Please note: the Samenwerking & Schaalvoordelen subsidy will close on 1 May 2025.

What is the Samenwerking & Schaalvoordelen subsidy?

More certainty around work and income results in structural costs. Think of the costs of education, a pension provision, and a disability provision. By working together with other self-employed individuals, you can cope with these investments. Collaboration can lead to economies of scale and cost savings. Self-employed individuals in the cultural and creative sector can apply for a financial contribution via this website to explore the possibilities of organizational collaboration with other self-employed individuals. When that collaboration has taken concrete shape, a second financial contribution is available.

Examples of organizational collaboration initiatives that lead to joint development and joint economies of scale may include:

• Artists/makers who coordinate activities to attract a wider audience and achieve greater impact and reach on the arts and urban climate.
• Artists/makers who rent a studio together.
• Artists/makers who explore how they can make better use of their studio together, for example, by continuing as an association that offers memberships and can receive donations.
• Art teachers who jointly develop (and provide) an art education program for secondary education.
• Artists/makers who set up a BV together in order to be able to take on larger projects.
• Artists/creators who jointly conduct market research into the potential of setting up an online platform for a specific target group in the cultural and creative sector.
• Artists/makers who want to explore the possibility of (partly) setting up their business activity abroad. Example: two Dutch musicians who want to make music together in Germany.

Apply now

Based on the rulebook, you can easily determine whether you are eligible for a financial contribution as a self-employed person. In short, you can submit an application if you want to collaborate as a self-employed person with another self-employed person within or outside the cultural and creative sector, with the aim of reducing your costs. This must involve an organizational collaboration (and therefore not so much a substantive collaboration) that results in joint development and joint economies of scale. The applicant must be active in the cultural and creative sector. 

Please note: client-contractor relationships are not eligible for the subsidy. 

What does Oog voor Impuls offer?

1. Exploratory contribution

The Exploratory Contribution can be requested via the website and is intended to investigate the possibilities of a collaboration. The Exploratory Contribution is a maximum of € 5,000 (incl. VAT) and is based on a Collaboration Plan. The Exploratory Contribution covers the costs of, for example, hiring an advisor or organizing meetings. In short, the Exploratory Contribution offers the opportunity to investigate whether the intended collaboration is feasible and leads to economies of scale before the collaboration actually starts.

Additional information on the collaboration plan: Describe in the collaboration plan how the collaboration can be shaped in order to demonstrably create economies of scale and bring about a businesslike approach to your plans. Indicate how you intend to investigate what the economies of scale are and how to achieve them. The costs you incur for this (excluding travel expenses), as well as your own hours (for a maximum amount of 50 euros excl. VAT), can be entered for this, for example. Purchasing materials and equipment is not covered by the subsidy, but investigating the possibilities for this is. A pxq justification is still required to substantiate the costs (e.g., price times the number of hours) per cost item.

2. Incentive contribution

The Incentive Contribution can be requested by email when the collaboration has taken concrete and structural form and when the exploration phase has shown that it yields the desired economies of scale. Instructions about this can be found in the email that the applicant received when the Exploratory Contribution was approved. The Incentive Contribution is 0.5% of the turnover of the collaborating self-employed individuals with a maximum of € 2,500 (incl. VAT). The Incentive Contribution is paid out after 1 year of collaboration. The collaboration must be recorded in a contract or a collaboration agreement. Good to know: Has the exploration phase shown that the intended collaboration is not feasible or does not lead to the desired economies of scale and that no collaboration is realized? Then no claim can be made for the Incentive Contribution. The Exploratory Contribution that was previously awarded does not, of course, have to be repaid. After all, it was used to conduct preliminary research. 

Before you apply, read the rulebook carefully. Make sure you have PDF versions of the Collaboration Plan and a KVK extract on hand.

Contact

The substantive assessment of the submitted applications is carried out in collaboration with the knowledge and service center CAOP. CAOP supports the applicant in refining the collaboration plan and provides financial and administrative expertise. Do you have a question about submitting an application or the collaboration plan, or would you simply like to exchange ideas about the collaboration you have in mind? Please contact CAOP at +31 (0)6 572 111 70 (available Monday to Thursday between 09:00 and 17:00). If there is no answer, you can also contact CAOP at +31 (0)6 225 975 02.