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.
All applicants are required to consider the six key funding criteria when making their application. For further information on these criteria, why they are important and the outcomes they will help to contribute towards, visit the Funding Criteria page.
The fund will continue to support organisations to deliver a wide range of creative activity.
This includes funding for:
It can also support organisations to undertake business and organisational development that will:
or
Examples of the types of activity that the fund can support can be found in the Guidance for Applicants below. It is not exhaustive and is provided to give applicants an indication of the types of activity that can be applied for. If you have any queries about what you are wanting to apply for, please contact our Enquiries Service before starting your application.
Any type of constituted artistic, creative or cultural organisation based in Scotland can apply, but as the funding comes from the National Lottery, and is intended to support activity that maximises public benefit, any project that seeks support for commercial activity where the primary purpose is to create a profit is unlikely to be successful.
Organisations based outside Scotland but operating with a UK-wide remit, can apply if the funding is for activity taking place in Scotland, and which will be of direct benefit to people in Scotland.
All other applicants based outside Scotland can only consider applying for support if they are delivering activity that takes place in Scotland, they are working with Scotland-based partners, and they are able to demonstrate that their work is directly benefiting those based here.
All applicant organisations must have a UK bank account in the same name as the applicant organisation.
Eligible organisations can apply for funding between £1k and £100k for projects or programmes lasting up to 18 months.
If you are seeking more than £100k and 18 months support refer to the National Lottery Extended Programme Fund.
We have sample budgets available to support you in your application:
Download Sample Budget 1 - Programme Example
Download Sample Budget 2 - Project Example
The fund is open all year round – with no deadlines.
Applicants will receive a decision on their application:
Please note that these timelines are impacted by Christmas public holidays for applications received between October and December. See Page 8 in the Guidance for Applicants for more details.
Once you've read the Guidance for Applicants, and details of the Funding Criteria, you can apply online using our online application portal.
Apply to the National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations using the online portal