence and indicators of quality that you will want to share, and it is important that you support your response with a wide range of evidence from a variety of sources. It is great if you can tell us that your work is excellent because your audience said it was. It is stronger still if you can say that your audience told you and that it also received positive media coverage. Question 7 The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) aims to ensure that disabled people are not treated less favourably than people who are not disabled. It covers access to goods, services and facilities, education and transport. This means that you have a duty to anticipate that disabled people will want to use your services and you should make changes. The DDA also requires employers not to discriminate against disabled people and to make reasonable adjustments for applications and in the workplace. Belfast City Council also has a duty to promote positive attitudes towards disabled people and to encourage participation by disabled people in public life. We expect all applicants to be familiar with the DDA and to have taken advice about ensuring that disabled people are not treated less favourably than people who are not disabled. We particularly encourage organisations to consider activities and initiatives that promote access among disabled people. At question 7 you should tell us what you are doing or what you will do to make your activities accessible to disabled people. For further advice and guidance on the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. Website: Phone: information@equalityni.org The Arts and Disability Equality Charter is a framework and award system developed by disabled people to encourage and recognise good practice among arts venues. You can find more Section C: Strategic fit with the Cultural Framework for Belfast We will only award funding to organisations whose core activities support the Cultural Framework for Belfast. The framework sets out our priorities for action and funding. Its vision is that: Page 7 of 22

8 By 2020, everyone in Belfast experiences and is inspired by our city s diverse and distinctive culture and arts. Arts and heritage are valued for enriching quality of life and creating wealth, and the city s culture and creativity is renowned throughout the world. Our key aims are: We will connect people to the city, its stories, places, arts and heritage. We will promote the value and authenticity of the city s heritage. We will place culture, arts and heritage at the heart of Belfast s ongoing narrative. We will remove barriers to participation to ensure that all sections of the community can engage with high-quality culture, arts and heritage. We will enable people to value and understand their places. We will develop shared cultural space which celebrates and promotes local cultures and communities. We will target areas and communities with low levels of engagement in culture and arts. We will increase the number of residents taking part in culture and arts. We will increase the number of visitors taking part in culture and arts. We will promote Belfast as a diverse and dynamic cultural city to existing and potential local and outof-state audiences. We will provide opportunities for organisations to develop and diversify their income streams. We will increase investment in culture, arts and heritage. We will develop a better infrastructure for skills development in Belfast. You can get a full copy of the Cultural Framework for Belfast on our website at or by ing culture@belfastcity.gov.uk or phoning The following text provides extra information you may need to answer particular questions. Question 8 You should clearly detail how your activities will support the Cultural Framework theme of Distinctly Belfast using specific examples where possible. Distinctly Belfast is about high-quality work that resonates with the people of Belfast and reflects our unique qualities, enabling the city and its culture to be recognised and valued at home and abroad. This also helps to attract and support artists and other talent. Question 9 You should clearly detail how your activities will support the one or more of the other Cultural Framework themes. We do not expect all organisations will be able to support all themes equally. Rather, you should identify your strengths, the role you can play and the contribution you can make to the success of the Cultural Framework using specific examples where possible. The other Cultural Framework themes are: 1. Inspiring communities: This theme is about inspiring people to express themselves through arts or heritage with a particular focus on people who have fewer opportunities to engage in cultural activities. 2. Attracting audiences: This theme is about engaging, retaining and developing audiences, including Belfast residents and visitors to the city. Page 8 of 22

