Operating grants
Are you submitting an application on December 1 for operating funds within the Arts Decree? Discover the most recent information on this page.
Operating grants: A culturally responsible budget
No subsidies without a budget. Logical. If you don’t know how much money you need, you can’t request it. In which format should the budget be submitted? And exactly which rows and columns do the evaluators look at? Because all those figures say something, artistically as well as substantively.
Realistic and reasonable
Need an outrageous amount of resources for a small operation? That’s not possible. Expenditures must be in proportion to the artistic contribution you ultimately make.
Of course it can add up. If you enter into partnerships or commitments, for example. Or want to pursue a participatory trajectory. Explain this in your calculations. What is the artistic opportunity?
And in the case of a collaboration: what goes to whom? If wages are also involved in your collaboration, then of course you must also take into account correct remuneration and a strong personnel policy.
Be sure to make it extremely clear how you arrived at the amounts. Because in the end, the evaluators always examine your budget through the lens of ‘realism and reasonableness’ (in Dutch).
Substantive parallels
Evaluators also examine your budget through a substantive lens. What about the relationship between planned activities, expenses and income? And do the expected income and expenses match your artistic plans? Make sure that the business side and the financial data of your application are in line with the substantive policy plan. Where are the parallels? That’s an important test for your organisation. And for the evaluators.
Keep it up to date
If you receive a positive decision at the end of June 2022, you will need to update your policy plan before 15 October of the same year, based on the amount awarded. Plus an update of your 2023 budget. Include the subsidies directly in this.
Excel sheet with 9 tabs
You must submit the budget in a fixed format. This time it’s a new Excel attachment (in Dutch) with figures with nine tabs. And because a budget reflects your operating principles, you should also take into account:
