Size of grants

Most grants made are small

67% of grants in the dataset were for £10,000 or less, with a further 29% for between £10,000 and £100,000.

Only 148 grants out of the 65,000 grants in the dataset were for more than £1 million, although these grants represent 20% of the amount given. The larger grants were mainly given through the Culture Recovery Fund.

Size of grants by fund

The Culture Recovery Funds provided the largest grants

Grant amount size varies by fund. The Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) and Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage (CRFH) saw the largest average grant size.

40% of CRF grants and 30% of CRFH grants were for £100,000 or more, the largest proportion of any of the funds included. The CRF grants were generally aimed at supporting (sometimes very large) cultural institutions that were unable to open and needed funding to ensure their existence.

Some funders awarded smaller amounts, based on enabling recipients to carry on operating and providing services to their communities. 93% of Sport England grants were for less than £10,000, as were 90% of National Emergencies Trust and Community Foundation grants, and 87% of National Lottery Community Fund grants.

The mean grant amount represents the average of all the amounts, while the median represents the amount halfway along the distribution: 50% of grants were for less than the median, and 50% were for more.