2020 Arts to Impact Fund supporting the Innovative use of Arts and Culture in Ireland

Deadline: 22 January 2020

Social Innovation Fund Ireland (SIFI) in partnership with the Department of Rural and Community Development is seeking applications for its Arts to Impact Fund 2020 to support the most innovative projects across the country that are using arts and culture as a means to create positive social impact in Ireland.

Objectives

The goal of the fund is to support the innovative use of arts and culture as a means to improve skills development and to promote social inclusion for children, adolescents and adults.
Projects can focus on prevention or intervention, in order to develop or improve creative, cognitive, social and emotional skills and other specific learning outcomes.
The Arts to Impact Fund aims to have wider impact and will contribute to Ireland’s achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Funding Requirements

The fund requires:

A minimum of €20,000 philanthropic funding per year, minimum period of 2 years and maximum period of 4 years, for participation in the Programme.
A Donor Letter of Commitment must be provided in support of this application outlining the amount of funding and the duration (SIFI will provide a template donor letter for donor to complete).

Eligible Projects

Applicants should be able to demonstrate how they:
- focus on improving skills development
- promote social inclusion for children, adolescents and adults through the innovative use of arts and culture.
All applicants should have an evidence base for their project and have an evaluation or assessment component.
Applicants should also be able to demonstrate that they have raised private or philanthropic funding for the period proposed and that the programme cannot be carried out without the match funding of SIFI.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must have not-for-profit legal status to be considered for the Arts to Impact Fund. For example: charity, company limited by guarantee, trust etc…
Projects applying to the Arts to Impact Fund must meet the standard SIFI and Arts to Impact Fund core criteria listed below:
- Social Innovation Fund Ireland Core Criteria
  - The project must address a critical social issue
  - The project proposed must be innovative in an Irish context
  - The project must have potential and a desire to scale or replicate in Ireland (it may also have potential internationally, but this is not a requirement)
  - The project must provide evidence that it is up and running, or has been tested at least in a minimal way
  - The project must be based on the island of Ireland and make its main impact in the Republic of Ireland
  - Applicants must come from an eligible entity
- Arts to Impact Fund Core Criteria
  - Projects must use arts and culture as their core methodology with a view to developing or improving the following skills for children, adolescents or adults:
    - creative
    - emotional and social
    - cognitive
    - other specific learning outcomes
  - Projects must demonstrate a social inclusion approach
  - Projects must use an evidence-based approach (such as best practices from internationally accredited programs)
  - Projects must have a research or evaluation component, for example, it must have built in an assessment or evaluation of impact from the start
  - Projects must have secured a minimum of €20,000 per year for 2 years in private pledged philanthropic donations.
- Arts to Impact Fund Advantageous Criteria
  - Projects supporting children, adolescents or adults experiencing disadvantage (this includes but is not limited to people with an intellectual, physical, sensory or learning disability, people with a mental health issue, and people experiencing socio-economic or other disadvantages)
  - Projects supporting members of marginalised communities (including but not limited to LGBTI+ people, people with an ethnic minority or migrant status and ex-offenders or ex-prisoners)
  - Projects that demonstrate partnerships with other existing organisations (national or international)
  - Projects that employ a holistic approach – school-wide or community approach