Financing mix: of capital importance

Most artists try in different ways to provide a liveable income as well as resources to invest in their practice. They combine different jobs, artistic and otherwise. As a result, they regularly switch between financing mixes, legal work status, organisational forms, and so on.

It’s best to learn the advantages and disadvantages of each contract and status. These can differ from person to person. It’s not because a colleague is best off as self-employed in a secondary occupation or with a non-profit organisation that this also applies to you. 

What is a good financing mix?

• Voor welke elementen in je leven en artistieke praktijk heb je geld nodig?

• Which elements in your life and artistic practice require money?
• How much per month, how much per year?
• Where will you get it?

You must be able to answer these questions in order to decide which legal status is best for you and how you should organise it.

1. What do you need money for?

Research, development, a new project, an innovation, a stay abroad, the purchase of materials, short-term needs, specific rental costs? But also: personal costs such as rent, bills, time off… What do you need money for? What are your priorities?

Duration also plays a role. For what period do you need money? Can you list the expenses in your life and your artistic work? Do you have an idea of how much time you put into your art practice and how much time is left for other things that you consider important?

2. How much do you need?

You need a budget. For each item on your list, you need to estimate a monthly or annual amount.

Cultuurloket can provide financing advice and assist in drawing up a budget. This should be done as accurately as possible. And the better your budget planning, the greater the chance of financing. After all, you show that you have thought and planned seriously. Make sure that your figures can be linked to your substantive plan. To be willing to fund you, people need to understand and trust your plan.

It’s a good idea to link your vision and/or mission to your figures. This means: what is your long-term goal, where do you want to go, and how does your plan and budget fit into this?

3. How will you finance everything?

And then comes the balancing act. Because the sum of your costs must be offset by income. You can get that income from various financing sources.

We list a few here: 

• Income from work that may or may not be related to your artistic practice. Many artists do other jobs in addition to their artistic project. They often teach, but they also do odd jobs outside the sector.
• You can find tools and guidelines for fair practices within your artistic work at Juist is Juist. To be in a stronger position when negotiating, there are calculators that can help you determine correct payment. Please note that these are guidelines. There is always room to negotiate. But this way, at least you know what you should be paid.
• Subsidies: The Arts Decree provides for subsidies. There are also Flemish subsidies outside the Arts Decree,  or local and supra-local subsidies.
• Passive income: e.g. from copyrights, shares, an inheritance …
• Prizes, grants and calls
• Supplementary financing: sponsorship, crowdfunding, crowdlending, friendraising, bank loan, microcredit for starters, cultural credit, tax shelter, win-win loan, private investment, patronage, business angel, philanthropic foundations … There are many more options than you think, an overview can be found at Cultuurloket.