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3. The interplay between Nordic and national funding for arts and culture in Denmark

Trine Bille

3.1 Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the interplay between the national public and private subsidy systems for arts and culture in Denmark
Greenland and Faroe Islands are not included in the analysis.
 and the Nordic subsidy systems for culture, represented by the two key Nordic funders: Nordic Culture Point (NCP) and Nordic Culture Fund (NCF). This will be done by focusing on four research questions.

1) How important is the Nordic funding from NCP and NCF in the Danish national context?

This question will be answered by looking at the size of public and private funding for arts and culture in Denmark and comparing it with the funding from the Nordic funding schemes. The chapter will give an overview of the total support system for arts and culture in Denmark, including the public subsidies for culture at different levels of government (the state and the municipalities), as well as non-public support, represented by the private foundations.
To make a comparison with the Nordic funding from NCP and NCF, it is more relevant to focus on the free funds available aimed at and open for applications from individual artists and artistic organisations – not on the public support covering the operating expenses of cultural institutions. Therefore, the support for operating expenses provided to cultural institutions, which make up most of public support, will be excluded in the further analysis. For the municipalities, it is unfortunately not possible to separate the free funds from the rest of public support. Consequently, the analysis will be narrowed down to free funds available from the private foundations and the Danish Arts Foundation (the main national support scheme), which will be described and analysed in detail and compared to the funds available from the two Nordic funders.

2) How are funds from the national and Nordic support schemes allocated to different art forms? Do the funding schemes complement or overlap in terms of focus on art forms?

To answer the question, the allocation of funds from the Nordic funders, the Danish Arts Foundation and the private foundations will be broken down into different art forms and compared.

3) What is the interplay between the Nordic funders and the national and international funders in terms of co-funding?

This will be studied by investigating the patterns in terms of co-funding from other external funders for the projects that have been approved by NCP and NCF. This involves asking: What other kinds of support schemes have the approved projects applied for at national, Nordic, and EU levels? And how big is the co-funding applied for compared to the Nordic funding granted?

4) How does Nordic funding contribute to Nordic collaboration?

This will be studied through a detailed analysis of the differences between projects with a Danish main applicant and a Danish co-applicant and by investigating the differences in terms of patterns concerning additional external funding.
The analysis will draw on a detailed dataset on projects supported by NCP and the NCF. The dataset is provided by Kulturanalys Norden, and it is described in detail in Chapter 2. This dataset will be complemented by data for Denmark, available from Statistics Denmark and provided by the Danish Arts Foundation. The analyses will focus on 2022, since this is the year from which detailed data from the Nordic funders are available. Furthermore, the analyses will exclude funding for sports and adult leisure-time education (folkeoplysning). Based on these data a simple descriptive statistics analysis will be conducted to answer the research questions above.
The chapter will proceed as follows. In the next section, the national context will be described including data for the total public and non-public support systems for arts and culture in Denmark. In section 3.3 the data for NCP and the NCF will be analysed for approved projects with a main Danish application or a Danish co-applicant; the interplay with the national support systems in Denmark will also be analysed. Section 3.4 concludes the chapter by answering the four research questions based on the analysis conducted in section 3.3. 

3.2 The national context

In this section, the total public and non-public support systems for arts and culture in Denmark will be briefly explained.

3.2.1 Total public support

The public support for the arts and cultural sector can be divided into funds from the state, the municipalities, and the national lottery funds.
The total public funding sums up to €2.5 billion, of which the funding from the state makes up 63%, while 33% is funded by the municipalities and 3% by the national lottery funds. For a historical account of the development in the public funds for arts and culture in Denmark, see Bille (2022). 
Table 3.1. Public support for arts and culture, excluding sports and adult leisure-time education (folkeoplysning), DKK 1,000, 2022
 
State
1,000 DKK
Municipalities
1,000 DKK
National lottery funds
1,000 DKK
Total
1,000 DKK
Percent
Cultural heritage
1,291,900
829,400
31,800
2,153,100
11.3
Museums
950,900
829,400
30,500
1,810,800
84.1
Music
746,600
805,300
33,200
1,585,100
8.4
Performing arts
1,357,400
313,400
46,800
1,717,600
9.0
Architecture, design and crafts
430,700
 
5,900
436,600
2.3
Visual arts
133,900
 
7,700
141,600
0.7
Media, libraries, literature
7,156,600
2,668,400
25,200
9,850,200
51.6
- Tv and radio
5,173,100
 
