The National Lottery Reaching Communities England program offers substantial funding between £10,000 to £500,000 over a period of up to 5 years.
The program prioritizes projects that put communities at the heart of their work, focusing on three key priorities:
1) Stronger Relationships - bringing people together and strengthening relationships within and across communities,
2) Thriving Places - supporting people to make their local places better,
and 3) Opportunities and Solutions - enabling people to fulfill their potential by working to address issues at the earliest possible stage.
Only apply for this grant after your first year. You will need to have proven experience to be successful. It would help to add a 3 min video show casing your impact and communities feedback. Add it as a Youtube link into the box about community engagement.
If your initial application is successful, here's what happens next:
1. Development Phase:
- You'll be assigned a dedicated Funding Officer
- They'll contact you to arrange an in-depth discussion about your project
- This usually happens within 12 weeks of your initial application
2. Detailed Proposal Stage:
- You'll work with your Funding Officer to develop your proposal further
- They'll help you strengthen aspects of your project plan
- You might need to provide:
* Detailed budget breakdowns
* Project timeline
* Risk assessments
* Partnership agreements
* Safeguarding policies
* Monitoring and evaluation plans
3. Due Diligence:
- The National Lottery will conduct organisational checks
- Review of your financial history
- Verification of partnerships mentioned in application
- Assessment of your delivery capacity
4. Final Decision:
- Your detailed proposal goes to a decision committee
- This process can take 3-4 months from the development phase
- If successful, you'll receive a formal offer letter
5. Project Launch Preparation:
- Setting up monitoring systems
- Finalising partnership agreements
- Preparing for project delivery
- Planning first quarter activities
This would be an excellent opportunity to utilize your CIC setup and grant mentoring experience to strengthen your application. Given your goal of expanding into online courses and reaching $1-5k/month revenue, this grant could provide a solid foundation for scaling your mental health creative arts services.