Grants of £250,000, £500,000 or £1 million will be matched pound for pound by private donations making the Heritage Endowments a catalyst in encouraging more private giving in the heritage sector.

This new endowments programme builds on the success of Catalyst Endowments,  a partnership between the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), HLF and Arts Council England (ACE), which has helped more than 30 heritage organisations diversify their income streams by attracting private donations to create endowments.

Heritage Endowments aims to continue this success, helping more organisations secure greater resilience in a changing economic landscape of reduced public funding. The aim is that heritage will be better managed and organisations will be more resilient.

Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive of HLF, said: “Building an endowment is one way heritage organisations can enhance their long-term reserves, which is vital for financial resilience.  In this difficult economic landscape that’s a challenging ask but Heritage Endowments is there to provide the boost needed to make it happen.”

HLF will take account of the outcomes an organisation’s project will achieve in their assessment, which they can read about in the application guidance.

Fundraising for an endowment will also enable organisations to increase fundraising expertise among staff, volunteers and Trustees and to develop relationships with donors as well as to attract additional private money into the heritage sector.

They aim to help heritage organisations diversify their income and achieve a significant growth in endowments in the heritage sector, providing sustainable long-term funding.

Heritage Endowments are now open and for more information about application deadlines or to review the programme guidance visit HLF’s website.

Back to top

Heritage Endowments: Deadlines and Advice

Applications for Heritage Endowments are decided by the HLF Board of Trustees. These applications will compete against other Heritage Endowments applications across the UK

Organisations  will need to register online and submit a project enquiry form by 13 October 2016

Staff at local HLF offices will let organisations know whether their project fits this initiative and whether they should continue with their application

Organisations will need to complete and submit their application, along with supporting documents, by 24 November 2016

Awards will be made in March 2017