 
5,173,100
52.5
- Newspapers and reviews
420,800
 
 
420,800
 
- Libraries
775,900
2,654,600
15,800
3,446,300
35.0
- Film
520,700
13,900
 
543,600
 
- Literature
266,100
 
 
266,100
 
Transvers projects/​other
997,000
1,843,900
369,200
3,210,100
16.8
TOTAL (DKK 1,000)
TOTAL (EUR 1,000)*
12,114,100
1,623,874
6,460,400 
866,005
519,800 
69,678
19,094,300 
2,559,558
100
Percent
64
33
3
100
100
*DKK is converted to EUR based on the fixed exchange rate: DKK 1 = EUR 7.46
Source: Statistics Denmark, BEVIL02.
Table 3.1 shows that “media, libraries and literature” make up more than half of the total funding. This is due the huge funding to tv and radio from the state (DKK 5.2 mil. / €0.7 mil.), and the huge funding for the libraries from the municipalities (DKK 2.7 mil. / €0.3 mil.). The second biggest receiver of funding is the “transvers project” (16.8%), followed by cultural heritage (11.3%), performing arts (9.0%) and music (8.4%).  The state funding for new Danish films is administrated and allocated by the Danish Film Institute.
The majority of the funding from the state and the municipalities is allocated to cultural institutions, such as DR (Denmark’s Radio – the national broadcasting company), museums, archives, libraries, theatres, etc. Concerning the “free funds” available for artists and institutions based on applications, it is impossible to divide the support from the municipalities into “free funds” and “permanent” funding for operating costs for cultural institutions and other purposes. When it comes to the state, the funding allocated though The Danish Arts Foundation (Statens Kunstfond) constitute the majority of the free funding for artists and projects allocated based on applications. In 2022 The Danish Arts Foundation allocated in total DKK 555 mil. / €74 mil. to different artists and projects. A further description of these funds will be given in the next section.
The National Lottery Funds are allocated according to specific legislation.
 Most of the funds are allocated to specific sports and youth associations, and the allocation is ratified by the law. A smaller amount of the funds is allocated to a pool, which can be applied based on applications.

3.2.2 Support from The Danish Arts Foundation

The Danish Arts Foundation, established in 1964, is the cornerstone in the Danish support system for artists. It is an arms-length body, and in 2022, it allocated €74 mil. (DKK 555 mil.) in support for 5,725 individual artists (working grants), travel grants and project grants to different types of artistic projects.
It consists of 12 committees: one for Architecture (working grants + project support), two for visual arts (working grants and project support), one for film (working grants), two for literature (working grants and project support), two for music (working grants and project support), and two for crafts and design (working grants and project support). Furthermore, four committees are cutting across the art forms “Artists In-house” (huskunstnerordningen), Journal Support, The Young Elite and Dream Stipends.
The 16 committees consist of artists and experts from of respective art forms. The committee members are elected for four years, after which a new committee will be formed. The Minister of Culture appoints 21 of the members of the committees and The Board of Representatives (Statens Kunstfonds Repræsentantskab) appoints 33 members. The Board of Representatives for The Danish Arts Foundation consists of 49 members. These members are also appointed for a period of four years, and they are appointed by industry organisations, institutions and other stakeholders of relevance for contemporary Danish art. The Minister of Culture appoints the chairman.
Table 3.2 shows the allocation of funds across the different art forms and types of support, where 19.7% of the total support is allocated to individual artists, primarily as working grants (production) including some means allocated to travel grants. The majority of the funds (80.3%) is allocated to projects of different types.
Table 3.2. The total funds allocated from The Danish Arts Foundation, DKK 1,000, 2022.
 
Individual grants
Project grants
Total
Percent
Architecture
9,024
9,024
1.6
Visual arts
30,952
45,077
76,029
13.7
Film
4,253
-
4,253
0.8
Crafts and design
11,950
7,991
19,941
3.6
Literature
31,680
22,790
54,470
9.8
Music
17,659
216,132
233,791
42.1
Performing arts
3,900
111,910
115,810
20.8
Music/drama
(Total music + perf. arts)
-
 13,199
13,199 
(362,800)
2.4 
(65.3)
Transvers projects
 
28,848
28,848
5.1
Total (DKK 1,000)
Total (EUR 1,000)
109,418
14,667
445,947
59,778
555,365
74,446
100
Percent
19.7
80.3
100
100
Source: The Danish Arts Foundation
Looking at the dispersion among art forms, there are huge differences. Music receives the largest share with 42.1% of the total funds, followed by performing arts with 20.8%. In total the two art forms receive 65.3% of the funds. Visual arts is the third biggest receiver of funds with 13.7%, followed by literature (9.8%).
The division between individual grants and project grants are also quite different among the art forms. For performing arts and music, the projects funds are dominant with a respective 96.6% and 92.4% of the total funds available to the two art forms. For visual arts the project funds are also dominant, but to a smaller extent, namely with 59.2% of the total funds available to the art form. For film and literature, the individual grants are dominant, with 100% for film and 58.2% for literature.  
Table A1, A2 and A3 in the appendix show in greater detail the number of grants and the average amount allocated from the different committees. Table A1 shows the committees covering stipends and individual grants, Table A2 shows the committees allocating project support, and Table A3 shows the four transvers committees.

3.2.3 The private foundations

The private foundations are very important in proving support for arts and culture in Denmark. They allocate funds to institutions, projects and individuals based on applications.
In 2022, the private foundations donated in total €348 mil. in support to the cultural sector in Denmark, distributed among 9,408 grants. In 2021, €324 mil. was distributed among 9,926 grants. For a historical account of the development in the funding from private foundations to arts and culture, see Bille (2022).
Table 3.3. The support from private foundations to arts and culture, EUR 1,000, 2021 and 2022.
 
2021
2022
 
Total sum
No. of grants
Total sum
No. of grants
Commercial foundations (erhvervsdrivende fonde)
205,603
4,426
240,080
4,381
General foundations (almene fonde og fondslignende foreninger)
118,767
5,499
108,445
5,027
Total
324,397
9,926
348,391
9,408
Source: Statistics Denmark.
For 2021, it is possible to dig deeper into the allocation of these funds (Fondenes Videnscenter, 2023). That year, the 10 biggest foundations, in terms of allocation of funds for cultural purposes, allocated 68% of the funds and 17% of the total number of grants. In other words, the total funding from the 10 biggest foundations (in terms of supporting arts and culture) allocated in total €220 mil. to 1,687 recipients, with an average of €130,800 per grant, while the rest of the foundations allocated in total €103.8 mil. distributed among 8,239 recipients, equal to €12,600 in average grants (Table 3.4).
Table 3.4. Average grant size for the biggest foundations, EUR 1,000, 2021.
 
