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Eligibility
This programme can fund public sector bodies, registered charities, and other not-for-profit organisations. Eligible not-for-profits include those that are regulated by the Charity Commission, including Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs), Charitable Trusts, and Companies Limited by Guarantee (as long as they have charitable status and are regulated by the Charity Commission). We cannot fund profit-making organisations or private individuals.
We can fund any of the above eligible organisations in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The funded collection must also be held in these countries. We cannot fund organisations based in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, or organisations whose collections are held outside of the UK.
We use the definition of an archive collection as given within the Archive Service Accreditation Scheme:
“Materials created or received by a person, family or organisation, public or private, in the conduct of their affairs and preserved because of the enduring value contained in them or as evidence of the functions and responsibilities of their creator, especially those materials maintained using the principles of provenance, original order and collective control; permanent records.”
Society of American Archivists
We recommend that organisations consult with qualified archivists when preparing their application. Funded organisations must have access to professional archival expertise from a qualified archivist.
Funded organisations must make their collections accessible to people outside of their organisation for at least ten years, following the conclusion of the grant-funded project. We can fund organisations with owned or deposited collections, providing they can provide a commitment from the depositor that the collection will not be withdrawn from public access or sold within ten years of the project end date. We reserve the right to reclaim funding, where this condition is not met.
There are no restrictions on past applicants applying, however our data shows that reapplications are no more likely to receive funding than first-time applications. Before asking the panel to consider a collection for the second time, you should discuss your proposed project with the Grants and Funding team at The National Archives. There is no restriction on institutions submitting an application for a different collection than that previously assessed.
We welcome partnership and consortium bids, provided that the lead organisation satisfies all of the criteria above. Institutions may submit multiple bids in the same round, particularly where they are part of networks or consortia; however, given the competitiveness of this funding programme, we recommend that applicants focus only on the most significant collections, which are of highest priority for their organisation.
Timetable
The Archives Revealed funding programme is now finishing its current three-year cycle. The partnership is using the time between funding cycles to strategically evaluate the programme, and explore expanding fundraising options. We will be publishing further information in late 2024 about the programme’s return and next funding rounds.
Finance and budgeting
As part of the Phase 2 application, applicants will be asked to submit a full budget for their project. The maximum award of funding for any grant will be £45,000.
Match Funding
The programme can supply up to 100% of project costs, however we strongly encourage applicants to contribute from their own resources or other funding sources (e.g. other grant funders). This could be in the form of a cash contribution, confirmed funding from external sources, or an in-kind contribution. We reserve the right to offer conditional or partial funding of a project.
Staffing
Archives Revealed will fund the additional staff costs required to deliver your project. This can include employing new project staff, or backfilling for existing staff allocated to the project.
The project needs to be managed and substantially carried out by appropriately qualified staff. Volunteers, secondments, internships, and staff exchanges may be eligible to fulfil supporting roles, but we do not support projects that are managed and led solely by volunteers.
We ask that archives use the most recent ARA recommendations on professional salary levels, wherever qualified archivists are employed.
Other costs
Archives Revealed cannot fund:
- the conservation of archives
- the digitisation of archives
- public engagement activities
- the cataloguing of non-archive collections
Overheads and indirect costs
The programme does not support full economic cost recovery or overheads.
The grant may not be used for the following purposes: payments that support activity intended to influence Parliament, Government or political parties, or attempting to influence the awarding or renewal of contracts and grants, or attempting to influence legislative or regulatory action.
Assessment process
Archives Revealed Cataloguing Grants have a two-stage application process, where applicants are asked to complete an initial Expression of Interest form, which will be assessed by a panel of experts from The National Archives and partners, as well as independent archives sector experts.
Our aim at this initial stage is to provide a quick decision for all applicants: only the strongest applications, with the greatest chance of winning funding, will be invited to complete a full Phase 2 application.
The application form is undergoing minor changes, and will be available once the next round is live.
Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:
- Significance
- Priority for cataloguing
- Audiences, engagement, and impact
- Cataloguing approach and improvement to access
- Project management and staffing
Further guidance on our assessment criteria will be available in early 2024.
Each application will be scored numerically against the criteria above, according to the following scale:
| Score | Rating |
| 1 | Poor |
| 2 | Low |
| 3 | Good |
| 4 | Excellent |
| 5 | Outstanding |
Applications are assessed by a panel of archival and heritage experts, selected to represent a broad range of organisations, backgrounds, subject specialisms and geographic spread, including one scoring panellist to represent the programme funders.
We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes providing support, in the form of reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us. You must contact us as early as possible in the application process. We recommend contacting us at least 15 working days before the competition closing date, to ensure that we can provide you with the most suitable support possible. You can contact us by emailing archivegrants@nationalarchives.gov.uk.