The Culture Council is starting an advisory process on how to make funding for the cultural sector broader and more sustainable. The Financing Advisory Committee has been set up for this purpose. This committee will investigate how the alignment between public and private funding can be better organised and which thresholds governments, financiers and cultural institutions experience when attracting private money. The council is expected to present its advice shortly after the summer of 2025.
Why this advice?
A sound financial basis is crucial for artistic innovation, social embedding and broad accessibility of culture. The council sees that government subsidies are under pressure. At the same time, wealth statistics from CBS show a growing potential for private donations and inheritances, which may make more private money available.
Research questions
Minister Eppo Bruins of Education, Culture and Science has asked the council to advise on how funders, including the national government, can work better together to increase access to funding and thus contribute to the financial stability of the sector.
The main question is: How can the accessibility and effectiveness of the funding market for the cultural sector be improved to contribute to the financial stability and innovative capacity of cultural organisations?
In doing so, the minister asks to examine the extent to which cultural sector funders are complementary to each other, how different funding instruments relate to each other and what this means for the stability and innovative capacity of cultural organisations.
The minister also calls attention to financing instruments and funders that are still little used in the sector and the role of cultural organisations themselves.
Advisory Committee
For this process, the council has formed a committee with external experts in the field of cultural funding and administrative-financial issues. During the trajectory, the committee will conduct interviews with stakeholders in the sector to gather practical experiences and insights.
The committee consists of:
Geert van Maanen (chairman) is an experienced administrator with a career in the central government, including as Secretary-General at the Ministries of Finance, Transport, Public Works and Water Management and Health, Welfare and Sport. He has expertise in administrative issues, public finance and governance. Van Maanen is active in the cultural sector as a board member of Film by the Sea and involved in the Cultural Board Zeeland.
Michel Knoppel is a financial economist and senior lecturer at the Amsterdam School of Real Estate and the Hogeschool van Amsterdam. He specialises in monetary economics, real estate and finance. Knoppel is active as a supervisor and director in the cultural sector, including at Stichting Muziekschool Amsterdam and Stichting LFMC. He is also active as a financial analyst at the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts.
Ellen Loots is associate professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam, specialising in entrepreneurship and creativity. She researches funding models and labour market position of independent makers in the cultural and creative sector. Loots worked with the Ministry of OCW on the project 'In the Mix' on funding mixes for creators.
Edo Righini is general director of Muziekgebouw Frits Philips Eindhoven and chairman of the cultural sector in Eindhoven. Previously, he was deputy director and head of department at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Righini gained administrative experience at the Concertgebouw Jazz Orchestra and the Advanced Technology Club of the École des hautes études commerciales de Paris. He is also a member of the Council for Culture.
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