Total amount allocated
Number of grants
Average grant
 
10 biggest foundations
220,590
1,687
130.8
All other foundations
103,807
8,239
12.6
Total
324,397
9,926
32.7
Source: Fondenes Videnscenter (2023).
As shown in Table 3.5, most of the grants (48%) are allocated to public institutions and non-profit institutions (31%), while “only” 4% is allocated to individuals (which is still considerable since a total amount of €14 mil. was allocated to individuals).
Table 3.5. Allocation of funds from the private foundations divided on type of recipient, EUR 1,000, 2021.
 
Public institutions
Non-profit institutions
Private companies
Individuals
Other
Total
EUR 1,000
155,362
101,072
29,088
14,075
24,799
324,397
Percent
48
31
9
4
8
100
Source: Fondenes Videnscenter (2023).
Table 3.6 shows the allocation of funds based on art forms. The majority of the funds (51%) is allocated to cultural heritage, followed by music and performing arts (24%) and visual arts (14%).
Table 3.6. Allocation of funds from the private foundations divided by art forms, EUR 1,000, 2021.
 
Cultural heritage
Music and performing arts
Visual art and design
Media, libraries, literature
Other cultural projects
Total
EUR 1,000
165,684
77,882
46,515
9,785
24,263
324,397
Percent
51
24
14
3
7
100
Source: Fondenes Videnscenter (2023).

3.3 The interplay between Nordic funding programmes and Danish national funding

In this section the allocation of funds from Nordic Culture Point (NCP) and the Nordic Culture Fond (NCF) to Danish applicants will be described in detail. This will be done by investigating the number of approved projects with either a Danish main applicant or a Danish co-applicant, as well as the granted total amount and the average amount per project. Furthermore, the allocation of Nordic funding to different art forms will be studied. A special interest is devoted to the number of approved projects that applied for additional external funding and the size of this funding. The applied additional funding will be divided by external funders at different levels (national financiers, private foundations, municipal/regional financiers, other Nordic funding, EU funding) to be able to study the interplay between the Nordic funding programmes and the national funding programmes. The interplay between the Nordic funding programme and the Danish Arts Foundation will have a special focus, as the Danish Arts Foundation is the main national funding scheme available for artists and institutions based on applications.
The next section will focus on Nordic Culture Point (NCP) followed by an analysis of the funds provided by the Nordic Culture Fund (NCF).

3.3.1 Nordic Culture Point (NCP)

As shown in Table 3.7, NCP had in total 1,822 applications of which 493 were from Danish main applicants, and 96 of these projects were approved. The total amount approved for the 96 Danish projects was €1.2 mil., equal to around €12,230 on average per grant.
There were 76 approved applications with a Danish co-applicant, which were granted in total EUR 2.5 mil., with an average grant of about €32,900.
Table 3.7. Applications and grants approved from NCP, EUR 1,000, 2022.
 
NCP All
NCP
Danish main applicant
NCP
Danish
co-applicant
No. of applications
1,822
336
259
Applications approved
493
96
76
Amount applied
23,643
4,176
7,766
Amount approved
6,026
1,174
2,501
Share allocated to Danish projects of the total amount approved by NCP (all projects)
 
 
19%
 
41.5%
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden.
In the following, the projects with a Danish main applicant or a Danish co-applicant will be analysed in further detail. Only the approved projects will be included in the analysis.
NCP runs and administrates several programmes, which are described in detail in Chapter 2. The applications and approved amounts for the different programmes that NCP runs can be seen in Table 8 for projects with a main applicant from Denmark. The biggest number of approved applications are in the Mobility Funding programme, with an average of €2,200 per grant. The Culture and Art Programme has the second biggest number of approved applications with an average of EUR 40,500 per grant. In total, most funds are allocated from the Culture and Art Programme (55%), “Norden 0-30” (12%), and the Mobility Funding (12%). As the Culture and Art Programme and “Norden 0-30” both allocate project grants, it means that most of the funds from NCP are allocated to projects (67%).
Of the 96 approved projects with a Danish main applicant, there are 20 projects (21%) that have applied for additional external funding. This additional applied funding sums up to EUR 1.7 mil., which means that the funding approved by NCP amount to 41% of the total funding applied for (it is not known if the additional external funding has been granted). It must be noted that this is measured for all the 96 projects, and not only for the 20 projects that have applied for additional external funding. If only these 20 projects had been included, the share of funding from NCP in the total funding applied for (including additional external funding) would of course been higher.  In this case NCP has provided 60% of the total grants applied for.
Table 3.8. NCP: Applications approved with a Danish main applicant, divided by programme, EUR 1,000, 2022.
Programme
No. approved
Amount approved
 
Average grant
Total budget
No. with add. external funding
Amount approved (20 projects with ext. funding)
Add. external funding
Demos
1
20
20
36
0
0
0
Culture and Art Programme
16
649
41
3,236
15
581
1,635
Long-term network funding
0
-
 
