From idea to a ready cultural project — with AI
The opening date is fixed, the funding decision hasn't arrived, half the performers are confirmed and the budget exists in three file versions — how do you know it will all come together in time? Projektiassistent brings a festival, exhibition or production into one workspace: a plan with schedule, budget, risks and owners is ready in minutes, the funding application comes from the same plan, and the director or board sees the whole season in one view.
A cultural project shouldn't live in Excel, chat threads and the producer's head
Programme, performer agreements, budget, permits and deadlines are often spread across files, inboxes and message threads. Projektiassistent brings them under one project and helps check feasibility before contracts are signed.
Information is scattered
Budget in Excel, the technical rider in a separate file, performer agreements in emails. If the producer falls ill, nobody knows exactly where the project stands.
Funding is confirmed late
You have to plan before the funding decision. If the grant comes in lower, programme and budget must be reworked fast — and nobody sees everything it affects.
The opening date won't move
Tickets are on sale and the date is announced. A late print run, permit or installation only surfaces when there is no slack left.
Reporting eats into the next project
For the funder report, activities, costs and results have to be pulled together from several places — while the next project is already running.
Before you sign contracts: is the project really ready?
A strong concept and a decision-ready project are not the same thing. Before launch, programme, venue, performer fees, budget, permits and funding conditions have to be consistent. Approval checkpoints, the budget warning and attention signals show what is still missing.
- Approval checkpoints before launch
Record the funding decision, a permit and the venue agreement as milestones for an approver to confirm — the system saves who approved and when. The project stays in Draft status until you decide to launch it.
- Contradictions made visible
If performer fees exceed the budget, the budget block shows a warning; the critical path shows the projected end and whether installation will be ready for the opening — before the decision, not in opening week.
- Net and VAT kept apart
Cost lines in net and VAT separately, by category and status (planned, committed, invoiced, paid), free balance in real time — costs land in the right place in the funder report.
What cultural organisers use Projektiassistent for
You get a plan built for the specific project, not an empty template. The AI accounts for the cultural field's specifics — the artistic programme, a fixed opening date, performer and venue agreements, permits and funder conditions.
Festivals & major events
Programme, performers, venue, permits, technical setup and communication in one plan — from concept to final report.
Exhibitions
Concept, loans, design, installation and opening — deadlines that all have to converge on the opening date.
Productions & performances
Rehearsals, set design, technical work and premiere — creative phases with clear milestones.
Concerts & tours
Multiple dates and venues on one Gantt timeline with dependencies, logistics and buffers.
Film & audiovisual
Development, pre-production, shooting and post-production — phases, budget and funder milestones together.
International cooperation
Partners from several countries, work packages and a shared schedule — plan and application in English when needed.
Audience development & learning programmes
Communication, learning programmes and audience engagement tied to project activities and deadlines.
Heritage & digitisation
Collection digitisation, restoration and permanent exhibitions — long-term stages and owners written down.
Grant projects
Cultural Endowment, national culture programmes and Creative Europe — funder conditions inside the plan from the start.
How a cultural project moves from idea to report
Example: a creative association is organising a three-day summer music festival in a small town. The same project goes through every stage in one workspace — nobody has to copy information from file to file.
Idea
“We want to run a three-day music festival this summer.” You describe the project in a couple of sentences and the AI turns it into a structured draft plan.
Pre-assessment
Programme, venue, performer fees, technical setup, permits, budget and risks are thought through before any contract is signed.
Funding
From the same plan, the AI prepares an application to the Cultural Endowment and, if needed, to a second funder — a separate one for each, nothing rewritten.
Decision
Once the funding decision is in, the board sees whether the festival is realistic on that budget and which parts of the programme may need adjusting.
Delivery
Gantt, tasks, owners and risk register. When printing or equipment hire slips, the impact on the opening is visible immediately.
Reporting
Activities completed, budget use, programme changes and results — report content for the funder and the board from the same data.
One season, many projects — all in one view
Projektiassistent isn't just for running a single project. In the Business plan, festivals, exhibitions, productions and international cooperation projects come together in a portfolio where every project carries a health score.
The director of a cultural institution, a programme manager or a festival board gets the answers at a glance:
- Which projects are in progress this season, and at what stage?
