Most Common Funds

(From the perspective of an Artist/Researcher) 

The Werktuig PPO website might confuse you because the application procedure seems very simple. Even too simple to be true. But that's what it is, no rocket science! Currently, they have 3 types of schemes, the one I will be referring to is ToolPPO. Anyone working in the creative sector, self-employed or on a contract, can apply for money to support their development trajectory. Think of courses (online and offline), mentorship sessions or private lessons with an expert in a certain field. Your main goal is to explain how this new knowledge and skills will broader or deepen your practice. I applied for a single online course before, but your trajectory can consist of a few things. PPO can finance 1/3 of the total costs of your development plan with a maximum of € 2,000 (including VAT). There is an assumption that your employer or client will also contribute 1/3 and the remaining part amount you pay yourself. The reality is that you will probably have to pay 2/3 yourself, but getting 1/3 is better than nothing!

The questions you will have to answer while filling in the online form will be like those below:

- What do you want to learn? Briefly describe what you want to learn. When will the development programme be successful for you?

Here I described my practice in a couple of sentences and stated:

To broaden my skill box, I want to learn (what?) that would allow me to (why?).

- What are you going to do to achieve this? Describe the activity as precisely as possible. For example, mention a specific training or educational programme and add a link to the website of the institution.

Here I described what learning these new skills entails, what steps I would need to go through and how the online course I wanted to enrol in was a perfect match for my goals. I had a few quotes from the school's website and mentioned that I've done my research and this specific programme appeared to be unique and best suited to what I wanted to achieve. If you feel confused about writing this part but you already know what you want to learn, you could start the other way around. Use schools/courses/teachers' descriptions of their methods and programmes and deconstruct them for writing this paragraph. Pick the 'tastiest' bits of their text and then write about why learning that would be helpful for you.

- How will you know that it was successful? Will you have a diploma or other concrete result that you can show?   

In my case, I just needed to say that I will get a diploma. If there is no diploma as such in the trajectory that you are picking, you could say that it will be successful once you finish all the lessons, or write the piece at the end etc.

NB: Be mindful of this step and its timing as you will be able to receive the money only once your trajectory is successful.

You will also be asked the following:

- Starting and end date  

- Which professional do you want to engage? (website)

- What are the total costs of your plan?

- Can you specify or split the total costs of your plan? (the more specific the better)

- How will you finance the costs that we don’t cover?

After completing the form you will get a confirmation email. Usually, you get a decision or comments on your application within 2 weeks. Sometimes, PPO can reduce the amount they will be willing to give you based on your budget. In my case, I wanted to include the price of a subscription for software I would have to use during my studies. However, the funding body treated it as something that I could either keep after the course or use for something else, other than the course, so they deducted this point from my overall budget.

Since knowledge is infinite, good luck with picking what you want to do and making your application!

Reach out to a friend or an acquaintance for advice.

When somebody receives a grand from Mondriaan Fund, they agree to the following point from General Terms and Conditions:

The Mondriaan Fund asks artists, institutions, curators and observers who are recipients of Mondriaan Fund grants to make themselves available for discussions with other grantees, for contact or advice. In this way, the knowledge and experience gained with the help of public funds can be shared, to the benefit of continued development in the field. Grantees can be approached to participate in a mentoring programme or other programmes developed by the Mondriaan Fund for this purpose. 

Reach out to a friend or an acquaintance for advice.

(From the perspective of an Artist, Curator and Writer)

Mijn Eerste Aanvraag (my first application) is a funding by the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK) that you can apply for if you have not received one of their funds before. You can receive up to 5000 euro’s from them for a project, such as an exhibition that you organise with your peers. The important thing to keep in mind is that AFK funds Amsterdam-based projects. 

The procedure is faster than most funds and the AFK takes into account that you are an artist at the beginning of your career who might not have a lot of experience with writing applications. You start by filling in an online form which you can check well in advance. You also submit a written application. In both, its best to explain in very clear language what your plan is, cover all topics they ask for, add images and help them really imagine it. If you work with collaborators, such as your peers, an art space, guests for your event  – clearly state in your application whether you have already invited them and whether they are willing to participate (invited/confirmed). I think its a plus if you already have some people on your side or a confirmed location! The budget needs to be pretty complete. You can use the Mondriaan Fund fee calculator to figure out how much you should pay yourself for making work (don’t cut your own fee, I once heard in a talk by AFK that it might even decrease your chances). 

So here is the most unique thing of Mijn Eerste Aanvraag: after submitting your application, the fund will give you a meeting date. In this meeting, they will spend 30 minutes asking you questions and giving you a chance to explain your ideas further. If anything was shining in absence in your writing, they will ask about it! You might be a quick thinker, but I’d say: don’t wing it, prepare. You will hear the result from AFK only one week later. 

Personally, I applied to Mijn Eerste Aanvraag together with a few friends for a self-organised exhibition in our own studio space. We managed to pay ourselves a fee, cover the costs of drinks for an exhibition opening and other small expenses such as printing and transport costs. They were particularly interested in what the work looked like, why we chose the location we chose, how we were planning to invite people who were not from our immediate artist-friend-circles (hint: flyers). They clearly appreciated our statement to avoid art speak and use accessible language in the show. This is in general good practice for writing funding applications: keep it simple, be generous, help them imagine your exhibition coming to life.  

AFK offers speed dates where you can ask all your questions. This can help you figure out the best plan of approach for your particular idea. Good luck!

