The current Open Fund for Organisations (OFFO) guidance remains in place for the remainder of the 2024/25 financial year and there are no additional restrictions. If an applicant believes their proposed project is compatible with the OFFO fund eligibility and guidance, and their organisation is eligible, they can apply to the fund. Please note, existing RFOs are not currently eligible for OFFO funding.
If a MYF applicant also applies to the OFFO, any application received from October 2024 onwards will likely be considered at panel with award decisions taking place from January 2025 onwards. This is very close to the outcome date for Multi-Year. Therefore, if a Multi-Year applicant decides to make a parallel application to the OFFO between October 2024 and the end of January 2025, when the outcome of the Multi-Year process has been announced then:
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If they are successful in their MYF application and their OFFO application is still under assessment and/or the OFFO decision has not yet been made, the applicant will be required to withdraw their OFFO application once their successful Multi-Year Fund decision is confirmed.
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If they are unsuccessful in their MYF application – assuming that the applicant remains operating as a going concern and is therefore considered eligible for applying for funding - the OFFO application or award can continue.
Any applications made prior to October 2024 will not be subject to the above points. These will fall into the separate process of assessing whether there are overlaps between OFFO awards and Multi-Year awards. In these cases, we will review the awards and if appropriate, the Multi-Year award in Year 1 will be adjusted to ensure there is no double funding. Please be advised that Creative Scotland will manage this process of checking eligibility for these funds. If an applicant isn’t sure about their eligibility, please contact our Enquiries Service by emailing [email protected] for clarification.