- Which projects are still waiting for a funding decision?
- Where is there a risk of overspending or a slipping deadline?
- Who on the team is overloaded across several projects?
- Which projects need my decision before the opening?
What happens when the project changes?
Something always changes in a cultural project: the grant comes in lower, a performer pulls out or the venue falls through. The what-if simulation in the Business plan shows a delay's impact on the project end before the decision is made — not in opening week.
The grant is smaller
Adjust the cost lines and the budget block immediately shows the free balance and warns if costs exceed the budget. The decision on what leaves the programme goes into the decision log.
A performer pulls out
Dependencies show which tasks — technical setup, printed materials, communication — depend on that performer, and the critical path shows how much slack there is to find a replacement.
The opening or installation moves
Pick a task, enter a delay in days and see how far it pushes the project end. Simulations are kept in the history.
From concept to programme — and back to the funder
A funder doesn't just ask whether the festival happened. They ask whether the promised activities were delivered, how the money was used and what changed compared with the application. In Projektiassistent that chain lives in one place — so the answer doesn't start with searching through folders.
- Concept
- Artistic programme
- Goals & audience
- Project
- Activities
- Owners
- Budget
- Results
- Funder report
- Summary for the funder or the board
The AI status summary gives the project's current state in moments. The project document exports as PDF or DOCX in one of five design templates — filling in the funder's form doesn't start from scratch.
- Programme changes justified
When a performer changes or the programme shifts, the decision is saved with its rationale, decision-maker, status and date — the explanation for the funder is ready.
- Applied for vs delivered
In the Business plan, the audit log records major changes with who and when, and earlier versions can be restored. You can see and show how the project changed from application to delivery, and why.
Cultural funding — an application from the same plan
The AI gathers your project's goals, programme, action plan, budget, risks and team into a structured application for the chosen funding programme. Create several applications per project for different funders — 3 a month on Standard, unlimited on Business.
Cultural Endowment of Estonia
Project grants from the endowments and regional expert groups — an application from your plan, not a blank page.
National programmes & Estonian Film Institute
Ministry of Culture support programmes and funding for audiovisual and creative projects, with a well-reasoned budget.
Creative Europe
Applications for international cooperation projects — work packages, partners and budget, with the structure in English too.
You can enter the programme's web address when drafting the plan and the AI takes its content into account, so you can check the application before submitting. Whether a grant is awarded and which costs are eligible is always decided by the funder.
Excel is fine for a budget sheet. A festival needs a system.
Excel isn't a bad tool — it just wasn't built to manage performers, deadlines, dependencies and programme changes across several projects. Here's where it stops being enough.
| Projektiassistent | Excel | |
|---|---|---|
| Project status | A live project that updates as work happens | A static table updated by hand |
| Deadlines to opening | Dependencies and impact on what follows | Limited or none |
| Funder report | AI status summary from the same data | Written up by hand |
| Where information lives | One project workspace | Files, emails and message threads |
| Programme changes | Decision log with rationale | In someone's memory or inbox |
| Risks | Risk register inside the project | A separate sheet, if someone makes one |
| Multiple projects | Portfolio view for the whole season (Business) | One file at a time |
Who sees the budget and fees — and who doesn't
Cultural projects bring together staff, freelancers, partners and volunteers. Not everyone needs to see performer fees or a programme that hasn't been announced. Access is checked on every request. Permission levels and the decision log come with every plan; the audit log, versions and workspaces are in the Business plan.
Role-based permissions
Three permission levels: Viewer, Editor and Admin. A partner or board member can be a Viewer — they see and comment but can't change anything.
Invitations and revocation
Freelancers and seasonal staff are invited by email. When the collaboration ends, the share can be removed immediately.
Workspaces
Different festivals, productions or units in separate workspaces; a role profile sets which modules a user can see or edit.
Audit log
Major changes, decisions, risks and approvals on one timeline, with who and when.
Encrypted connection
All traffic over HTTPS with HSTS; every request checks that the data belongs to an environment the user has access to.
Data export and GDPR
“Export my data” downloads a copy of your personal data, “Delete my account” removes the account; the project document exports as PDF or DOCX.