9 3. Strengthening the sector: This theme is about supporting the development of the sector or a particular art form. Question 10 Partnership is one of the Cultural Framework s underpinning values. We recognise that we cannot realise our vision for Belfast on our own we need to work together. This applies to organisations in the cultural sector as well, and working together is of increasing importance in these financially challenging times. In this section, you should tell us who you intend to work and how you intend to work with them over the next four years. Question 12 In the table you must tell us about the targets you hope to achieve over the next four years. Your targets should be appropriate to your organisation s activities and size. Not all targets listed in application form will be relevant to all organisations. If any do not apply, write N/A in the relevant box. You may also have other targets you want to tell us about. An other category has been included, and you may add in additional rows as required. Your targets should be based on a good understanding of what you are currently delivering. For that reason, we have asked you to provide your 2015/16 figures (your baseline). We have provided a detailed definition of each target below. Target 1 Number of full-time permanent artistic staff and specialist practitioners 2 Number of contracted artists and specialist practitioners Definition Staff on fixed-term contracts of 52 weeks or more should be counted as permanent. This category includes artists and practitioners such as dancers, actors, singers, musicians, curators, writers, artistic directors, etc., as well as educational, marketing and audience development staff. Each staff member should be counted once, so, for example, if someone has both artistic and management responsibilities, please assign them to the role that takes up the greater part of their time. If you have several part-time staff members, you should work out their full-time equivalence. The glossary provides further information on full-time equivalence. This includes artistic staff and other practitioners hired for a particular project on a short-term contract including consultants, self-employed people and freelances. If an artist/practitioner is contracted more than once per year, you should count each contract. Do not include internships, apprenticeships and individuals on work experience. 3 Number of permanent full-time-equivalent other staff Staff on fixed-term contracts of 52 weeks or more should be counted as permanent. This category includes managers and other staff, such as administrative and technical. If you have several parttime staff members, you should work out their fulltime equivalence. The glossary provides further information on full-time equivalence. 4 Total number of volunteers This is staff or helpers who receive no wages or salary Page 9 of 22

10 or who receive no more than basic expenses. Do not include your board members as they are counted elsewhere. You should count each volunteer once regardless of how many times they volunteer for you. 3 Total number of volunteer hours Please calculate the total number of hours worked by volunteers. 4 Number of individual participants A participant is a person who actively takes part in an activity such as a workshop, talk, seminar, training event or outreach initiative. An individual participant is a person who is counted once irrespective of the number of activities they take part in. Do not include participants for broadcast or web events. You may add these as a separate target under the Other category. 5 Total audience The audience is the total number of people attending a one-off event. We recognise that this distinction between audiences and participants may be negligible audiences also participate by visiting, watching, listening and responding to events. However, it is necessary for monitoring purposes. Do not include audience for broadcast or web events. You may add these as a separate target under the Other category. 6 Number of activities This covers all activities inside and outside Belfast. It can include performances, such as concerts and readings, participatory activity, such as workshops and seminars, and exhibitions. Do not include broadcast or web activities. You may add these as a separate target under the Other category. 7 Other (please detail) Please enter any other targets you have set for yourself. Please note: If your application is successful, your targets will form part of your funding contract. For this reason, you should make sure you can realistically achieve them. Question 13 Here you should explain any sizeable variances in targets between years. For example, are you projecting that your audiences will grow each year because of a new audience development initiative? Are you reducing your number of exhibitions each year because you want to concentrate on a different programme strand? Question 14 Outcomes are the impact or result of your work, sometimes also described as the difference or change you make. For this reason, outcomes are often expressed using words that indicate change, such as better, increase or more. Sometimes, the result you want may be to maintain or continue the current situation. Good outcomes should be simply expressed and understood by the majority of the population to be beneficial. This might include activity that creates enjoyment and pleasure; helps develop skills and knowledge; develops social connections or a sense of personal empowerment; promotes health; or creates employment. Your work is also likely to have an impact on the art form or sector you work in by, for example, promoting good practice, advancing the quality of art produced or encouraging innovation. An outcome should also state who your activity is benefitting. Most activities run by individual arts organisations will have an impact on individuals, such as young people taking part in workshops. In some Page 10 of 22