-
-
-
-
Mentorship
4
9
2
9
0
0
0
Mobility Funding
63
136
2
 
0
0
0
Norden 0-30
5
137
27
335
1
50
9
Short-term network funding
3
60
20
118
1
20
10
Support for Artist Residencies
1
44
44
-
0
0
0
Volt
3
121
40
189
3
121
32
Total
96
1,174
12
3,923
20
771
1,686
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden.
Table A4 in the Appendix shows the grants allocated to applications with a Danish co-applicant. They are on average larger than for the projects with a main Danish applicant – €33,000 versus €12,200. The reason can be that there are more individual applications, such as smaller mobility grants, for projects with a Danish applicant, compared to projects with a Danish co-applicant, which per definition must include other partners. Most of the projects with a Danish co-applicant are within the Culture and Art Programme (35 approved applications), Norden 0-30 (19 approved applications), and short-term network funds (14 approved applications).  
Of the 76 approved projects with a Danish co-applicant, there are 61 projects (80%) that have applied for additional external funding. This additional applied funding sums up to €3.8 mil., which means that the funding approved by NCP amounts to 39% of the total funding applied for (it is not known if the additional external funding has been granted) and 53% of the total external funding for the 20 projects that applied for additional external funding.  
Table 3.9 shows the approved applications with a Danish main applicant divided by art form. Most approved applications are multidisciplinary (27 out of 96) within music (25 out of 96) and the performing arts (10 out of 96). The biggest average grant size is within literature, film and cultural heritage.
Table 3.9. NCP: Applications approved with a Danish main applicant, divided by art form, EUR 1,000, 2022.
Art form
No. approved
Amount approved
 
Average grant approved
Total budget (incl. own income)
No. add. external funding
Add. external funding
Cultural heritage
1
26
26
62
1
26
Film
2
73
36.5
204
2
101
Literature
1
68
68
206
0
-
Multidisciplinary
27
324
12
1,100
7
577
Music
25
201
8
1,373
4
790
Performing arts
24
1,257
52.4
207
2
6
Visual arts
10
168
16.8
399
3
177
Unknown
6
156
26.1
371
1
9
Total
96
1,174
12.2
3,923
20
1,686
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden.
Table A5 in the Appendix shows the same numbers for applications with a Danish co-applicant. In this case there are likewise a majority of multidisciplinary applications (31 out of 76), and many with unknown artform (22 out of 76). The second biggest recipient art form is music (10 out of 76).  
Table 3.10 digs into the additional external funding divided by funder. The average amount applied for from other external funders is EUR 84,300 for the 20 projects with a Danish main applicant, and EUR 49,800 for the 76 projects with a Danish co-applicant.
Nine out of the 96 funded projects from the NCP have a Danish main applicant; these also applied to NCF (it is not known, if the applications have been approved by NCF), and two out of the 76 approved projects with a Danish co-applicant applied to NCF. External funding from NCF covers 19% of the additional external funding applied for by projects with a Danish main applicant, and 20% of the additional funding applied for projects with a Danish co-applicant. 
Ten projects with a Danish main applicant have applied to national financiers, and 37 projects with a Danish co-applicant. It is obvious that The Danish Arts Foundation is a major player for the projects with a Danish main applicant, where seven out of 10 projects which have applied to national financiers have applied the Danish Arts Foundation, yet this is only the case for two out our 37 projects with a Danish co-applicant.
Twelve projects with a Danish main applicant have applied to a private foundation, and 24 projects with a Danish co-applicant. Examples of the Danish foundations to which projects with a Danish main applicant applied are A.P. Møller Fonden, Augustinus Fonden, Albani Fonden, Knud Højgaards Fond, Beckett Fonden and Luis-Hansen Fonden. These foundations are known as some of the biggest Danish private foundations supporting arts and Culture in Denmark. Concerning the 24 projects with a Danish co-applicant that have applied to a private foundation, most selected one of the other Nordic foundations on the list. Augustinus Fonden and Beckett Fonden are among the Danish foundations that have supported this category of projects. External funding from private foundations covers 25% of the additional external funding applied for by projects with a Danish main applicant, and 11% of the additional funding applied for by projects with a Danish co-applicant.
The EU is not an important co-financer. There is only one project with at Danish main applicant that applied for additional funding from the EU. This project applied to the LAG-SØM
LAG SØM supports business development and the development of attractive living conditions: https://lag-soem.dk/
 programme. There are four projects with a Danish co-applicant that applied for EU co-funding, and they applied for, e.g., Erasmus+ funding or to the Ulysses Programme. External funding from the EU (applied) covers therefore only 2% of the additional external funding applied for by projects with a Danish main applicant, and 3% of the additional funding applied for by projects with a Danish co-applicant. 
Table 3.10. NCP: External funding divided by funder (excl. NCP), EUR 1,000, 2022.
 
Danish main applicant
Danish co-applicant
External funder
No. of projects applied
Total amount applied
Share of add. external funding
No. applied
Total amount applied
Share of add. external funding
National financiers (Nordic)
(Hereof The Danish Arts Foundation)
10
(7)
377 
(205)
22
37 
2
1,081
(108)
29
Private foundations
12
428
25
24
420
11
Municipalities/regional financiers
10
223
13
26
461
12
NCF
9
326
19
32
744
20
EU
1
40
2
4
138
4
Others
9
291
17
40
938
25
Total
51* (20)
1,686
100
163* (76)
3,782
100
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden. *) The total number of projects that have applied to the different funders are bigger than the total number of projects with external funding (in parentheses), since a project can apply several different financers.
Table 3.11 shows the seven projects with a main Danish applicant and the two projects with a Danish co-applicant that have applied for additional funding from the Danish Arts Foundation. It shows that the average amount applied for from the Danish Arts Foundation is €29,700 for projects with a Danish main applicant and €54,000 for projects with a Danish co-applicant. The majority (2/3) of these projects are in the multidisciplinary category.
Table 3.11. NCP: Co-funding applied at the Danish Arts Foundation, DKK 1,000, 2022.
 
