In 2000 the national government, 12 provinces and 30 municipalities with more than 90,000 inhabitants jointly developed a Cultural Outreach Programme which ran until 2008. The aim of the programme was to encourage a larger and more diverse audience (including young people and people from ethnic backgrounds) to participate in culture and the arts. The underlying idea of the Cultural Outreach Programme was that culture and the arts only flourish when there is sufficient interaction between visual artists, performers, institutions and the public. The first Cultural Outreach Programme ran from 2001-2004 and because of its success ran for a further four years until 2008.

The provinces and municipalities each drew up, for a four year period, their own Cultural Outreach Programme. Funding for the provincial and municipal programmes was based on the number of inhabitants and took the form of a matching system. The budget allocated to the programmes by the provinces or municipalities was matched by the Ministry. On an annual basis the national government, provinces and municipalities invested € 27 million.

In 2009 the programme was partially continued by the Cultural Participation Fund [Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie].

Note: In the Netherlands policy plans are made for periods of four years.