Renfrewshire Council

About the Cultural Organisations Development Fund

Our Cultural Organisations Development Fund helps to strengthen and build the capacity of organisations in Renfrewshire that have a cultural and creative purpose.

The Fund's objectives are:

• to support organisations to become more sustainable and to take the next steps in their strategic development
• to build capacity in organisations to raise cultural ambition in Renfrewshire
• to support organisations which have an ongoing commitment to diversifying and expanding cultural participation.

The Cultural Organisations Development Fund is funded as part of the Future Paisley programme and is managed in partnership between Renfrewshire Council and OneRen.

What can be funded

The Cultural Organisations Development Fund supports projects that encourage engagement and participation in cultural and heritage activities and events in Renfrewshire.

It can support a range of activities that assists an organisation's development, including:

• Governance - such as board recruitment, company development needs, enhancing skill sets, improving diversity, gender balance, training and awareness
• Leadership and management - such as financial management, business planning, developing fundraising strategies to diversify income streams, developing monitoring and evaluation
• Reach - developing new areas of organisational activity, deepening art form/specialism knowledge, developing quality, diversifying cultural offer, supporting new artistic partnerships and collaborations
• Workforce - creating new staff posts, developing key skills, supporting training and experience
• Pathways - developing creative learning programmes and/or skills and pathways projects that recruit internships, apprenticeships and other placements
• Engagement - improving social media, communications, marketing and public relations and supporting wider engagement with cultural sectors across Scotland and the UK.

It cannot support activities that have started before 1 December 2023.

The Cultural Organisations Development Fund cannot be used towards programming or artistic costs for workshops, events or festivals. You can apply for funding for these through our Culture, Heritage and Events Fund.

Who can apply

Round Four of the Cultural Organisations Development Fund is open to established or developing organisations based in Renfrewshire that have a cultural and creative purpose.

Cultural organisations that are eligible include:

• registered charity
• Community Interest Company (CIC)
• social enterprise
• voluntary or community organisations
• constituted group.

We cannot accept applications from:

• individuals/sole traders
• shareholding organisations that generate private profits
• organisations based outside Renfrewshire
• organisations that do not have a cultural or creative purpose
• applications made by one organisation on behalf of another
• applications from groups of organisations.

Single organisations can apply for their own organisational development activity. Joint applications from groups of organisations are not accepted.

If you have previously received funding from a Future Paisley grant programme, you may only apply again if you have met the conditions of your previous grant.

Future Paisley grant programmes include:

• Culture, Heritage and Events Fund (Rounds One to 12)
• Cultural Organisations Development Fund (Rounds One to Three)
• Renfrewshire's Cultural Recovery and Renewal Fund.

How much you can apply for

The maximum grant award is £20,000 for up to 16 months of activity. We encourage you to apply for the amount most appropriate to your organisation's development needs.

In Round Four of the Cultural Organisations Development Fund, we require applicants to generate a minimum of 10% of your total project budget from other funding sources.

Before you apply

You can read the guidance on how to apply for Round Four of the Cultural Organisations Development Fund. [211KB] .

Before you apply, we require you to submit an Expression of Interest form [38KB] by Tuesday 18 July 2023. You should submit this by email to codf-enquiries@renfrewshire.gov.uk by Tuesday 18 July 2023.

We also require you to complete an Equalities Monitoring Form [39KB] . You will be asked to attach this to your application. The information you provide is for monitoring purposes only. It does not relate to our assessment of your application.

Key Dates

• Applications open on 22 June 2023
• Deadline for Expressions of Interest on 18 July 2023
• Applications close at midnight on 27 September 2023
• Applicants informed of funding decision on 29 November 2023
• Earliest start date for supported activity on 1 December 2023
• Latest completion date for supported activity is 31 March 2025

The OneRen team will run a series of one-to-one advice surgeries for potential applicants. These will take place on:

• 27 July 2023
• 10 August 2023.

We encourage you to attend a session before applying. This will provide the opportunity to discuss your proposals and answer any questions you may have.

You can tell us your availability for these surgeries when you submit your Expression of Interest form.

If you are unable to attend on these dates, please let us know in your Expressions of Interest form and we will try to arrange a suitable date for you.

How to apply

You can apply for Round Four of the Cultural Organisations Development Fund (CODF) online.

If you require the form in a different format, email codf-enquiries@renfrewshire.gov.uk or call 0141 618 7076.

Contact

If you have any questions about the Cultural Organisations Development Fund, email codf-enquiries@renfrewshire.gov.uk or call 0141 618 7076.