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: Minimum and maximum percentages
A budget must be included in the application dossier. Thus you must be able to cover your materials, productions and employees with income from tickets or buy-out fees. Or with the help of subsidies. So that the books are balanced at the end of the day. The only thing is: you may never run your entire operation on subsidies. Which is why there are minimum and maximum percentages.
Minimum self-generated income
It’s always a plus to have your own source of income. Buyout fee? Subscriptions? Private funding? Great if you can manage to inventively combine resources. But not every organisation can easily do that. Which is why there are different minimum percentages for your own income:
- 20% of your own income for organisations that focus on presentation or production, which can be combined with participation, development and/or reflection
- 7.5 percent of your own income for organisations that focus on participation, development and reflection without including presentation or production
How is this minimum percentage calculated? For this you need to examine the entire policy period. And in relation to the total costs. Not sure where to start? Feel free to ask for advice at Cultuurloket.
Minimum 50% to pay artists
Whether you are a musician, dancer or project manager: staff and artists deserve fair compensation. Which is why at least 50 percent of the requested subsidies go to staff and artists.
Maximum reserve
Years can vary. Financial fluctuations, unexpectedly lower spending, exceptionally good ticket sales. The result: you fail to use all the available subsidies. Then you want to carry over a surplus to the next year. Can you create a reserve with subsidies? Yes. Within limits. You may set aside a little, but not all:
- Per year, a maximum of 20 percent of the subsidy amount for that year
- Cumulation, or reserves that accumulate: in the last year this can be a maximum of 50 percent of the annual subsidy amount
Help, those percentages are unattainable!
What if you have less or no self-generated income? What if the major cost of your art project does not concern employees but materials? What if you need more reserves for the last year of your multi-year production?
Good news: you can always request an exception. Give good reasons why, and after approval, you will not have to comply with the minimum and maximum values to the nearest percent. Afterwards, the exception is explained in the annual report.
