Questions and answers

Your application must be submitted at the latest by 15:59 Finnish time on the last application date using  the electronic application system. If you live in another time zone, please check the time that applies to you. Nordic Culture Point will not accept late applications.

We recommend that all the project’s costs are collated into one application to Nordic Culture Point. For example, all travel costs can be included in the application to the Art and Culture Programme.

It is possible to apply for funding from other pan-Nordic institutions and organisations for the same project.

If you are considering applying for funding from several organisations within the umbrella of official Nordic co-operation, the total applied amount from us and other Nordic organisations may not exceed 85% of the budget.

You can apply for funding via both Nordic Culture Point and the Nordic Culture Fund for the same project. Be careful to target your application at the specific funding you are applying for.

No. All decisions are made by the Expert Groups, and the grant decision or refusal notifications are sent to all applicants at the same time after the Expert decision meeting.

This can differ slightly from programme to programme. You can usually expect that the maximum duration is the remainder of the year in which you are granted funding plus the two subsequent calendar years unless the programme limits this to a shorter period.

It is your current country of residence that will be considered, not your nationality. For example, an applicant who is a Norwegian citizen but who lives in Germany, will not be considered as Nordic. However, a German citizen will be considered as Nordic if they reside in a Nordic country.

Nordic Culture Point offers two networking platforms:

• The Nordic Culture Point – Networking Platform Facebook group is aimed at professionals working in the field of art and culture in the Nordic and Baltic countries.
• On Discord, you can find Nordic Culture Point on the Nordic Culture Point Network server. Here you can introduce yourself in the open text channel or go straight to one of the channels for the specific funding programmes in order to find partners.

Absolutely! In the context of our funding programmes, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Åland constitute Nordic countries and can initiate or be a part of projects just like the other five Nordic countries.

For the Culture and Art Programme, the Norden 0–30 Programme and Volt application forms are available in Swedish and English. You can also complete the application in Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Icelandic, Faeroese or Greenlandic.

For the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture (Mobility funding, Network funding and Funding for artist residencies) the application forms is available only in English and the application must be submitted in English.

You should apply for network funding when you intend to develop new collaborations, and exchange experiences and knowledge with other actors within the fields of art and culture over an extended period of time.

When you plan a single seminar, conference or workshop that is also open to a broader audience than just the partners in a network, you should apply for funding from the Culture and Art Programme.

These three areas are so-called horizontal perspectives and are part of the strategy of the Nordic Council of Minister’s. They are not formally considered as criteria, but primarily a way for us to measure the inclusion of these perspectives in Nordic and Baltic co-operation projects.

In relation to the work of the expert group, each individual expert has a responsibility to be aware of conflicts of interest. An expert may not take part in the processing of an application if they have a significant personal interest in the matter or their participation in the assessment process would give them multiple roles.

For example, an expert cannot be involved in the assessment of an application submitted by the same organisation that the expert in question represents.

Nordic Culture Point follows the Nordic Council of Ministers’ rules on disqualification.

Yes, the Nordic Council of Ministers’ funding programmes are considered to be a form of state aid. The total amount of state aid per recipient must not exceed EUR 300,000 over a period of three years.

The decisive factor is whether the organisation carries out economic activities for the purpose of offering goods or services in a certain market.  Even non-profit or public organisations such as associations, innovation intermediaries, municipal development companies, as well as organisations operating within the voluntary sector are thus covered by the EU rules on state aid and the de minimis regulations, if they carry out economic activities and if the other criteria for state aid are met.

The funding recipient is responsible that the total amount of the de minimis aid from different funding providers does not exceed the aforementioned amount. During the application process, the applicant must report how much state aid has been received during the last two years. The contribution from the current funding programme will not be granted if the total sum for state aid exceeds EUR 300,000 during the year in which the grant is given and the two previous years.

The general rule for the budget is that income and expenses need to be balanced. In addition, all expenses stated in the budget should be necessary in order to implement the project. All amounts must be specified in euro.

We advise using the budget template that can be found on the programme specific pages. This will help you to make clear the expenses that our funding will be used for. Please note, that your application might be rejected if the budget fails to provide the information asked for.

In-kind financing refers to the value of the goods or services that are included in the project’s funding as if they had a monetary value. This can be voluntary work, for example.

Calculations of working hours should be specified in the application’s budget and the amount must be deemed reasonable for implementation of the project.

In-kind income must be balanced with corresponding expenses.

No. Nordic Culture Point does not fund projects retroactively. Project activities may start only once a decision on the application has been made and the applicant has been notified. This will take around eight to ten weeks after the deadline. You can see the earliest start date for your project in the application form.

In certain circumstances the programmes may award funding for the applicant’s administrative and payroll expenses. This requires that the expenses be directly linked to the project and be necessary for the implementation of the project. Administrative expenses should be specified in the budget attachment.

Funding is not granted for overheads, operating expenses for ordinary operations and recurring events.

Considerable weight is attached to the project’s Nordic dimension when the experts review the applications. Accordingly, at least the minimum requirement of the geographic distribution of the participants must be included in the application. The collaboration will also be assessed in terms of its relevance for the participants.

