The Research Centre of Creative Fields at the Business Research of the University of Iceland introduced on 13 March a performance assessment of the operation of Aurora Design Fund and Kraumur Music Fund.
A large number of people were gathered in room 101 in the Business School of the University of Iceland when the performance assessment of the operation and allocations of the sub funds were presented.
The objective of the performance assessment was first and foremost to assist the managers of the funds to evaluate the work that is being done in the funds, what effect it has on the future and success of the awardees as well as the design- and music scene in a broader sense. The performance assessment was also seen as a way to find out how best to implement the donations, how they may guarantee the biggest success, what approach is best for those who apply for the grants and what kind of image funds like these have in the minds of the applicants and the partners.
The authors of the report are Margrét Sigrún Sigurðardóttir and Tómas Viktor Young and they presented their findings.
Auður Einarsdóttir general manager of Aurora Fund, Hlín Helga Guðlaugsdóttir general manager of Aurora Design Fund and Eldar Ástþórsson general manager of Kraumur Music Fund also told about the operation of the funds.
The research was based on half open interviews with the general managers of the funds and the awardees. The findings of the performance assessment showed that the awardees were very pleased with the funds and feel the application procedure is personal and informal. Due to an increased number of applications the authors of the report point out that it is necessary to make the application procedure more formalised. In the last application procedure Kraumur received 233 applications, the Design Fund 80 applications and this is a record since the funds started their operations.</br>The awardees all agreed that the grant had helped them greatly with their project but that they would have proceeded with their project even if they had not received the grant. This shows that the funds are on the right track in supporting projects that have a clear future vision and objective and are more likely to be realised.
The objective of the funds is to allocate larger grants to fewer projects in order to make more difference to each projects and this is in line with the objective of the Aurora Fund. The researchers point out that the development towards lower grants to a larger group of awardees will not serve the objectives of the funds and it reduces the likelihood of success for the awardees themselves. This can happen when the number of good applications increases and it actually happened at a certain point in time for the funds.
The conclusion of the performance assessment is therefore that the awardees appreciate more that the funds allocate larger grants to fewer projects. The funds have decided to abide by that conclusion.
The general managers of the funds agree that the performance assessment is very important for the operation of the funds. This is a research that helps form the policy of the funds in allocating grants as well as in their general operation. Good instructions to how to strengthen and boost the operation, maintain the parts of the work that are successful and change things that need to be changed. The operation of the funds has gone through constant development during the last years which is understandable because the funds were meant to be experimental and therefore a research like this one is not only a good indication for the development in the coming years but also ignites discussions about things that can be improved in the general operation of the funds.</br>On the picture: Auður Einarsdóttir general manager of Aurora Fund, Eldar Ástþórsson general manager of Kraumur Music Fund, Margrét Sigrún Sigurðardóttir lecturer at the Business School of the University of Iceland and author of the performance assessment Tómas Viktor Young, author of the performance assessment, Hlín Helga Guðlaugsdóttir general manager of Aurora Fund.</br>