11 cases, this may be a community of interest, identity or geography, such as people living in North Belfast or artists with disabilities. The table below shows how we worked out some sample outcomes. Who will benefit? Participants in our workshops People who attend our exhibitions How will it impact on them? How will this change? Outcome Skills and confidence Increase Participants who take part in our workshops will gain more skills and confidence. Enjoyment Continue People who attend our exhibitions will continue to enjoy our art. Artists in our collective Arts practice Developed Artists in our collection will develop their artistic practice. It is likely that your work has a large number of outcomes. However, in this question, we are asking you to identify no more than five outcomes. As this is programme funding, you should think about the outcomes that best reflect your organisation s core programme, purpose, objectives and vision. The outcomes you identify in response to this question should also be measurable as you will be asked how you will measure them in response to question 15. While you can identify up to five outcomes, it is better to have a few focused, meaningful and measurable outcomes than a list of unrealistic aspirations. In 2013 Belfast City Council commissioned Art affects, an outcomes framework to identify the benefits that arts bring to the city. You can read more about Art affects and the outcomes of the arts on our website at or see the Further resources section at the end of these guidance notes. Please note: If your application is successful, your outcomes will form part of your funding contract. For this reason, you should make sure you can realistically achieve them. Question 15 Now you have identified your outcomes, you should tell us how you will collect evidence of each outcome. For example, to measure increased skills, you might record the number of students who pass an exam, ask participants to complete a before-and-after survey evaluating their own skills or ask a tutor or peer to observe changes in the participants and complete a report. Art affects includes an Arts sector toolkit which contains more ideas and methods for collecting evidence. You can read more about Art affects and the outcomes of the arts on our website at or see the Further resources section at the end of these guidance notes. Question 16 Your marketing and audience development plan(s) is an essential part of your wider business planning process, and it should cover at least the first year of your programme. It demonstrates your understanding Page 11 of 22

12 of the needs of your target audience and helps you communicate the relevance and benefits of your work to them effectively. This maximises the number of people attending and participating in your work, broadens the range of people engaged with it and, where appropriate, increases your income. An effective marketing and audience development plan(s) is based on research and knowledge of your target audiences. The residents of Belfast are at the heart of all Belfast City Council s activities, and they are our primary target audience. However, our residents are not a homogenous group. Some people regularly attend arts and cultural events, and the challenge is to keep them engaged. Other people don t take part or take part less frequently, whether through lack of interest or lack of opportunity. The challenge is to encourage and increase their participation. It is important that your marketing and audience development plan identifies, considers and communicates with our residents. Visitors present further opportunities they are a new audience for activities and potential source of income and growth for some organisations. However, we recognise that they are not an appropriate market segment for all organisations. When assessing your marketing and audience development plan, we will consider: 1. Do you understand your target audience? Are you communicating with them effectively and appropriately? 2. What is the impact on the council s target markets? 3. Is your plan achievable? Are its objectives SMART? Is there a detailed action plan? Is it adequately resourced and have roles and responsibilities been allocated? 4. How will you monitor and evaluate the impact of your marketing and audience development activity? Will you collect data and review your successes to inform future plans? 5. Will the activity deliver value for money? Questions 17 to 20 We believe that a well-run organisation will strive for continuous improvement and excellence in all areas from its creative and cultural programme to business planning, management and governance. You must provide us with a copy of your business plan. In addition we recommend where possible that you include your organisation s longer term strategy (if you have a strategy) as this will be taken into consideration at this stage in the assessment process. In response to question 20 you should tell us about your organisation s culture, capabilities and commitment to delivering excellence. We realise that arts and heritage organisations come in many different shapes and sizes, but we think that an organisation delivering to the highest possible standard will: have a widely shared, well understood and communicated vision that is supported by clearly defined, ambitious but achievable objectives; be open to new ideas and new ways of working, including best practice, research and learning from a wide range of sources; have realistic, detailed and adequately resourced action plans that are clearly linked to objectives; assess and manage risks and opportunities; monitor and evaluate its performance; continuously learn, adapt and improve; have an active, accountable and suitably experienced board; value its staff, volunteers and board members, and invest in their training and development; be open to a range of views; be committed to good relations and equal opportunities; Page 12 of 22

