The most important key points
Topic / section
Region
Entry / entry deadline
all year round
Funding type
Financial support (usually CHF 2'000 to CHF 15'000)
Financial support for the development of artistic ideas
The creative process starts with ideation: artistic ideas and concepts begin to crystallise, research is carried out, plans are specified, discussions are held, experiments are ventured, ideas are discarded or developed further.
Migros Culture Percentage supports project ideas in their development phase, even if no concrete result is yet known.
The conclusion of the ideation phase is not an artistic product. Rather, it leads to insights and concepts that lay the foundation for the quality of the subsequent artistic production.
Requirements
- The funding programme is open to creative artists and organisations that support and disseminate culture in the fields of visual arts, comics, film, jazz, classical music, cabaret, literature, pop, digital culture, dance and theatre.
- Both Swiss nationals and foreign nationals living in Switzerland can apply for support for their projects.
- Applicants may be based abroad but must be actively involved in shaping cultural life in Switzerland.
- The ideation project must be carried out predominantly in Switzerland.
- The project submitted has not yet been finalised at the time of application and takes place within a clearly defined and limited period of time (max. 1 year).
- Each applicant or institution may only apply for support once per year and per funding body (except production companies).
- The project must demonstrate a need for financing that cannot be covered by the public sector and/or include activities that are not part of a performance agreement.
- The application relates exclusively to the ideation phase and includes a budget that also relates exclusively to the ideation phase.
What we support
When assessing applications, we pay attention to the following points:
The project
- needs to be professionally implemented
- is contemporary
- is unique in Swiss cultural life
- is guided by clear questions and interests
- is targeted (i.e., stands out from the crowd in terms of content and quality)
- is relevant or will be relevant to an extended circle of recipients in the foreseeable future
- has the potential to attain supra-regional significance
- is oriented towards the overarching social values of diversity, inclusion, participation and accessibility
- Production costs, projects in the production phase
- Infrastructure and operating costs
- Institutions abroad
- Requests for scholarships
- Sector-specific projects in the fields of photography, design and architecture (without participation in other disciplines)
- Fundraising measures
- Projects of schools, technical colleges or universities
- Projects that arise as bachelor's, master's or diploma theses
- Projects in the context of academic research
- Deficit guarantees
- Translations
- Lay culture
- Commercial projects
- Commissioned work
- Charity events
- Private and charity events
- Purchase of tools and instruments
- Installation of art on buildings
- Didactic projects
- Monographic projects, in particular monographic publications
- Non-contemporary styles of all disciplines (except classical music)
- Services to be provided under subsidy contracts
Deadlines and decisions
Applications may be submitted at any time.
After the formal review, a committee of experts will decide whether or not to award a grant.
The written response to the application will be sent no later than 3 months after receipt of the application.
Funding type
This support consists of financial contributions (usually CHF 2'000 to CHF 15'000).
Important links
Contact
E-Mail: foerderbeitraege@mgb.ch
Phone: +41 58 570 41 90 (Tuesdays between 10:00 and 11:30 a.m.)
FAQ – Questions and answers
Visual arts, comics, digital culture, film, jazz, classical music, cabaret, literature, pop, dance, theatre and interdisciplinary projects. All other disciplines (e.g. photography) can only be supported in conjunction with one of our sponsored disciplines (as part of a cross-disciplinary project). Priority is given to innovative projects and projects of a pilot nature that take artistic risks and venture new approaches to working methods.
Funding for productions can be applied for at the regional level from the respective Migros Cooperatives.
Ideation projects often have a regional start. Support is primarily given to projects that are likely to have supra-regional significance after the ideation phase.
There are no submission deadlines in the Ideation area. Applications may be submitted at any time. However, you cannot receive funding for projects which have already been completed at the time the application is submitted.
Once submitted, applications are considered finalised. Please do not send any additions.
In the Ideation area, the decision will be communicated no later than 3 months after your application. We will let you know by email if your project has been accepted or denied.
No. Once an application has been rejected, it will not be reviewed a second time.
The application form should only include the budget for the ideation phase of the project. No funding is available for the production phase.
The Migros Culture Percentage seeks to support its applicants’ projects with substantial funds. It does not set a minimum or maximum amount. ‘Substantial’ means that the amount granted is essential for designing and realising the project as planned. In the area of ideation, our funding is intended exclusively to cover the budget for this phase (not to the total budget of a project).
Yes
No. Foreign nationals living in Switzerland can also apply for funding for their project. The projects submitted must actively shape cultural life in Switzerland and be implemented here.
Yes, the final report is mandatory. Our acceptance letter should be kept safe, as it contains the evaluation date. Approximately 3 weeks before this date, you will receive an email asking you to complete the evaluation report in the application portal. Please do not send your final report by post or email.