The study deals with legal aspects of subsidising cultural institutions from national funds. The analysis and evaluation focuses on, among others, regulations on subject-specific subsidies, special-purpose budget subsidies, and (finally) subsidies from state earmarked funds. It was emphasized in the summary that subsidies are the most important source of financing for cultural institutions (constituting the basic legal form of organizing cultural activities by public entities). In this context particular significance is paid to the subject-specific subsidy which is granted by the institution organizer. The article also shows the advantage of the system of subsidizing Polish culture – the wide variety of targeted subsidies which significantly increases possibilities of obtaining financial resources by cultural institutions.