Support if your project is not funded

Eligibility refers to the rules on who can apply and what we can support through National Lottery Project Grants.

If your application is ineligible, this means that we cannot process it any further and it will not be considered for funding.

Your decision letter will highlight the main reason(s) that your application was ineligible.

We ask applicants to read our Is my project eligible information sheet before applying. This information sheet explains the main reasons why an application would not be eligible for Project Grants.

If your application is eligible, we will carry out a risk check. Here we look at how likely your project is to achieve its aims.

You can find out more about what we look for and how we view risk under the How we make decisions section of the Guidance for applicants.

If we’ve highlighted a major risk in your application, this means that an issue gives us concern that the activity is not likely to be managed successfully or there are serious concerns about your budget.

We will not fund an application if we identify any major management or finance  risks.

If a major risk has been highlighted, the next steps depend on how much money you applied for.

• Applications for £30,000 and under

If we identify a major risk, your application will not go to a decision meeting.

You will receive a letter via Grantium explaining what aspect of your application we considered major risk.

• Applications for £30,001-£100,000 and £100,001 and over

If we identify a major risk, your application will go to a decision meeting.

You will receive a decision letter via Grantium, which will include our appraisal of your application highlighting the major risk.

If your application is not funded, we will provide the reason as part of your decision letter. This is usually as much detail as we can provide.

Project Grants is a very competitive programme, we always receive more good applications than we can fund.

Applications for £30,000 and under

The reasons your application may not be funded are:

• It didn’t clearly show us how it met our criteria

The application didn’t clearly show how the project would help to make a difference. Your decision letter will include more information on what we needed to know.

You can find out more about the criteria we use to make decisions under the How we make decisions section of the Guidance for applicants.

• We had specific concerns about your project

We generally use this reason where circumstances have changed since an application was submitted and we have concerns that the project will no longer be able to go ahead and meet its aims.

We may also use this reason if we have concerns over fair pay. See our Fair pay section in the Guidance Library for more information.

• We decided that your application was less strong than other applications we received.

We use this reason when an application is potentially fundable, but we decided the application had some things that could be improved on in comparison to other applications. These will be explained in your decision letter.

• Our funds are limited, we decided to fund a mix of different applications that we viewed as most likely to make a difference

We use this reason when an application is potentially fundable, but with a limited budget we chose to fund other applications. The decision not to fund might be because of budget available or because we chose to fund applications which support people, places or types of projects that are underrepresented in our funding.

You can find more information about the people and organisations who are underrepresented as recipients and beneficiaries of Arts Council funding under the How we make decisions section of the Guidance for applicants.

Applications for £30,001-£100,000 and £100,001 and over

The reasons your application may not be funded are:

• It didn’t clearly show us how it met our criteria

The application didn’t clearly show how the project would help to make a difference and/or how it is likely to achieve its aims. Your decision letter will include our appraisal of your application, along with areas for development, which will give you more information on what we needed to know.

You can find out more about the criteria we use to make decisions under the How we make decisions section of the Guidance for applicants.

• We had specific concerns about your project

We generally use this reason where circumstances have changed since an application was submitted and we have concerns that the project will no longer be able to go ahead and meet its aims.

We may also use this reason if we have concerns over fair pay. See our Fair pay section in the Guidance Library for more information.

• We decided that your application was less strong than other applications we received

We use this reason when an application is potentially fundable, but we decided the application had some things that could be improved on in comparison to other applications.

Your decision letter will include our appraisal of your application, along with areas for development, which will give you more information on what could be improved.

• Although your application met the criteria, we had to make difficult choices about which applications to support as our funds are limited

We use this reason when an application is potentially fundable, but with a limited budget we chose to fund other applications. The decision not to fund might be because of budget available or because we chose to fund applications which support people, places or types of projects that are underrepresented in our funding.

You can find more information about the people and organisations who are underrepresented as recipients and beneficiaries of Arts Council funding under the How we make decisions section of the Guidance for applicants.

You can apply to Project Grants again, but please think carefully about why we chose not to fund your application.

We may have identified areas of your application that could be improved, or the activity itself might be making less of a contribution to the spread of projects that we fund.

If you do decide to re-apply, please ensure that you have read the Guidance for applicants and any other relevant guidance material carefully.

You must address the reasons that the original application was not funded, but it is always worth thinking about ways you could strengthen all sections of your application form.

Please remember that addressing feedback will not guarantee that a future application will be funded. Project Grants is competitive and we always receive more good applications than we can fund.