If your organisation has data protection or information security requirements you'd like to go through before adoption, write to us — we'll answer question by question. Contact →
The right methodology for a cultural project
Simple Project for smaller events with minimal overhead; a Kanban flow for continuous content and communication; a phased plan with milestones for festivals and productions, where Gantt shows what must be ready for the opening. Switching methodology never changes the project's substance — only how the work is organised.
Start with one real project, not the whole season
New software doesn't have to be rolled out across the whole organisation at once. The fastest way to see the value is to take one upcoming festival, exhibition or production and run it through Projektiassistent.
One project
Pick your next festival, exhibition or production and build its plan. The trial lasts 14 days (up to 3 projects) and no credit card is required.
Pilot with the team
Invite the producer, technical manager, communications lead and the director or board — each with their own permissions. The first status summary shows whether it saves time.
The whole season
If the pilot works, bring the rest of the season's projects into the portfolio on the Business plan and separate productions or units into workspaces.
Frequently asked questions from cultural organisers
Is Projektiassistent suitable for a small cultural organisation or an independent producer?
Yes. You can start with one project and a couple of users — the Standard plan covers Gantt, Kanban, risks, budget and the AI plan for up to 20 active projects. When there are more productions and units, the Business plan adds the portfolio view, workspaces, role profiles and up to 100 active projects. It starts to make sense as soon as more deadlines are running at once than one person can keep in their head.
Can we manage a whole season — several festivals, exhibitions and productions — in one workspace?
Yes. The Business plan's portfolio view shows every project of the season on one screen: each carries a health score (on track, monitoring, at risk, blocked), overdue tasks and risks show up as signals and dependencies between projects are mapped. Resource planning shows who on the team is overloaded across several productions.
Does Projektiassistent help with Cultural Endowment or Creative Europe applications and reports?
Yes. The AI prepares a structured application from the same project plan for the chosen programme (3 a month on Standard, unlimited on Business) — goals, action plan, budget and risks come from the plan, and for international projects in English when needed. VAT is calculated separately for every cost line, and report content comes from the activities and costs actually recorded. Whether a grant is awarded and which costs are eligible is always decided by the funder.
What if the funding decision hasn't arrived yet, or the grant comes in lower?
You can plan before the decision — the project stays in Draft status until you decide to launch it, and the funding decision can be recorded as a milestone for approval. If the grant is smaller, you adjust the cost lines and the budget block shows the free balance and warns of any overrun; the critical path shows which activities determine the opening date. The decision and its rationale go into the decision log, so the explanation for the funder is ready.
Can the board, partners and freelancers have different permissions?
Yes. Sharing a project has three permission levels — Viewer, Editor and Admin — so the director, board or a partner can follow progress and comment without changing anything, and the funder can be sent the project document as PDF or DOCX. Freelancers and seasonal staff are invited by email, and the share can be removed immediately when the collaboration ends. The Business plan adds workspaces per production or unit and role profiles that set each module's level (none, view, manage).
Does Projektiassistent replace ticketing, accounting or a collections management system?
No. It is a workspace for planning and managing projects — plan, schedule, budget, risks, decisions and reports. Ticket sales, accounting and museum collections stay in their own systems; on the Business plan, Projektiassistent can be connected to them through API tokens and webhooks, send notifications to Slack or Teams and put deadlines in your calendar via a calendar feed.
How is our data protected, and who can see performer fees?
The budget and performer fees are visible only to users the project is shared with — permissions are checked on every request. All traffic is encrypted (HTTPS and HSTS); on the Business plan, changes are recorded in the audit log with who and when. Users can download a copy of their personal data and delete their account. Data processing is described in detail in the privacy policy.
Can we start with a single festival, exhibition or production?
Yes — and that's the most sensible way. The trial lasts 14 days, includes up to 3 projects and 20 AI requests and requires no credit card. The AI funding application and Business plan features (portfolio, what-if, workspaces) are not part of the trial — if you'd like to see them and your own project first, request a demo through the contact page.
Let's make your next festival, exhibition or production decision-ready
Try 14 days free — 3 projects and 20 AI requests, no credit card required. Want to see how it looks with your own project first? Request a demo.