MDSE 2025 - 2026 Open Grant Application Form
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1. Applicant details
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Before completing this form, please read the accompanying Open Grant guidance which is available on the Museum Development South East website.

 

You can preview all the questions by downloading a copy of the application form, but please do not use it to apply - complete the form below. If you are unable to use this form for technical reasons please email us at admin@mdse.org.uk.

 

The grant is available to any eligible museum within our region.

 

We do not fund:

  • activity that has already been delivered, commissioned or ordered
  • permanent staff salaries (although we will consider requests to 'backfill' roles if it is integral to the delivery of the project)
  • general operating costs
  • contingency
  • internal admin and management fees to support the delivery of the project
  • hospitality costs over 10% of the grant total

For more information about our funding criteria, deadlines, assessment procedures and advice on how to complete the application, please read our Grant Guidance document, which is available to download from the Grants page on our website.

 

The grant award for this scheme is between £1000 and £5000. 

 

Talk to us

It is a requirement that you talk to your Museum Development Officer before submitting your grant application. This is to help improve the quality of your application, and improve your chances of success. They will sit on the assessment panel to provide more context to your application.

 

Terms and Conditions

As part of our funding Terms and Conditions, we ask our grant recipients to:

  • acknowledge Museum Development South East, Arts Council England and Art Fund in publicity material associated with the funded activity, using approved branding and logos.
  • complete the proposed activity within 12 months of receiving funds.
  • submit a Grant Report to MDSE within 12 months of receiving funds.
  • participate in the upcoming Annual Museum Survey commissioned by Museum Development England.

Failure to uphold the T&Cs may affect your museum's chance of securing further grants from MDSE for up to 12 months.

 

These grants are funded by Arts Council England. 

 

Please provide the name of the person responsible for this grant application *

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Your Museum *

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1. Please add your Accreditation Number or your Working Towards Accreditation (WTA) reference (each museum venue will have a reference number).  The number will normally be a 3 or 4 digit number while a WTA reference will start with T.  If you do not know your reference number you can find the latest list of Accredited museums with their numbers here at the Arts Council England website.

 

2. Is your organisation volunteer run and operated (you don't regularly employ staff)?

 

3. Is the museum located within one of the Arts Council England Priority Areas?  If your museum is located within one of these areas please record the location.  You can find more about the Arts Council's Priority Places here

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4. Does your organization operate more than one museum at different sites?

 

5. What is the size of your Museum?  You will have recorded your visitor figures via the museum development annual museum survey last year.

 

6. Project Title (up to 100 characters) *

 

7. Please provide a very brief description about the project your wish the grant to support (max 50 words) *

 

8. Please choose one theme which your application broadly addresses.  If you are unsure which theme to select please consult your local museum development officer.