Danish main applicant
Danish co-applicant
Art form
No. applied
Total amount applied
Average amount applied
No. applied
Total amount applied
Average amount applied
Multidisciplinary
4
114,4
28,6
2
108
54
Music
1
67,2
67,2
0
-
-
Visual arts
2
23,4
11,7
0
-
-
Total
7
204,9
29,7
2
108
54
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden.

3.3.2 Nordic Culture Fund (NCF)

Table 3.12 shows that NCF had in total 1,456 applications of which 292 were from Danish main applicants. Ninety-one of these projects were approved. The total amount approved for the 91 Danish projects was €1.5 mil., equal to around €16,300 on average per grant.
There were 79 approved applications with a Danish co-applicant, which were granted in total €1.1 mil., with an average grant of about €14,000. 
Table 3.12. Applications and grants approved from NCF (EUR 1,000), 2022.
 
NCF All
NCF
Danish main applicant
NCF
Danish
co-applicant
No. of applications
1,456
417
263
Applications approved
292
91
79
Amount applied
32,435
7,685
5,456
Amount approved
4,598
1,486
1,112
Share allocated to Danish projects of the total amount approved by NCF (all projects)
 
 
32%
 
24%
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden.
In the following the projects with a Danish main applicant or a Danish co-applicant will be analysed in further detail. Only the approved projects will be included in the analysis.
NCF runs and administers several programmes, which are described in Chapter 2. The applications and approved amounts to the different programmes that NCF runs can be seen in Table 3.13 for projects with a main applicant from Denmark. Of the 91 approved projects with a Danish main applicant, there are 60 projects (2/3) that have applied for additional external funding. This additional applied funding sums up to €3.2 mil., which means that the funding approved by NCP amount to 32% of the total funding applied for (it is not known if the additional external funding has been granted), and 55% of the total external funding for the 60 projects that have applied for additional external funding.
Table 3.13. NCF: Applications approved with a Danish main applicant, divided by programme, EUR 1,000, 2022.
Programme
No. approved
Amount approved
 
Average grant approved
Total budget (incl. own income)
No. add. external funding
Amount approved (60 projects with ext. funding)
Add. external funding
Globus
4
204
51
1,537
4
203
764
Upstart
27
86
3
233
12
39
71
Project support
33
694
21
4,926
32
667
2,152
Puls 2021-22
13
167
13
503
5
46
51
Development support
6
289
48
546
3
231
132
NCF Secretariat
8
46
6
110
4
21
52
Total
91
1,486
16
7,855
60
1,207
3,223
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden.
Table A6 in the Appendix shows that the grants allocated to applications with a Danish co-applicant are on average a bit smaller in terms of the average grant size approved by NCF – on average DKK 14,000 versus €16,000. Of the 79 approved projects with a Danish co-applicant there are 59 projects (75%) which have applied for additional external funding. This additional applied funding sums up to €3.9 mil., which means that the funding approved by NCF amount to 22% of the total funding applied for (it is not known if the additional external funding has been granted). 
Table 3.14 shows the approved applications with a Danish main applicant divided by art form. Most grants (33 out of 91) are in the category “other”. Of the labelled art forms, most projects approved came from the performing arts (13 out of 91) and music (12 out of 91). The biggest average grants are given in the “unknown” category, followed by visual arts (€16,800 on average) and architecture, crafts and design (€13,800).
Table 3.14. NCF: Applications approved with a Danish main applicant, divided by art form, EUR 1,000, 2022.
Art form
No. approved
Amount approved
 
Average grant approved
Total budget
No. with add. external funding
Add. external funding
Music
12
123,7
10,3
1,019
12
331
Film
5
36,7
7,3
156
3
50
Visual arts
9
150,8
16,8
962
7
607
Cultural heritage
0
-
-
-
-
-
Literature
4
46,9
11,7
327
2
148
Performing arts
13
165,3
12,7
739
8
472
Architecture, crafts and design
5
69,0
13,8
253
4
107
Other
33
400,3
12,1
2,316
17
612
Unknown
10
492,8
49,3
2,083
7
897
Total
91
1,485,5
16,3
7,855
60
3,223
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden.
Table A7 in the Appendix shows the same numbers for approved applications with a Danish co-applicant. Most applications are approved within the performing arts (20 out of 79), except for the applications labelled “other” (24 out of 79). Music is the third largest with 12 approved applications. The average size of the grants is biggest for Film, Cultural Heritage and Music.
Table 3.15. NCF: External funding divided by funder (excl. NCF), EUR 1,000, 2022
 
