When the founding businesses created The Sponsors Club in 1991 they did so using a model that is still at the heart of what we do today. They created a business membership organisation where their membership fees went into a fund to encourage new businesses to engage with the arts and heritage sector by matchfunding the business investement in a project pound for pound. 

Today we give out approximately £45,000 a year of our members money creating around 40-50 new business and arts partnerships a year across the region. The criteria are failry simple :

• The business partner MUST be sponsoring / investing in the arts or heritage field for the first time in the North East
• We will match up to £2,500 per application, there is no minimum but we view anything less than £250 as more of a donation.
• Business investments in cash are given a higher priority for funding than in kind applications.
• In-kind applications must demonstrate a real investment by the business.
• The most an arts or heritage organisation can be awarded in any one year is £5,000 (this is one year from their first successful application)
• The awards are given by a panel of our business members on a regular basis. currently this is every two months.

We are happy to provide advice on partnerships, filling in the application and if an in kind application would be eligible or not.