Apply for Funding & Support

Community Development Grant 2024

Dublin City Council recently granted an annual increase in Arts Grant funding from €550K to €800K. This increase was on foot of a review of Arts Grants in 2023 and an agreement by the Elected Members that this increase should be targeted on capacity building in the area of Arts programming in local communities.
 
The City Arts Office wish to conduct a two year pilot scheme to allocate this amount of €250k with a view to empowering Arts organisations and Artists to continue to programme meaningfully and effectively in community settings while simultaneously supporting community development practitioners and organisations to engage with the Arts and the benefits it brings to local communities. After the pilot scheme concludes the main Arts Grants in Neighbourhood Grants will be increased by the €250K in question with incorporation of the learning that has taken place.
 
To this end the City Arts Office invites Community development practitioners and community development groups and organisations as well as Artists and Arts Organisations to collaborate in joint applications to this pilot scheme fund.
 
€50K will be allocated to each Administrative Area of Dublin City Council (see map) and applicants may apply for a minimum of €5K and a maximum of €20K.
 
For the purposes of this application Community development refers to the process of empowering and improving the quality of life within a specific group or neighbourhood. It involves collaboration and collective action among community members, organizations, and local authorities to address social, economic, and environmental challenges. Community development aims to enhance the well-being, resilience, and self-sufficiency of the community by promoting social cohesion, economic opportunities, sustainable infrastructure, and access to essential services. It often includes initiatives such as education and skill-building, healthcare, affordable housing, job creation, environmental sustainability, and cultural enrichment.
 
The Arts refers to the production and expression of the nine Art Forms set out in the Arts Act 1973 namely, arts” means any creative or interpretative expression (whether traditional or contemporary) in whatever form, and includes, in particular, visual arts, theatre, literature, music, dance, opera, film, circus and architecture, and includes any medium when used for those purposes. Although some Artists are already involved in socially engaged practice, Artists are not always primarily focused on the community development outcomes of their project or programme. For the purposes of this grant scheme the combination of Artistic development and community empowerment is sought in the project or programme proposed.
 
Dublin City Council understands that community development can be expressed in many different ways from youth work to local enterprise and does not wish to restrict any form of community based activity or any innovation approach from applying. Moreover Artists and Arts organisations may wish to innovate in their approaches to community settings and should feel free to propose new or original ways of working.
 
In essence Dublin City Council want to stimulate the partnership and synergy of the Arts and Community Development so that new initiatives and collaborations can emerge. Dublin City Council understands that this is not a new idea in itself and that such initiatives have been successfully implemented by individuals, organisations and agencies over many years.
 
There are three main elements that this pilot grants scheme wants to encourage. Local audiences, local participation in the project or programme, secured through the involvement of professional artists working closely with community development professionals and/or voluntary organisations.
 
Applications will take place on Submittable, in keeping with Arts Office practice, the first applications round will be as easy as possible on the applicant. Application form below.
 
The criteria on which the first Round of Applications will be assessed are.
1. The Quality of the proposal and how it combines the elements of Community Development and the Arts. (40%)
2. The track record of the applicant(s) and their experience. (30%)
3. The feasibility of the proposal including its financial feasibility. (30%)

Click the button below to apply.  The deadline for the scheme is 12 noon on Friday the 6th of September. 

Frequently Asked Questions 2024 - Community Development Grant 

What are the 5 administrative areas of the Dublin City Council?
There are five administrative areas within the Dublin City Council. As part of this new funding scheme €50,000.00 is being allocated to each administrative area. Each application must respond to one administrative area. The five areas are:

North Central Area (Artane, Whitehall, Clontarf, Donaghmede, Santry, Darndale,)
South Central Area (The Liberties, Inchicore, Chapelizod, Ballyfermot, Bluebell, Drimnagh, Rialto, Crumlin, Walkinstown)
Central Area (Cabra, Glasnevin, Phibsborough, Grangegorman, North East Inner City, East Wall)
North West Area (Ballymun, Finglas,
South East Area (Temple Bar, Ringsend, Dolphin’s Barn, Sandymount, Ranelagh, Rathmines, Terenure, Rathgar)

A map of the five areas can be found here (see map)

How much funding can I apply for?
Applicants can apply for a minimum of €5,000 to a maximum of €20,000

Can an applicant work with multiple community organisations in different administrative areas?
For the purpose of this funding we are looking for applications which are based in a single administrative area. While multiple community organisations can come together with one application, they must be based in a single administrative area.

