The Culture & Business Scotland Fund is designed to encourage collaboration between business and culture by enabling not-for-profit organisations to give their business sponsors additional rights or benefits, helping to enhance the impact and reach of the sponsorship and cultural activity.
Not-for-profit organisations delivering cultural activity can apply to the Fund for up to £1 for every £1 of business sponsorship. Organisations can apply up to two times in the financial year, provided the total Fund investment does not exceed £10,000.
We are hugely grateful to the Scottish Government for their continuing support of this unique investment programme for culture and business in Scotland.
The 2025-26 Culture & Business Scotland Fund budget has now been fully invested in cultural sponsorships. We have been working with the Scottish Government regarding the 2026-27 Fund budget – final confirmation is likely to be announced after the Scottish Parliament Election on 7 May 2026.
You are still welcome to submit an Expression of Interest in the meantime, and we will get back to you if we have any questions. We will provide an update on applications to the 2026-27 Culture & Business Scotland Fund in due course.
We make C&BS Fund investments to not-for-profit organisations delivering cultural activity in Scotland which have attracted a business to sponsor a project or aspect of their work, either in the form of cash or in-kind sponsorship.
We require all applicant organisations to have the following:
Not-for-profit organisations eligible to apply to the Culture & Business Scotland Fund are as follows:
There are two stages. We aim to respond to your Expression of Interest within 10 working days. On receipt of a full application, we aim to provide the outcome within four weeks.
Check out our full Guidelines for all of the terms and conditions relating to making an application to the Fund and receiving an investment.
Our guidelines and frequently asked questions will help you to establish whether your organisation, business sponsor and cultural activity are eligible for a Fund investment.
Wigtown Book Festival and Bladnoch Distillery came together in a partnership rooted in shared values of resilience, regeneration and pride of place. Supported by the Fund, the collaboration celebrated volunteers as the backbone of the festival while positioning Bladnoch at the heart of one of Scotland’s most distinctive cultural events. Through storytelling, sponsorship of key venues and events, and meaningful audience engagement, the partnership strengthened community connections, boosted regional visibility and demonstrated how culture and business can work together to support rural regeneration.
HebCelt and Lewis Wind Power (LWP) partnered to deliver the LWP Islands Stage – a platform dedicated to emerging and local musicians from across the Outer Hebrides. With Fund support, the partnership expanded its cultural and environmental impact, nurturing young talent, increasing community engagement, and advancing the festival’s sustainability credentials. The collaboration brought strong visibility for LWP while supporting HebCelt’s mission to celebrate Gaelic culture, creativity, and island identity. Lewis Wind Power is the developer of Stornoway wind farm, a partnership between EDF power solutions UK and ESB.
boom saloon and CreateFuture partnered to deliver 4, 4, 4 and 2, a groundbreaking cultural publication that challenges how dementia is understood, discussed and represented. Supported by the C&BS Fund, the partnership combined publishing, editorial design and lived experience with strategic business insight to extend the project’s reach far beyond traditional cultural audiences. The collaboration placed people living with dementia at the centre of public discourse, while enabling CreateFuture to demonstrate how creativity, strategy and social impact can work together to influence culture, policy and care.
“… we are now far more confident in brokering and entering into future innovative sponsorship agreements.”
Fund applicant
