Creative Scotland distributes funding from two primary sources - the Scottish Government and the UK National Lottery.
With this funding, we support a portfolio of organisations across Scotland, help with the development of individuals, funding ideas and projects, and deliver specific activity with partners.
Creative Scotland's funding is split into three main types of support - Open Funding, Regular Funding, and a small amount of Targeted Funding.
A snapshot of all funding programme deadlines from us and our partner organisations can be found on the Funding Deadlines page.
Details of previous funding programmes can be found in the Funding Archive.
The Open Fund for Individuals is one of Creative Scotland’s key funding programmes, supporting the wide range of activity initiated by artists, writers, producers and other creative practitioners in Scotland.
Freelance and self-employed artists and creative practitioners living in Scotland who are at least 18 years old can apply.
You can apply for between £500 and £100,000.
There are no deadlines for this fund – you can apply year-round. Please note the temporary change to Open Fund for Individuals decision timeline.
The National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations is an update of the Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Development Fund which Creative Scotland administered between 2020 and early 2023.
The fund aims to continue to support organisations who seek funding to undertake creative activity such as a specific project or production, a programme of creative work, or a period of research and development.
The fund can also support business change and development projects, such as those that make the organisation more financially sustainable or focus on broader organisational development.
The National Lottery Extended Programme Fund is a new time-limited funding opportunity for arts and cultural organisations launched in February 2023.
The fund aims to create the opportunity for non-profit organisations to get longer term support than is currently available through the National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations, during a period when they may also be making an application to Creative Scotland’s Multi-Year Funding Programme.
The fund will be assessed against six key criteria, including an enhanced focus on equalities, fair work and environmental sustainability.
Regular Funding provides stable support for a range of organisations and consortia across Scotland who make an important contribution to the development of the arts, screen and creative industries, enabling them to plan and deliver activities over a 3-year period.
The Regular Funding Network 2018-21 consists of 121 organisations, of which 19 are new and 102 continue with three-year funding, supported by £101.6m Grant in Aid funding through a three-year commitment from the Scottish Government.
Targeted Funds are a series of funds which support specific activities and development needs in an art form, specialism, or place. Examples include funds allocated by the Scottish Government for specific purposes (such as the Youth Music Initiative) and UK National Lottery funds such as support for screen.
We deliver a small number of targeted funds which have specific priorities or shared goals with other agencies. Within this, there are a number of funds, sometimes called 'devolved funds', which are delivered by partner organisations
A full list of our targeted funds can be found in our Annual Plan.
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If you need more information please get in touch with our Enquiries team using the form on our Contact Us page.