Arts & Business NI: Investment Programme
Overview
What is it?
The A&BNI Investment Programme is funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Through the Investment Programme, Arts & Business NI invests in mutually beneficial partnerships between businesses and the arts. They aim to increase private sector investment into the arts by supporting arts organisations in developing sustainable relationships with business. Through the support of the Investment Programme, they encourage business and arts partnerships to try a new creative approach or to deepen an existing relationship. A partnership may apply for support up to a maximum of 2 times after which the relationship is expected to be sufficiently established to continue unaided.
All Investment Programme projects must demonstrate:
- A relationship between the parties which has the potential to develop and become self-sustaining over the longer term
Plus:
- value for money
- ability to manage and deliver a partnership
- focus on delivering business objectives
- appropriate plans for project evaluation with measurable results
They expect a relationship between the parties to already be in place and that activity will occur without their investment. An investment from this Programme should enable the partnership to undertake additional activity or to push their basic project to another level thus deepening the relationship
Who can Apply?
All applications must be new or existing partnerships between an arts/cultural organisation and a business in Northern Ireland. This fund is open to both A&BNI members and non-members. Please refer to their supporting guidelines for full eligibility criteria before completing an application.
What do they Fund?
They help partners build sustainable long-term relationships and achieve more. An investment from this programme should allow the partnership to develop, undertake additional activity or push their project to another level.
They can award up to £15,000 match-funding to the lead arts partner in a financial year; a partnership can receive investment a maximum of 2 times.
Eligible costs can include:
- Professional services provided to assist the project;
- Products given or loan of goods provided to assist the project at cost price (not retail);
- Value of contributions made to the project eg. rented spaces;
- The fit-out of buildings and rented space within buildings provided;
- Provision of educational/community cultural spaces or facilities within developments.
A full breakdown of eligibility, investment limits and exclusions can be found in their guidelines.
How does the programme work?
The Arts & Business NI Investment Programme is a competitive application process. Arts & Business NI will invest in projects that meet the eligibility criteria and investment limits for Investment Programme.
All Investment Programme projects must demonstrate:
- A relationship between the parties which has the potential to develop and become self-sustaining over the longer term
Plus:
- value for money
- ability to manage and deliver a partnership
- focus on delivering business objectives
- appropriate plans for project evaluation with measurable results
Please note:
- Investment Programme payments cannot be used to fund core costs;
- They expect a relationship between the parties to already be in place and that activity will occur without our investment. An investment from this Programme should enable the partnership to undertake additional activity or to push their basic project to another level thus deepening the relationship;
- Investment Programme payments will be made in instalments to the lead arts partner;
- Investment Programme applications will be assessed against the programme criteria and assessed accordingly;
- Projects not meeting the criteria will be rejected;
- Where a project is successful, the partners will be required to sign an agreement with Arts & Business NI.
Investment Limits
No more than £15,000 will be awarded to an arts partner through the Investment Programme in any one financial year (April to March) or for any one project. A partnership may apply for support up to a maximum of 2 times after which the relationship is expected to be sufficiently established to continue unaided.
New Cash Sponsorships
If the business is sponsoring your arts organisation for the first time you can apply to the Investment Programme on the following basis:
- Year 1 sponsorship 100% matched investment to cash sponsorship
- Year 2 sponsorship 50% matched investment to cash sponsorship
Existing Cash Sponsorships
If you have an already existing partnership with a sponsor you can apply to the Investment Programme on the following basis:
- 1st Year through the Programme 100% matched investment to cash sponsorship
- 2nd Year through the Programme 50% matched investment to cash sponsorship
Applications based solely on in-kind investment will be considered on a case-by-case basis where the partnership is in its first year only. After the first year it is envisaged that the business will have committed to a cash investment.
For more details see the guidelines available on the website