BankGiro Lottery supports culture with more than 58 million Euros

Amsterdam, 9 February 2009 - This afternoon, the BankGiro Lottery donated more than 58 million Euros to more than fifty cultural institutions from around the country. This money (half of the total ticket sales of 116 million Euros) was raised by the nearly 900,000 participants in the BankGiro Lottery. Het Loo Palace, Drenthe Museum, Mauritshuis and the Museum Plus Bus are among those to receive support.

The beneficiaries of the BankGiro Lottery are all unique cultural institutions that attract many visitors, have a national scope, yet often a regional character. They also share passion, entrepreneurship and vision in terms of substance, marketing and fundraising.

Guest speaker Alexander Rinnooy Kan had the following to say about this at the meeting in the Dutch Railway Museum in Utrecht: “the BankGiro Lottery lowers the cultural threshold for the public. It encourages collaboration with cultural institutions with major ambitions, in combination with cultural entrepreneurship. Modernisation and courage are of paramount importance.”

Eight new long-term beneficiaries
The BankGiro Lottery has added the following 8 institutions to the 45 institutions receiving long-term support: Coastal Sculptures Museum, Drenthe Museum, Frans Hals Museum/De Hallen, Frisian Museum, Fundatie Museum, Het Valkhof Museum, Het Loo Place and the Zeeland Museum. They will receive an annual grant of 200,000 Euros for a period of five years.

2.6 million for Mauritshuis extension
The Mauritshuis in The Hague will receive 2.6 million Euros for the museum’s extension. The Van Loon Museum in Amsterdam will receive 1 million Euros to buy and restore the coach house. The Keukenhof Castle and Estate in Lisse will also receive 1 million Euros to restore the castle.

Museum Plus Bus carries on
The BankGiro Lottery enables cultural institutions to come up with special projects. Museum Plus Bus for instance, which is an initiative of seven Dutch museums, enabling senior citizens to visit two museums in one day for free. With more than 10,000 participants, this project was a major success from the start. The BankGiro Lottery decided to support the project again after its flying start.

New Greetings
FOAM and the Historic Photo Archive of the Dutch Press Agency joined forces for the New Greetings project. The two organisations will travel the country in the summer of 2009 and inspire people to take pictures of their local city or region. A mobile exhibition will call at 12 large provincial cities.

About the BankGiro Lottery
The BankGiro Lottery is the cultural lottery of the Netherlands. Thanks to its participants (approx. 900,000 in 2008, buying a total of 1.25 million tickets) the BankGiro Lottery can donate tens of millions of Euros to museums and other cultural institutions in the Netherlands. This enables them to purchase important works of art that form a special addition to their collection, or to carry out restorations. From the money raised in 2008, the BankGiro Lottery paid more than 58 million Euros to culture in the Netherlands. Back...