Project Grants for Culture

Applicants can be associations or non-profit organizations registered in Finland as well as working groups, freelance producers or artists.

When the applicant is an unregistered working group, the group’s applicant is entered as its contact person, including his/her bank account number. The other group members are mentioned in the application by name, and they are jointly responsible for the grant.

As a rule, the same applicant / applicant community can receive a project grant only once a year.

Grants are awarded to support the implementation of events and projects in Tampere. Supported events and projects must diversify the local cultural offering. Publication of histories of over 70 years old associations can also be supported by project grants.

The issuing of grants is considered on the basis of the following criteria:

• diversification of local cultural offering
• the transparency, accessibility, equality and ecological sustainability of operations 
• For histories: the quality of the content, its scope, and the local significance of the theme
• the applicant’s own fundraising is balanced in relation to the costs of the event or project

The grant can be awarded for:

• the expenses associated with an event or project; e.g. material, marketing and premises-related costs and compensation.
• the publication of histories of organizations and associations older than 70 years. The length of the history should total at least 100 pages.

If the project grant is intended to cover expenses related to salaries or wages, the applicant must submit proof of payment of wages and salaries with the application form. The receipts must show that, in addition to the payment of wages, the applicant has also paid for occupational pension contributions, unemployment insurance contributions and other compulsory incidental expenses relating to the payment of wages. The applicant always takes care of employees’ pension security by paying TyEL contributions to the employment pension company. For individuals and teams in particular, the Palkka.fi system is recommended for the payment of wages and salaries.

Grants are not issued for:

• operations that are included in the applicant's basic activities and which are mainly supported by General grants
• activities that make a profit or whose primary purpose is fundraising, including events with the purpose of raising funds for charity
• catering, recordings, publications (excluding histories), audiovisual productions and awards
• investments and acquisition or basic improvement of fixed or movable property
• the purpose of a personal working grant
• the costs associated with the writing of a history or other preparatory work
• exclusive funding specific to the operations concerned

The application period for a project grant is continuous. The application must be submitted no later than two (2) weeks before the implementation of the event or project or publication of the history.  Grants should be applied for via the electronic application form.

Please note that in applying for a Project grant for the publication of a history, the following documents must be provided as annexes to your application:

• manuscript of the history concerned (a grant can be applied for when the manuscript is in readable format)
• budget for the history concerned and financing plan
• presentation of project (can be written into the application form or in a separate document)

Processing of applications

Please note the exceptional summer schedule in the handling of applications. During the summer holiday period, fewer than normal project grants are processed. The normal processing time is once a month, when applications received during the previous month are always processed. The processing meeting in June will deal with applications received in May, but there will be no processing meeting in July due to the holiday period. This means that the August meeting will deal with applications received in both June and July.

The next processing meetings will be:
16.8. (applications received in June and July)
17.9. (applications received in August)
15.10. (applications received in September)
12.11. (applications received in October)

Decisions on project grants are taken by the Head of Public Cultural Services. The applicant is informed of the decision by email. The grant can be used only for the purpose described in the decision. If the purpose of use is not specified in more detail in the grant decision, the grant must be used for the purpose stated in the application.

Payment of the grant

The grant is paid against the Project assessment form issued afterwards. By this form the grant recipient details the project’s expenditure and assesses the success of the project. The Project assessment form must be submitted no later than two (2) month after the event, implemented project or publishing of the history. In the case of histories, the association / non-profit organization must supply the number of histories specified in the decision to the city before the grant is paid. 

The receipts must be attached to the Project assessment form if the sum to be paid is EUR 500 or more. If the grant to be paid is less than this amount, the grant recipient must keep the receipts for one year for possible verification. Certified copies of the receipts will serve as supporting documents. The grant recipient is obliged to retain the receipts and if needed, to present them to the Public Cultural Services or to the City of Tampere or an auditor representing the city on request.

If the project grant is intended to cover expenses related to salaries or wages, the applicant must submit proof of payment of wages and salaries after the event. The receipts must show that, in addition to the payment of wages, the applicant has also paid for occupational pension contributions, unemployment insurance contributions and other compulsory incidental expenses relating to the payment of wages. The applicant always takes care of employees’ pension security by paying TyEL contributions to the employment pension company. Receipts for the payment of salaries must be submitted with the Project assessment form, even if the grant amount is less than EUR 500. In particular for individuals and teams, the Palkka.fi system is recommended for the payment of salaries and wages.

Under pandemic circumstances, events supported by the City of Tampere must observe the national guidelines.