Although the project may have commercial potential, you cannot apply for funding in order to generate a profit. Any profit must be returned following the submission of the final report.

Clearly define your target groups and what you want to achieve with your project communication to your target groups. Are you wanting a change in attitudes or behaviours? To raise awareness? To spread new ideas and art forms? Or to encourage critical thinking?

What are you going to do to achieve your goals for each target group? Describe the activities you’re planning and the channels that support your communication objectives.

You can download logos and get tips on how to mention your financiers in your project communications on the Project communications page.

If you need to make changes to the project’s budget, schedule or content, you must ask Nordic Culture Point to approve any such changes before you make them. Describe the changes and send them to us using the correspondence function in your user account, and we will respond to your enquiry as soon as we can.

When you log into your profile, you’ll see the grant under your “current applications”. Click on “Requisition” in order to accept the contract and submit your bank details. Once the Nordic Culture Point has accepted the request, you will receive a notification. The first instalment of the grant will be paid approximately two weeks after approval.

Nordic Culture Point has introduced from 2021 onwards a bank verification system regarding the payment of grants. We require this documentation to make sure the grant is paid to a correct recipient. The receiver of a grant will have contact their bank to obtain a Bank Verification Letter that is uploaded in pdf format through the application portal when submitting the requisition.

Bank verification letter should contain following information:

The recipient’s name, address, person/organization number and bank account including IBAN and BIC.

The bank’s name, address, and person/organization number

Contact person at the bank if we need to get in contact with the bank

Issuing date

The letter must be signed or stamped by the bank.

The document must be written in English or Scandinavian and it must be submitted as a pdf file when requesting the first instalment to be paid.

Please note that if you change your bank account you will need to verify the new account with a new bank verification letter.

For amounts up to 30,000 euro, 85 percent of the funding will be paid in the first instalment. Following the approval of the final report, the remaining 15 percent of the funding will be paid.

For amounts exceeding 30,000 euro, 45 percent of the funding will be paid in the first instalment. Following the approval of the status report, the next 40 percent of the funding will be paid. Following the approval of the final report, the final 15 percent of the funding will be paid.

When you believe your project has reached its halfway point, you must submit a report on the status of the project. The status report form can be found in the applicant portal.

When you log into your user account, you will find a blue box next to the grant in question with the text “Requisition”. Click on the box to proceed.

We want to see a final overview of income and expenses. You must include the entirety of Nordic Culture Point’s funding even if the remaining instalment has yet to be paid. If, for example, you have used our budget appendix you can add an extra column with actual amounts.

For funding exceeding 30,000 euro, the accounts should be certified by a qualified/authorised public accountant. The accounting requirements can be found here.

For Mobility funding you do not have to submit a specific accounts appendix as fixed-sum grants are awarded and reported accordingly.

No, but you must keep them for five years and be prepared to submit them in the event of a spot check. Nordic Culture Point carries out a number of spot checks on final reports each year.

The final instalment of the funding will be paid within two weeks of approval of the final report.

You can apply for extension to the deadline in the applicant portal. Send us a message using the correspondence function in your applicant profile and explain why you need to postpone the report. Your enquiry will be dealt with as soon as possible.

Different programmes allow for different applicant profiles. The options are: an individual, a working groups, or an organisation.

When funding is granted to an individual, they are personally responsible for the funding and reporting on it. The funding can affect the individual’s own taxation. Contact the tax authorities in your own country to find out what applies to you.

In this context, organisations are understood to mean any kind of registered organisation from the first, second, and third sectors. In other words, public, private, and civil society organisations. Initiatives that are granted funding must not make a profit. If the project ends with an economic surplus, our share of it will be recovered.

As of 2025, every application must have a lead recipient, either a person or an organisation. This means that you can no longer apply as a working group. The change simplifies the application process both practically and legally.

Although you can still apply for funding for the whole group, the application must be submitted via a personal account belonging to one of the group members. That person then becomes responsible for the application and any funding granted.

If you previously had an account as a workgroup, you will need to create a new account in the name of the person making the application.

You can request a new password or check your username by using the ‘Forgot username/password’ function on the login page.

You will receive an e-mail with a link to reset your password. If you do not receive the link by e-mail you should first check your spam folder. If you still haven’t received the e-mail, get in touch with one of our grants advisors.

If you want to change your password later, you can do this in user account.

The names of all members of a work group must be specified when registering the group in the application portal. Once the profile has been created, you cannot edit the composition of the group. Please contact the advisor who is responsible for the specific grant programme you are applying for.

When you create a user profile, we ask you to choose whether you want to be registered as a group, organisation or individual. The selection will determine the programmes that you can apply for. You cannot change the applicant type later. If you previously created an individual account, but now want to apply on behalf of an organisation, you will need to create a new account for that project.

All programmes will open for applications approximately one month before each deadline. Once the application period ends, the application round will no longer be visible in the portal.

You can create multiple profiles with the same e-mail address, so make sure you’ve logged in with the correct username. An overview of all usernames linked to your e-mail address can be sent to you by clicking on “Forgot username” in the application portal and entering your e-mail address.

If you have more questions, please feel free to contact our programme advisers using the correspondence function in your user account in the applicant portal. Alternatively, you can find our contact details on our website.