Are arts organisations partnering with schools eligible to apply?
Yes, schools are considered eligible community groups for the purpose of this award. It should be noted that if partnering with more than one school groups, groups should be all situated in the same administrative area.

What is the expected timeline for the communication of decisions?
The Arts Office endeavour to have the shortlisting process completed within two weeks of the first round deadline. This will no doubt be affected by the volume of applications. The successful applicants from round one (1) will be asked to submit a detailed proposal for their project on the 18th of October. These will then be assessed and funding will be awarded to successful applicants in early November.

What is the difference between the Neighbourhood Grant and the Community Development Grant?
The new Community Development Grant is an area specific award which has a number of differences from the existing Neighbourhood Grant. This new award does not require 30% funding from another source and has a larger total budget available for each proposal. The focus of the Community Development Grant is on collaboration between community groups and artists/arts organisations.

What is the timeline for funded projects?
Funded projects will take place during the calendar year 2025.

 

Accessible docs
New Funding for Arts Grants_Easy Read Doc_Large Text_Word Doc.docx
New Funding for Arts Grants_Easy Read Doc_Word Format.docx

 

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Applications for Arts Grants and Bursary Awards 2024 closed on 22 November 2023. 
The next round of grants, Arts Grants 2025 will open Sept/Oct 2024. 

ARTS ACT 2003
In accordance with the Arts Act, Dublin City Council invites applications for funding towards arts projects and programmes in the city which are complementary to the following objectives:

1. Stimulating public interest in the Arts,
2. Promoting knowledge, appreciation and practice of the arts, or
3. Improving standards in the arts within its functional area (Dublin City).

Dublin City Council through the City Arts Office is conducting a review of Arts Grants. For some time City Councillors engaged in adjudicating the Arts Grants process have pointed out that the funds allocated have not increased for many years. There is also a recognition that Arts funding has naturally been greater in areas where arts infrastructure such as theatres and galleries are concentrated i.e. close to the city centre and as well as supporting the great arts organisations and building in central Dublin, Dublin City Council also want to further develop and support Artists, Participants and Audiences outside of the city centre.

There are some extra questions on the application form this year to support the data collection needed and to hear from you on how we can improve the application process. Thank you for helping us with this review and all you do to make the arts a central part of what makes Dublin special.

 

HOW DO I APPLY?

1. Read the Criteria and Guidelines below relating to the cateogory you are applying for.
2. Download our Guidance Document for Arts Grants which explains the application questions in greater detail.  We recommend printing this and keeping it beside you through the process.  This relates to Arts Grants Applications only, not Bursary Awards. The Guidance Document can be found on each Arts Grant page category. 
3. All applications are made through *Submittable where you will be able to upload all supporting material along with your application form.  
   *The Submittable platform works best on Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Internet Explorer is not supported.
4.  Submittable's submitter collaboration tool enables groups of applicants to work together on collective applications.  Click here to find out how to invite people to collaborate with you on a submission

CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES FOR EACH CATEGORY

• Revenue Criteria and Guidelines (Revenue now open to new applications)
• Project Criteria and Guidelines
• Neighbourhood Criteria and Guidelines
• Voluntary Criteria and Guidelines 
• Bursary Awards Criteria and Guidelines
  
  

INFORMATION SESSIONS
We will hold Information Sessions on Zoom for all categories of Arts Grants & Bursary Awards on 12th October.  Please click on the relevant category webpage for time & date details:  Revenue, Neighbourhood & Voluntary, Project and Bursary Awards. The videos will also be available to watch after this date on each category webpage.

APPLY ONLINE
Apply Online through Submittable below