13 be aware of its wider environment and influencing factors from Ireland, the UK, Europe and the rest of the world; work with other organisations and sectors in Belfast and beyond; and share its resources, experience and expertise and take part in forums and networks. Section D: Finances In this section you must fill in the tables to show us your expected income and expenditure. The figures you give should be accurate, detailed, realistic and consistent with other documents (for example, your annual accounts or business plan). Core multi-annual funding can only be used for core/running costs (such as rent, heat, light and staff costs) and core programme costs (such as artists fees). You should not include capital expenditure (that is, the cost of buying assets for long-term use, such as equipment, vehicles, property and so on) in your budget. You should not include in-kind support in your budget. We will not fund organisations that project operating at a profit or loss, and you must provide zero-sum budgets for the three-year period (that is to say, your income and expenditure must match). Failure to complete this section will result in your application being deemed ineligible. The following text provides extra information you may need to answer particular questions. Question 22 You should detail your organisation s total expenditure over the next four years. Applicants should break these down into more detailed budget lines as is appropriate for their organisation. These should be the same budget lines you use in your organisation s own financial reporting, for example, in your annual or management accounts, excluding capital expenditure. Please note: You do not need to identify what you intend to spend your core multi-annual funding grant on. Question 23 Successful organisations will receive the same level of core funding from Belfast City Council each year. This should be reflected in your projected income. Question 24 Applicants should break these down in to more detailed budget lines as is appropriate for their organisation. The council may contact other funders listed in your income table to confirm match funding. Question 28 We understand that the cultural sector has already experienced substantial funding cuts, and further cuts are expected. In response to this question, you should tell us how you are managing the risk of further cuts. For example, are you in regular contact with your current funders? Does your board regularly discuss this issue and are they considering mitigating actions? Are you exploring alternative sources of income or other actions to help make your organisation more resilient? If your funding is cut, is your programme scalable and, if so, what elements of your programme or running costs would you cut? Page 13 of 22

14 Question 29 We are interested in what council services, assets or facilities you anticipate using over the next three years. You should also let us know if you are paying for these and, if so, how much. This will help us plan and improve our services. Please note: This question is not scored as part of the assessment process. It is for our information only. Section E: Eligibility, enclosure checklist and declaration Tick the boxes in the checklist to confirm that you: meet the relevant eligibility criteria; have enclosed the documents we have asked for; have and/or will obtain adequate insurance for the activities; and have and/or will obtain any licences and permissions you need from any authority to carry out your activities. Supporting financial information If your organisation has been operating for several years, you are required to submit all the following information to demonstrate that it is financially sound: Copy of your organisation s most recent signed annual accounts Management accounts dated within the last three months and signed as agreed by the board of directors or management committee Copies of three months most recent bank statements If your organisation has only been established recently and cannot reasonably have produced annual accounts, you are required to submit all the following information to demonstrate that it is financially sound: Management accounts dated within the last three months and signed as agreed by the board of directors or management committee Copies of six months most recent bank statements Please note: Belfast City Council is highly unlikely to fund an organisation that is in poor financial health or that does not have effective financial controls. Child protection To be eligible for funding you must have an adequate child protection policy. While you do not need to submit a copy with your application form, we may ask to inspect it at any time. As a minimum we would expect the following. Your child protection policy must be appropriate to your organisation s work and the programme you are asking us to fund. You must review your child protection policy at least once a year. Your processes for recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers who work with children and young people should be rigorous, including checking criminal records and getting references. You must keep to laws or best practice relating to an appropriate number of staff or volunteers to children or young people. Page 14 of 22

