Am I ready?
This short quiz will ask you a few questions about your project that relate to different parts of the National Lottery Project Grants application. It will help you to think about your project and whether or not you are ready to apply.
Don’t worry if you haven’t thought about some of these yet, answering the quiz will take you to the right information to help you plan your project.
You can take the quiz as many times as you like and your answers won’t impact your ability to apply.
If you feel you’re ready, the Guidance for applicants and our information sheets will help you to answer the questions in the application form. You can find these in the Project Grants Guidance Library.
If you still have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch
Does your project focus on one or more of our supported artforms and disciplines?
We support projects which focus on dance, literature, museums, music, theatre, visual arts, combined arts, and libraries.
As the arts and cultural development agency for England, the projects we support must focus clearly on the arts, museums and libraries.
Most of the projects that we fund will fall clearly into one or more of our supported artforms or disciplines or help those working in those disciplines to carry out their work. If your project does not, then it may not be right for Project Grants.
Our Project Grants Case Studies page provides some examples of the kind of activity we have supported through our open funding programme.
Contact our customer service team to discuss the eligibility of your project if you are unsure.
As the arts and cultural development agency for England, the projects we support must focus clearly on the arts, museums and libraries.
Most of the projects that we fund will fall clearly into one or more of our supported artforms or disciplines or help those working in those disciplines to carry out their work. If your project does not, then it may not be right for Project Grants.
Our Project Grants Case Studies page provides some examples of the kind of activity we have supported through our open funding programme.
Contact our customer service team to discuss the eligibility of your project if you are unsure.
Do you have a clear idea of what your project is about and what you want it to achieve?
Think about what it is you want to do and why you want to do it. What do you want to get out of your project and how will you deliver it? Can you describe it in one sentence?
If you want to apply to Project Grants, you should be clear about exactly what you want to do, when, where and who with.
It is also important to be able to talk about the ideas and inspirations behind your work, as well as what you expect the outputs of your project to be.
Our Project Grants activity types information sheets can provide more detail on particular types of activity, such as touring, international activity and research and development.
See the Project Grants case studies section of our website for some ideas on what this could look like.
Do you know who your project is for, how they will experience it and have you thought about how you will reach them?
Think about who your audience is and what you want them to take away from your project. How will they know about your project and why will they want to be a part of it?
Every project we support must benefit people in England, either in the short term or the long term.
You should be clear about who you expect your audience to be, how they will experience your work and what methods you will use to reach them.
The How to Apply guidance also explains what we are looking for in terms of public engagement.
Have you planned your project budget and thought about how much you will need from us?
We typically make awards of between £1,000 and £100,000. Ensure also that you are aware of your responsibilities towards paying people fairly for any work they do for you.
Managing the finances is an important part of making sure your project happens and is successful.
You should read the finance section of our How to Apply guidance.
Are you working with partners or other organisations to deliver your project?
Working with other people or organisations can be an important part of managing your project. If you need to do this to deliver your project, have you thought about who they are and how they will be involved?
Not every project includes working with other people or organisations, and this is fine, however strong partnerships can help to show support for your project, as well as giving us confidence that you have the right people managing the right parts of your project.
Ensure that you have thought about the different aspects of your project and who you might need to help you carry them out.
Our How to Apply guidance gives more detail on what we expect to see in terms of partnerships.
Have you planned the timeline for your project?
Think about the different stages involved in delivering your project, from planning to delivery and evaluation, as well as how your start date might be affected by our decision turnaround times.
A clear timeline can help you to plan your project, as well as creating a clear picture of what will happen.
We currently need 8 weeks to provide a decision on an application of £30,000 or under and 12 weeks to make a decision on applications over £30,000. So make sure you leave enough time to get a decision on your application before you apply.
Do you have an applicant profile on our online application system?
All applications must be made using our online application system.
Before you apply, you need to set yourself up as an "applicant" on our system.
Only do this if you intend to make an application.
It takes up to a maximum of 10 working days for us to validate your applicant profile. Once this has been done you can start filling in the application form.
Whilst you’re waiting, you should read our our How to Apply guidance and start planning your application.