Danish main applicant
Danish co-applicant
External funder
No. of projects applied
Total  amount applied
Share of add. external funding
No. applied
Total amount applied
Share of add. external funding
National financiers (Nordic)
(Hereof The Danish Arts Foundation)
33 
(23)
503 
(371)
16%
33
(3)
1,665
(24)
43%
Private foundations
31
1,446
45%
22
297
8%
Municipalities/regional financiers
19
269
8%
29
566
15%
NCP
12
444
14%
18
656
17%
EU
1
40
1%
0
-
-
Others
29
520
16%
31
677
18%
Total
125*(60)
3,223
100%
133* (59)
3,861
100%
* The total number of projects that have applied to the different funders are bigger than the total number of projects with external funding (in parentheses), since a project can apply to several different financers.
Source: Dataset provided Kulturanalys Norden.
Table 3.15 digs into the additional external funding divided by funder. The average amount applied for from other external funders is EUR 53,700 for the 60 projects with a Danish main applicant, and EUR 67,100 for the 59 projects with a Danish co-applicant.
Twelve out of the 91 funded projects with a Danish main applicant also applied to NCP (it is not known if the applications have been approved by NCP), and 18 of the 79 approved projects with a Danish co-applicant also applied to NCP. External funding from NCP covers 14% of the additional external funding applied for by projects with a Danish main applicant, and 17% of the additional funding applied for by projects with a Danish co-applicant.   
Thirty-three projects with a Danish main applicant have applied to national financiers, as did 33 projects with a Danish co-applicant. It is obvious that The Danish Arts Foundation is a major player for the projects with a Danish main applicant, where 23 out of 33 projects that have applied to national financiers have applied to the Danish Arts Foundation, while this is only the case for three out of 33 projects with a Danish co-applicant. 
Thirty-one projects have applied to a private foundation, including 22 projects with a Danish co-applicant. Examples of Danish foundations applied to by projects with a Danish main applicant are more or less the same as for NCP, namely some of the biggest and well-known private foundations, which mainly support arts and culture: A.P. Møller Fonden, Augustinus Fonden, Det Obelske Familiefond, Bikubenfonden, Knud Højgaards Fond, Nordea Fonden, Ny Carlsbergfondet, Tuborgfondet, Wilhelm Hansen Fonden og Beckett Fonden. These foundations are well known as the biggest Danish private foundations supporting arts and culture in Denmark. Concerning the 22 projects with a Danish co-applicant that have applied to a private foundation, there are mostly other Nordic foundations on the list. Augustinus Fonden and Beckett Fonden are among the Danish foundations that have supported this category of project. External funding from private foundations covers 45% of the additional external funding applied for by projects with a Danish main applicant, and only 8% of the additional funding applied for by projects with a Danish co-applicant.   
The EU is not an important co-financer. There is only one project with a Danish main applicant that applied for additional funding from the EU. This project applied to the LAG-SØM programme. Moreover, there are no projects with a Danish co-applicant that applied for EU co-funding. External funding from the EU (applied) covers therefore only 1% of the additional external funding applied for by projects with a Danish main applicant.
Table 3.16. NCF: Co-funding applied at the Danish Arts Foundation, EUR 1,000, 2022.
 
Danish main applicant
Danish co-applicant
Art form
No. applied
Total amount applied
Average amount applied
No. applied
Total amount applied
Average amount applied
Music
4
28,8
7,2
0
-
-
Film
0
-
-
0
-
-
Visual arts
4
54,5
13,6
1
2
2
Cultural heritage
0
-
-
1
12
12
Literature
1
8,8
8,8
0
-
-
Performing arts
3
89,1
29,7
1
10
10
Architecture, crafts and design
3
40,2
13,4
 
-
-
Other
6
60,2
10
0
-
-
Unknown
2
89,1
44,6
0
-
-
Total
23
370,9
16,1
3
24
8
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden.
Table 3.16 shows the 23 projects with a main Danish applicant, and the three projects with a Danish co-applicant, that have applied for additional funding from the Danish Arts Foundation. It shows that the average amount applied for from the Danish Arts Foundation is €16,100 for projects with a Danish main applicant and €8,000 for projects with a Danish co-applicant.

3.4 Conclusion

The research questions posed in the introduction will be answered here based on the analysis in section 3.

1) How important is the Nordic funding from NCP and the NCF in the Danish national context?

The total public funding for arts and culture in Denmark sums up to €2.6 billion, of which the funding from the state makes up 63%, where 33% are funded by the municipalities and 3% by the national lottery funds. However, the majority of the funding is used to cover the operating expenses of cultural institutions.
To make a comparison with the Nordic funding from NCP and the NCF, it is more relevant to focus on the free funds available aimed at and open for applications from individual artists and artistic organisations – not on the public support covering the operating expenses of cultural institutions. For the municipalities, it is unfortunately not possible to separate the free funds from the rest of public support. Therefore, the comparison has been narrowed down to free funds available from the Danish Arts Foundation, which is the main national support scheme for individual artists and projects, and the funds from private foundations.
Table 3.17 shows that the Nordic funds NCP and the NCF have in total allocated €6.3 mil. to projects with a Danish main or co-applicant (this is not only the amount allocated to the Danish applicants, but to the project as such). This can be compared with the allocation for funds from The Danish Arts Foundation, which amounts to €74 mil.
The private foundations in Denmark, however, provide the majority of the free funding in Denmark, available for the cultural sector, based on applications, as they provide about €324 mil.
Table 3.17. Approved projects by Danish private foundations, The Danish Arts Foundation and the Nordic funds (NCP+NCF), divided by art forms, EUR 1,000, 2022.
Art form
Private Foundations
(1,000 EUR)
Private Foundations
(percent)
Danish Arts Foundation
(1,000 EUR)
Danish Arts Foundation
(percent)
NCP and the NCF
Danish main or co- applicant
(1,000 EUR)
NCP and the NCF
Danish main or co-applicant
(percent)
Music
77,882
24
30,741*
44.5
818
13.0
Performing arts
15,001
20.8
831
13.2
Cultural heritage
165,684
51
-
-
84
1.3
Visual arts
46,515
 14
10,192
13.7
504
8.0
Crafts and design
260
3.6
 153
 2.4
Architecture
1,210
1.6
Film
 9,785
 3
570
0.8
248
3.9
Literature
7,302
9.8
124
2.0
Libraries
-
-
-
-
Multidisciplinary
-
-
-
-
1,400
22.2
Transvers
-
-
3,867
5.1
-
-
Other
24,263
7
-
-
2,132
33.9
Total
324,397
100
74,446
100
6,292
100
* Includes Music/​Drama
Sources: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Noren, The Danish Arts Foundation and Fondenes Videnscenter (2023).