(From the perspective of an Artist)

The first thing I want to mention about Amarte fonds is that they mainly support artists who have not received support from other major funds, so if the project you apply for includes large applications from other funds it will have less of a chance. This is stated in their guideline. So I would suggest that when artist apply to the Amarte fonds, it’s better to consider a small project with budget close to the maximum contribution you can apply to (this year the maximum is 2,750 euros)

The second thing I want to mention is they have an expert program in addition to the financial contribution. So you can ask their help to contact the artist or researcher who you think would be helpful for your project after you get the fund. This part is covered by 10% extra on top of the grant, so you don't need to consider an external mentor or advisor when writing the budget plan.

When writing the proposal, it is better to use your own words, this is also mentioned in their guideline. In my proposal I used very simple words, I didn’t use any politically right words nor big keywords that are popular in today's art world, I just focused on my own research and made it super clear to be understand.

Although Amarte fonds is based in Amsterdam, they told me they support projects from all over the Netherlands. Even sometimes projects abroad if the applicant has a clear, strong connection to the Netherlands. So it’s not necessary that your project has a connection to Amsterdam, but it’s good to mention the project's contribution to the Netherlands.

Finally I hope everyone could successfully get the fund for their project.

Subsidy Resident Initiatives/ Subsidie Bewonersinitiatieven

(From the perspective of an Interdisciplinary Artist)

If you are an artist working within the social realms and site specifically, this fund could be a nice incentive to build your local community by sharing your artistic practice. It’s open for anyone living or working in a specific part of the city of Amsterdam and is not focussed on art specifically but on social engagement.

Applying for this grant made me reflect upon the role of art within a neighbourhood and at the same time put me in touch with people I would normally not be in touch with because I would be working in the studio and showing my work elsewhere. I got to know initiatives by others and found my working environment expanding andI received invitations to participate in other cultural initiatives. Although the budget is limited to 500 euros, the non-monetary rewards helped situate and direct my practice and connect to a community at large.

Ddmission is a short and compact procedure, at least one month before the actual event. Most important is that the initiative is non-commercial and offers the audience more than entertainment. For example, I hosted a workshop and shared the outcomes in the local cafe, this way we had two moments of interaction and transformed a cafe into a hybrid exhibition space. Applying via the Amsterdam district website where you fill out a form.

There are also possibilities for fundings up to 5,000 euros, in which case a bit more info is requested:you apply with a project plan and a budget plan.

(From the perspective of an interdisciplinary Artist / Teacher / Researcher)

The Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds is divided in several (450!) sub-funds, organised by name of their donators on this webpage

Each funding targets a specific profile of practices and is usually specific to a region of the Netherlands. 

The one that I know –and have successfully applied for– is called Tijlfonds–cultuurfonds and supports (identifying) female artists above 35 y.o.

Perhaps more interesting for this platform is its counterpart for (identifying) female artists under 35 y.o, which is called Josine de Bruyn-Kops fonds

Their guidelines indicate a maximum amount of 3500 euros, but scrolling through the recently awarded applications, the average amount is around 2000 euros. This seems to indicate that they favor supporting a larger group of applicants with a lesser amount. 

They have two application dates per year, one in winter (application must be sent before 26 January 2023 to be reviewed on 30 March 2023) and one in autumn (application must be sent before 7 September 2023 to be reviewed on 2 November 2023).

The fundings supports a broad range of goals for each practice, from financing a new website to the acquisition of materials, an exhibition or publication project. 

The deliverables are quite similar to other fundings, namely; artist statement, CV, project plan, communication plan, budget and coverage plan and a motivation letter. 

In case of applying for a publication, there is an additional excel document to fill in. When I called the fund, I was informed that this –somewhat complicated– document would only be required for the production of a large edition with a publisher; so for my own proposal –which was a limited edition of an artist’s book– it was not necessary to fill out. I experience that fundings’ contact-persons are usually quite accommodating, so I advise to call them when in doubt.

With the motivation letter, I would say it makes sense to highlight why the support of such specific fundings –for female artists– matters for your proposal; for instance the feminist positioning of your practice or female-related themes embedded within your project proposal. In general –with all fundings– it is always meaningful to express how crucial their support would be to your project and future developments as an artist. 

It seems also to be preferable that your coverage plan indicates that you are reaching out to other fundings, so that you are not entirely relying on one funding application. One of my most valuable tips with budgeting is to build-up your expected costs including what you can get covered with other forms of financing (like bartering service with friends, or getting access for free to specific machinery) and assign the amount in your coverage plan as your own contribution. Sounds sneaky, but I believe it is important to make visible and give value to the non-monetary exchanges we perform to support each other and our community.

(From the perspective of an Interdisciplinary designer)

I applied for and received co-funding from Stichting Stokroos. When you apply for a large grant from a Dutch fund, it is often a requirement to receive money from other funds as well. I asked Stichting Stokroos to contribute to part of the material costs of my project. Once I had clarity on my budget, I could clearly see what I expected to spend on materials. For the application to Stichting Stokroos, the application I wrote for the other funding formed the basis of the proposal because it was the same project.

(From the perspective of an Artist)

Applying for the Pictoright Fund was easy and accessible. I applied for the Support Fund in 2022 and there were a large number of accepted applications; 1500. The amount you receive is probably not huge because of the number of applications accepted. However, it is a great way to get much-needed help. I think it was the funding where I got the highest reward for the amount of work the application took: I spend a total of 1 hour on the application. It's also uncomplicated and easy; you don't need a big project plan or artist statements. What you do need is to be registered with the Chamber of Commerce and to have earned at least €8,000 in the last year. The application form takes a few minutes and is a matter of checking a few boxes. They respond in a few months' time, depending on how close to the deadline you apply. For me, it was within 6 weeks. Afterwards, you need to send proof of what you have spent your grand on; this is very broad though, it can be anything from publications, transport, materials, tools, professional photography for documentation; you name it! I would recommend anyone that fits the profile to apply to this fund!