Strategic Grants

This fund is specifically designed to support organisations to deliver on actions arising from participation in current and past Museum Development programmes which will align with specific ACE Investment Principles. If you have received advice from MDNE, MDNW, MDY or MD North in the past two years and need funding to implement the recommendations, this fund is appropriate for your museum.

For 2024-25, we will support projects that directly respond to the Investment Principles of Environmental Responsibility and Inclusivity & Relevance.

Guidance notes are available here.

Grant Programme Summary 

• There is one round of strategic grants for 2024-2025. The deadline for applications is 09.00 30 September 2024.
• £30,000 is allocated to Strategic Grants for museums across the North region, with an emphasis on the quality of the proposed project.
• The maximum amount an individual museum can apply for is £1,500.
• Multisite organisations, partnerships and consortiums can apply for £2,000 where the funding will benefit more than one Accredited museum.
• All projects funds must be spent and completed with final reports and invoices submitted to MD North by November 2025.
• We may release up to 90% of the grant value on signing the grant acceptance letter; with the remainder on completion of the project, submission of final report and proof of expenditure.
• Project criteria is focused around ACE’s Let’s Create | Arts Council England strategy Investment Principles of Environmental Responsibility and Inclusivity & Relevance.

Who can apply?

The following museums are eligible to apply for a Strategic Grant:

• Museums in the north of England which are Accredited, hold provisional status, or are formally Working Towards Accreditation.
• Museums that are not Accredited, or not formally Working Towards it, can be part of a project involving a partnership of museums, but an Accredited museum must be the lead partner.
• Museums must have participated in current or past Museum Development programmes which align with specific ACE Investment Principles and be delivering on actions arising.

The following museums are not eligible:

• National Portfolio Organisations, DCMS sponsored National Museums, English Heritage and National Trust sites, and unaccredited museums.