2) How are funds from the national and Nordic support schemes to different art forms allocated? Do the funding schemes complement or overlap in terms of focus on art forms?

Table 3.17 summarises how the funds from the different support schemes are allocated to different art forms. The Nordic funds from NCP and the NCF with a Danish main or co-applicant are mainly allocated to multidisciplinary and other projects (56%), while music and the performing arts receive in total 26.2% of these funds.
The Danish Arts Foundation allocates the majority of its funds to music (44.5%) and performing arts (20.8%), which means that 2/3 of the funds are allocated to these art forms. Visual arts (13.7%) and literature (9.8%) are the third and fourth biggest receivers for these funds. Transvers projects only receive (5%). The private foundations mainly support cultural heritage, but they likewise allocate a big share to music and performing arts as well as to “visual arts, architecture, crafts and design”.
In this way, there seems to be a kind of division of labour between the funding schemes. While the Nordic funding is primarily focused on multidisciplinary projects, the Danish Arts Foundation mainly focuses on traditional art forms, primarily music and performing arts, while the top priority of the private foundations is cultural heritage projects.

3) What is the interplay between the Nordic funders and the national and international funders in terms of co-funding?

Table 3.18 summarises the patterns in terms of co-funding from other external funders for the projects that have been approved by NCP and the NCF. What other kinds of support schemes have the approved projects applied for at the national, Nordic, and EU levels, and how big is the co-funding applied for compared to the Nordic funding granted?
National financiers are very important as co-financers, especially for projects with a Danish co-applicant, and private foundations are especially important for projects with a Danish main applicant. Funding from municipalities / regional financiers accounts for 10–13% of the external funding, and support from the EU is without any significant importance. 
Table 3.18 shows that NCP and the NCF have in total supported projects with a main Danish applicant with €2.7 mil., and projects with a Danish co-applicant have been supported with a total amount of €3.6 mil. The funding from NCP and NFC amounts to about 35% (Danish main applicants) and 32% (Danish co-applicants) of the total external funding all these projects have applied for. It is not known if the additional external funding applied for has been granted. Furthermore, this is the share for all the projects. If only the projects that have applied for other external funding were included, then the share of Nordic funding to additional external funding would of course be bigger, namely 55% for both NCP and the NCF.
Table 3.18. External funding applied for divided by funder, NCP and NCF approved projects, EUR 1,000, 2022.
 
Danish main applicant
Danish co-applicant
External funder
Total amount applied
EUR 1,000
Share of add. external funding
Total amount applied
EUR 1,000
Share of add. external funding
National financiers (Nordic)
(Hereof The Danish Arts Foundation)
882 
(577)
17.9
(11.7)
2,751 
(132)
35.9
(1.7)
Private fundations
1,877
38.2
720
9.3
Municipalities/regional financiers
493
10.0
1,030
13.4
NCP/NFC
772
15.7
1,404
18.2
EU
81
1.6
138
1.8
Others
813
16.5
1,620
21.1
Total
4,918
100
7,663
100
Approved by NCP/NCF
2,666
35%
3,627
32%
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden.
Some of the projects approved by NCP and the NCF have also applied for funding from other funds (NCP or NCF), and therefore, if this funding is granted by the other fund in the same year, it can lead to double counting for these projects. The additional funding applied for from NCP and the NCF account for 15.7% (Danish main applicants) and 18.2% (Danish co-applicants) of the additional external funding applied for.  

4) How does the Nordic funding contribute to Nordic collaboration?

A way to study how the Nordic funding schemes contribute to Nordic collaboration is to analyse the differences between projects with a Danish main applicant and a Danish co-applicant by investigating the differences in terms of patterns concerning additional external funding applied for. 
It turns out that there are some interesting differences. For projects with a Danish main applicant, “only” 17.9% of the additional external funding has been applied for from national financers. Most of this funding has been applied for from the Danish Arts Foundation (11.7%), which constitutes 65% of the external funding by national Nordic financers.  Concerning projects with a Danish co-applicant, national financers account for most of the additional external funding (35.9%), but the Danish Arts Foundation is not important for these projects. In this case the national funding comes from other financiers in the other Nordic countries.
For projects with a Danish main applicant, the private foundations stand for 38.2% of the additional external funding applied for. This pattern mirrors the funding system for arts and culture in Denmark, where the private foundations are the biggest player when it comes to free funds available for applications. For projects with a Danish co-applicant, the private foundations “only” account for 9.3% of the additional external funding applied for. Several conclusions can be drawn from these findings.
Firstly, it can be concluded that the Nordic funds and the national funding system in Denmark are well integrated when it comes to applications with a main Danish applicant. The private foundations, which are the most important source of funding in Denmark when it comes to “free” funding available for applications, are the main external funding sources for projects with a Danish main applicant. Furthermore, the Danish Arts Foundation, the biggest public foundation open for applications, amounts to 65% of the national funds applied for. It means that when a Danish applicant is “driving” the application to NCP or the NCF as the main applicant, the additional external funding is applied for from Danish financiers, which mirror the Danish support system.
Secondly, for projects with a Danish co-applicant, we do not see the Danish funding system mirrored to the same degree. The private foundations are much less important, and the Danish Arts Foundation is without importance. However, the case may be the same, namely that the main applicant (which is from one of the other Nordic countries) is likewise drawing on its own national support system.
If that is the case (which it probably is), all the projects will draw on financial sources in their home country, and the Nordic funding systems (NCP and the NCF) will contribute with added Nordic value in the sense that these funding systems will draw on national funding systems and add value in and for Nordic collaboration.