15 You must give all staff and volunteers training or guidance relating to child protection and health and safety. You must carry out a risk assessment for your activities, if appropriate. You should get any extra insurance cover that is appropriate. Please note: At present you do not need to have a vulnerable adults policy. However, we recommend you adopt one as this may be a future requirement for funding. For advice and guidance on child protection and vulnerable adults policies, we recommend contacting Volunteer Now at or on Equal opportunities If your organisation has employees, you must have an adequate equal opportunities policy. You must have or plan to appoint at least one full-time staff member (or a number of paid part-time staff that is equivalent to having at least one full-time member of staff) and have an equal opportunities policy to be eligible for this grant. For advice and guidance on equal opportunities, contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. Website: Phone: information@equalityni.org Declaration The declaration must be signed by your organisation s chair, treasurer, secretary or most senior member of staff. If you are returning this form by , it must have a full and true electronic signature. This means a scanned copy of the handwritten signature. A typed name in place of the signature is not acceptable. Section F: Equality monitoring Belfast City Council is required to have due regard for the need to promote equality of opportunity. In addition, we must also have regard to the promotion of good relations between persons of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group. The information you provide in Section F does not affect your application and your name, contact details or organisation s details will not be revealed to anyone. 5. What happens next? Funding agreement If we agree to provide the funding you requested, we will send you a funding agreement. This will set out: the general conditions of the grant; any special conditions; the stages we will pay the grant in; and your programme, targets and outcomes. If the amount of funding we offer is less than the amount you applied for, we will talk to you about the effect this may have on your programme, targets and outcomes before we issue the funding agreement. Page 15 of 22

16 You must sign the funding agreement and return it to the Central Grants Unit within two months of the date on the front of the agreement. If you do not return the signed funding agreement within this period, we will withdraw the offer of the grant and will not provide funding. Once we have agreed to provide funding, you must get our permission in writing before you make any significant changes to your organisation, programme or the budget (for example, changes to project officers, major changes to targets or dates of activities and so on). You will also be asked to submit an updated budget and programme at the end of the first, second and third years of the funding agreement. If you receive a funding agreement but no longer want a grant, please tell us in writing as soon as possible. Paying the funds We will normally pay the funds to you in eight equal instalments. We will make the first payment when we receive your signed funding agreement. We will then make a further payment each time we receive a satisfactory monitoring booklet from you for the previous six months activity (see Monitoring and reporting below). We may review this payment schedule on request based on your spend profile. We aim to make all payments by BACS transfer. Monitoring and reporting If we agree to provide funding, you will be receiving ratepayers money and so must be accountable for how you spend it. Every six months you will have to fill in a monitoring booklet giving details of your progress over the previous six months, including your performance against your planned activities, targets, outcomes and spend. If you do not return the monitoring booklets on time or to a satisfactory standard, you may not receive further payments. We will also randomly choose a number of organisations for financial verification. This means that we will examine their financial records and check that the terms and conditions for the funding are being met. As part of the monitoring process, a representative from your organisation must meet with their allocated project officer at least once a year. Marketing and promotion You must use the Belfast City Council logo on all materials associated with your programme of activities. We will give you further guidance on this if your application is successful. If you need to send marketing and promotional material to print before we have made a decision on your application, contact the Central Grants Unit. Failure to acknowledge council support may result in withdrawal of funding. 6. Useful contacts Central Grants Unit For general enquiries about the application process or advice on filling in sections A, D, E and F of the application form, contact the Central Grants Unit. Phone: cgugrants@belfastcity.gov.uk Website: Page 16 of 22

