Funding and fundraising | Making Music

Funding and fundraising

Legal Structures for your group (online event)

Music groups often start as small and informal, but as they become well established a formal structure can be beneficial. It can help when applying for funding, provide liability protection for your members, establish clear leadership roles and provide long-term sustainability.

This event will look at the options available including; unincorporated associations, Charities, Community Interest Companies and limited companies, and outline how each one impacts your group’s finances and governance

Location

Online
United Kingdom

Chairs and leaders meet up (online event)

The responsibility that lies with Chairs and other leaders of music organisations can feel overwhelming, particularly in times of change. Making Music is hosting this meetup so you can connect with others in the same role, and talk about your challenges and successes. 

Location

Online
United Kingdom

Online member meetup (Wales)

Running your group is a rewarding but challenging role. Our regular meetups are a chance for you to meet and share learning and ideas with other Wales groups facing similar challenges, explore specific issues affecting leisure-time music making in Wales and consider how we can work collaboratively to find solutions and advocate for the sector. 

Stephen McNally, Wales manager, will be leading this session.

N.B. this event was originally scheduled to take place on 24th January but will now be taking place on 31 January.

In this meetup we'll:

Location

ONLINE
United Kingdom

Find a Funding Opportunity

Use our simple search to check our library of funding opportunities to find the right one for your group.

Promoters Subsidy

The cost of engaging and arranging a performance of professional artists can add up. To help smaller promoter members of Making Music (with a gross income of below £14.5K) to cover some of these costs, Making Music is offering a Promoters Subsidy.

*Due to the high volume of requests received, the Promoters Subsidy is now closed. Once more funds become available we will reopen the subsidies and application form*

How to claim Gift Aid for your group

This guidance describes the current situation with regard to Gift Aid and the voluntary music sector. Please note that Gift Aid is available to UK recognised charities, regardless of whether or not they are also registered charities.

Webinar recording: Applying for funding

In this recording of our guest speaker webinar (original event 23 April 2021), we explore the ins and outs of writing a funding application.

We welcome John Rostron (Making Music's Manager in Wales and fundraising consultant), Kim Macari (Arts Council England) and Abby Charles (Tŷ Cerdd).

Topics covered include: 

Applying for grant funding

Covid-19 has caused financial difficulties across the board, but the good news is that different types of financial support are now becoming available.

For leisure-time music groups, new or repurposed pots of grant funding are the most viable. There are a whole range of funds to apply for and different amounts available, and a little money can go a long way to making a difference.

Online donation platforms

When fundraising for your group, there are many websites that you can use to take and manage your donations.

With most online donation platforms you can create a page for your group, where you can tell your story about who you are and what you are fundraising for, as well as add images and branding. You can then point people to this page where they make their online donation.

Increasing your income: Overview

We know one of the biggest worries music groups have is the long-term financial health of their group. Even groups who make a surplus each year can have that nagging thought: ‘what happens if something goes wrong next year?’ More money would mean less worry and more stability, and perhaps more importantly it would mean more opportunities to try new things and ways of enjoying making music.