References

Bille, Trine (2022): Where do we stand today? An essay on cultural policy in Denmark, In: Sokka, S. (ed.), Cultural policy in the Nordic welfare states: Aims and functions of public funding for culture. Nordic Council of Ministers, pp. 20-40.
Fondenes Videnscenter (2023). Fondenes bevillinger til kulturelle formål 2017-2021.

Appendix, chapter 3

Table A1. The Danish Arts Foundation, individual grants (legatudvalg), DKK 1,000, 2022.
 
Total sum
Average
grant
Minimum grant
Maximum grant
No. of grants
No. of applicants
Architecture (incl. projects)
9,024
49
3.7
500
185
405
Visual arts
30,952
106
7
1,000
293
1,226
Film
4,253
87
5
200
49
307
Crafts and design
11,950
62
20
855
192
591
Literature
31,680
110
50
855
288
893
Music
17,659
43
5
855
411
1,354
Performing arts
3,900
108
50
200
36
185
Total (DKK 1,000)
109,418
 
 
 
1,454
4,961
Total (EUR 1,000)
14,667
 
 
 
1,454
4,961
Source: The Danish Arts Foundation.
Table A2. The Danish Arts Foundation, project grants, DKK 1,000, 2022.
 
Total sum
Average
grant
Minimum grant
Maximum grant
No. of grants
No. of applicants
Music/drama
13,199
243
13
2,000
52
172
Visual arts
45,077
49
2
3,150
916
1,772
Crafts and design
7,991
41
5
320
194
530
Literature
22,790
13
1.5
500
1,703
2,676
Music
216,132
279
4
24,884
773
1,332
Performing arts
111,910
336
5
4,500
333
916
Total (DKK 1,000)
417,099
 
 
 
3,917
7,398
Total (EUR 1,000)
55,911
 
 
 
3,917
7,398
Source: The Danish Arts Foundation.
Table A3. The Danish Arts Foundation, transvers grants, DKK 1,000, 2022.
 
Total sum
Average
grant
Minimum grant
Maximum grant
No. of grants
No. of applicants
Journal support
3,653
56
10
178
65
74
The young elite
3,927
327
200
400
12
104
Dream stipends
390
10
10
10
39
43
Artists
in-house
20,878
133
10
1,000
184
305
Total (DKK 1,000)
28,848
 
 
 
300
526
Total (DKK 1,000)
3,867
 
 
 
300
526
Source: The Danish Arts Foundation.
Tabel A4. NCP: Applications approved with a Danish co-applicant, divided by program, EUR 1,000, 2022.
Program
No. approved
Amount approved
NCP
Average grant
Total budget
No. with add. external funding
Amount approved (61 projects with ext. funding)
Add. external funding
Demos
2
30
15
48
0
0
-
Culture and Art Programme
35
1,226
35
5,228
33
1,212
3,016
Long-term network funding
2
147
74
340
2
147
53
Mentorship
0
-
-
-
-
-
-
Mobility Funding
0
-
-
-
-
-
-
Norden 0-30
19
679
36
1,502
12
509
392
Short-term network funding
14
266
19
554
11
208
166
Support for Artist Residencies
0
-
-
-
-
-
-
Volt
4
154
39
506
3
109
156
Total
76
2,501
33
8,179
61
2,184
3,782
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden.
Table A5. NCP: Applications approved with a Danish co-applicant, divided by art form, EUR 1,000, 2022.
Art form
No. approved
Amount approved
 
Average grant approved
Total budget (incl. own income)
No. add. external funding
Add. external funding
Cultural heritage
0
-
-
-
-
-
Film
1
15
15
22
1
2.
Literature
0
-
-
-
-
-
Multidisciplinary
31
1,069
35
3,640
28
1,883
Music
10
264
26
1,059
8
547
Performing arts
7
285
41
1,341
6
637
Visual arts
6
110
18
499
5
311
Unknown
22
759
35
1,618
13
402
Total
76
2,501
33
8,179
61
3,782
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden.
Table A6. NCF: Applications approved with a Danish co-applicant, divided by program, 1,000, 2022.
Programme
No. approved
Amount approved
 
Average grant approved
Total budget (incl. own income)
No. add. external funding
Amount approved (59 projects with ext. funding)
Add. external funding
Globus
1
3,4
3,4
3,4
0
-
-
Upstart
21
69
3,3
183
12
39,3
94
Project support
44
887
20,1
6,693
41
821,7
3,694
Puls 2021-22
11
143
13
417
6
89,8
73
Development support
0
-
-
-
-
-
-
NCF Secretariat
1
10
10
12
0
-
-
Total
79
1112
14
7,309
59
950,8
3,861
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden.
Table A7. NCF: Applications approved with a Danish co-applicant, divided by art form, EUR 1,000, 2022.
Art form
No. approved
Amount approved
 
Average grant approved
Total budget
No. add. external funding
Add. external funding
Music
12
226
18,8
1,083
9
554
Film
6
123
20,5
1,390
6
959
Visual arts
6
83
13,8
371
5
175
Cultural heritage
3
58
19,3
520
3
192
Literature
2
8
4
15
1
1
Performing arts
20
211
10,6
2,115
15
169
Architecture, crafts and design
6
84
14
528
5
1,255
Other
24
318
13,2
1,278
15
555
Total
79
1,112
14
7,309
59
3,861
Source: Dataset provided by Kulturanalys Norden.
Nordic Council of Ministers I www.norden.org/publications I pub@norden.org