17 Tourism, Culture and Arts Unit If you are unsure whether this is the right fund for your organisation, or for specific questions relating to sections B and C of the application, contact the Tourism, Culture and Arts Unit. Phone: culture@belfastcity.gov.uk Website: 7. Glossary Action plan Annual accounts Annual turnover Articles of association Artist Artistic staff Audience Audience development BACS Baseline Budget Business plan Capital expenditure Child protection policy Commercial activity A sequence of steps or series of activities that must be carried out to achieve your objectives. It details what tasks will be carried out and by whom; when they will be carried out; and what funding is available. Accounts prepared at the end of your financial year. Those organisations required by law to produce audited accounts (that is accounts examined by a trained, independent auditor) should submit their audited accounts with their application. Other organisations should submit annual accounts examined, agreed and signed by their board or management committee. For further information on legal requirements, see The total amount of money received by your organisation during one financial year. For the purposes of this application form, this should not include income for capital projects, e.g. buildings or renovations. See memorandum and articles of association A person who creates art, e.g. dancers, actors, singers, musicians, writers, artistic directors As well as artists, this includes educational, marketing and audience development staff. Members of the public attending a one-off event Activity specifically undertaken to meet the needs of existing and potential audiences and to help organisations develop ongoing relationships with audiences. It can include marketing, commissioning, customer care and distribution. Some organisations will have a separate marketing and audience development plan. Some organisations will have a combined plan. You should submit whichever you have available. See also marketing; marketing and audience development plan Bankers Automated Clearing System. This is an electronic transfer of money from one bank account to another. The starting position or a reference point from which you can measure progress and performance. A financial plan that shows the money your organisation expects to receive and the money that it expects to pay out over a specified time. See also zero-sum budget A formal statement that sets out what you want to achieve and how you are going to achieve it over a specified period of time, usually one year The cost of buying physical items for long-term use such as land, buildings, vehicles or equipment A policy or set of policies, standards or guidelines that demonstrates an organisation s commitment to protecting the children they work with from harm Any activity that could reasonably be carried out by a for-profit organisation Page 17 of 22

18 Contract Constitution Contributed income Core costs Cultural Framework for Belfast Culture Electronic signature Eligibility criteria Equal opportunities policy Established organisation Evaluation Financial verification Financial year Full-time-equivalent Funding agreement Grant Governance Income In-kind support Local government district for the sole purpose of making money A legally binding agreement between two or more parties to do (or not do) something. A legal document that sets down what your organisation can do and how it can act, e.g. if it can earn income, if it can apply for funding, the responsibilities of the board of directors, etc. Cash received not in exchange for goods or services (earned income) or from funding. It is often in recognition of the value of what you do, for example, donations from audience members, corporate sponsorship or income from trusts and foundations. These are the costs related to the day-to-day running of an organisation, such as staff costs, light, rent and heat and so on. Belfast City Council s strategy for culture, arts and heritage Broadly speaking, culture is the impact people have on each other and on the environment in which they live. However, for the purposes of the Cultural Framework for Belfast and core multi-annual funding, culture is defined as the quality that makes Belfast distinctive as represented through arts and heritage. A scanned copy of a handwritten signature Basic requirements that an organisation must demonstrate in order to have their application considered for funding. An equal opportunities policy is designed to ensure that, as a minimum, your organisation complies with its equality obligations under the various pieces of anti-discrimination legislation. We would encourage you to extend the scope of your equal opportunities policy to make sure that your organisation and activities are open and accessible to everyone. By an established organisation, we mean one that has been operating for more than two years and can reasonably be expected to have annual accounts. Evaluation is an assessment of your project or programme s effectiveness (what worked well), efficiency (what could have been done better) and value (was it worth doing). This knowledge can be used to make your organisation or future projects more successful. An examination of an organisation s financial records and processes by a funder or other independent body. Accounting period of 12 consecutive months after which annual accounts are prepared. The financial year can start on any day of the year. A way of measuring how many hours staff work. You can find a handy formula for working this out at A contractual agreement between a funder and a successful grant applicant. It sets down the roles and responsibilities of both parties. An award of financial assistance to a successful grant applicant. The structures, processes and procedures that control your organisation. Responsibility for governance lies with your board of directors or management committee. Money received by an organisation Goods or services given in support where no cash is exchanged The geographic area Belfast City Council is responsible for Page 18 of 22