Strategic Events and Festivals Fund

• Applicants can only submit one application for funding per event/festival. 
• This is a discretionary fund with no appeals process.
• Grant requests should be kept to a minimum value and be for no more than 20% of the total cost of the event/festival.
• Please note this grant application does not supersede the requirement to also submit an event application to Argyll and Bute Council ahead of any event or festival taking place.  This covers all your responsibilities as an event organiser including risk assessments, licensing and special permissions.  Please visit Events - Guidance | Argyll and Bute Council (argyll-bute.gov.uk) for more information and to complete your event application. 
• For applicants who have applied to the fund for three consecutive years - if reduced costs result in a profit of more than £10,000 sustained over a three-year period, a final grant payment would not be paid out on the third year of grant. 
• Making an application to the fund is a competitive process, and it is anticipated it will be oversubscribed.
• It is anticipated that most applicants will seek between £2,500 and £5,000 to support the cost of their event/festival. 
• Any application over £5,000 will require substantial justification and evidence to demonstrate the need for the funding.  Further guidance for applications over £5,000 can be found here. (link to below section)  The maximum amount that can be applied for is £30,000.
• Applicants must evidence that steps are being taken to reduce the carbon footprint of the event/festival and specifically regarding encouraging the use of local produce, reducing food mileage, using recycled or circular products and reducing waste and emissions.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to apply, applicant organisations must:

• Be not-for-profit 
• Be properly constituted
• Have a bank account in the name of the organisation
• Have provided evidence of affordability and, where appropriate, match funding
• Be open and accessible to the community that it serves
• Be an inclusive organisation that will involve local people

Please note that if you are sub-contracting the event management to a third-party company, you must demonstrate that you have an up-to-date contract, and a copy of the terms and conditions will be required in support of your application. 

Ineligible Submissions

• Only fully completed applications submitted with all supporting up-to-date documentation will be considered.  Where an applicant cannot, or does not, provide all required information including up-to-date supporting documentation, their application will be considered ineligible and will not progress to assessment stage.
• Debts to the Council: Applicants will be asked to declare that there are no outstanding debts to the council, beyond usual terms, in relation to their organisation. Where a debt is held, the organisation will not be eligible to apply for a grant, however if you provide a justifiable reason, we may be able to consider your application.

Assessment Criteria

Applications will be scored against the criteria detailed below:

Applications for over £5,000 

In exceptional cases, consideration will be given to applications for larger requests. 

• Applications for between £5,001 and £15,000 will be considered where applicants can show that their event/festival is worth between £150,000 and £1million to the local economy, or are able to demonstrate that they would be able to increase the capacity of the event with funds to support a specific item of additional activity/infrastructure, such as a new tent, or generator etc.  In this case, the applicant will need to show how they expect this extra activity/item will help to sustain the event for the long-term. 
• Support above £15,000 may be considered where the event is able to demonstrate a unique offer that is not replicated elsewhere in Argyll and Bute and be of significant scale.      Consideration will be given to providing funding of between £15,001 and £30,000 to events which demonstrate that the event or festival will usually attract 10,000+ people and is worth over £1million to the local economy. It is expected that funding requests for such large-scale events will be accompanied by substantial evidence to show precisely why such levels of funding are required.  £30,000 is the maximum amount of funding that can be applied for. 

Plans 

Environmental Management Plan

It is now a mandatory part of the application process that applicants demonstrate how they will, as far as possible, reduce the carbon footprint of their event.  Applicants are required to submit an Environmental Management Plan.  For further guidance please visit How to plan and deliver environmentally sustainable events (visitscotland.org).

Business and Marketing Plan/s

To be eligible for the Strategic Events and Festivals Fund, applicants must submit up-to-date Business and Marketing Plan/s that are less than two years old. 

Your organisation may already have these plans in place, if not, please see further guidance from Visit Scotland.

Developing An Events Marketing Strategy & Plan I VisitScotland.org

Resources are also available from Business Gateway

• Write a marketing plan 
• Write an e-marketing plan
• An experts guide to writing a marketing plan
• Business plan guide
• Business plan template