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A freelance career in the creative arts
A freelance career in the creative arts

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4.4 Trusts and foundations

Charitable trusts and foundations derive money from endowments, local donors and charitable events and initiatives, and then distribute it to individuals and projects that are relevant to their cause. Often, they prefer to award grants to organisations with charitable status. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (no date) suggests that when researching the right trust or foundation to apply to, you should find out about the:

  • particular problems or needs they are interested in
  • type of activities they support
  • particular ways of working they support
  • types of funding they provide
  • geographical area the trust focuses on
  • size and duration of grants available, and
  • policies on financial matters that might affect your eligibility.

There are various trusts and foundations relevant to the creative sector but many of these organisations don’t fund individuals. It can take some time to identify the right funder for your needs. Arts Council England provides a list of trusts and foundations that could be a useful starting point for your research in the UK. See the Further research section for the link.

The next section might not seem like an obvious source of ‘funding’ but has the potential to support your freelance career in a number of ways.