Message from the field - Finance Scarcity in a world of money

With this Message from the Field Scarcity in a world of money Cultuur+Ondernemen wants to provide insight into the funding situation of the cultural and creative sector. There is a lot of money available in society, and there are opportunities to broaden the sector's funding. From the urgency we see in conversations with creators and cultural organisations, we share our ideas on how to improve funding. With boldness, professionalism and collaboration, existing resources can be used more effectively and new sources tapped. A broader funding mix is essential for the sector. The cake can be bigger, in addition to subsidies. It is time to work on this together.

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In the many conversations we have with creators and cultural organisations, we notice a great sense of scarcity. Subsidy schemes are overstretched. Cuts to the Municipal Fund are expected to hit the sector. Corporate sponsorship is under pressure.

In addition, the debate on revising the culture system is in full swing and the funding of the cultural and creative sector is a key issue. At the request of the minister of OCW, the Council for Culture will issue another specific opinion this autumn on broadening and making the sector's funding more sustainable.

We see:

1. The cultural and creative sector faces major financial challenges
2. Part of the sector and policymakers have a strong focus on subsidies and revising the subsidy system does not lead to more money
3. Scarcity in a world full of money - In the many conversations we have with creators and cultural organisations, we notice a sense of scarcity. We also see that there is a lot of money available in society. Supply and demand do not come together sufficiently.

We propose:

A shared agenda
Set a joint agenda with governments, sector and parties from other domains to strengthen the sector's funding base to create more social value and further increase the sector's impact.

For this agenda, the following points are crucial:

Strengthening competences
- Invest in the necessary competences among governments, creators, cultural organisations and business to develop and implement the shared agenda

Value propositions as key
- As an organisation or creator, know your value propositions and work from your own vision and strengths when putting together and broadening your funding mix

Leveraging earning power
- As an organisation or creator, maximise the value you create for your audience and invest in digitisation

Cross-domain working
- As an organisation or maker, make value visible in the language of other sectors and work out models that reveal social value to society
- Engage artists and creatives more in solving today's issues
- Build regional ecosystems and provide powerful matchmakers between the cultural and creative sector and parties from other domains

Government policies that encourage and facilitate
- Allow formation of equity wider by adjusting grant conditions and setting key figures for sufficient and permissible reserves
- Encourage individuals and businesses with tax measures
- Ensure SME schemes are also accessible to the cultural and creative sector

Additional financial instruments
- Offer insurance-like products for setbacks and uninsurable risks
- Secure existing cultural loan opportunities