Call for applications 2023: Subsidies for Promoting Inclusion and Cultural Wellbeing

The deadline for submitting applications is 16:00 (4:00pm) on the last day of the application period. This is the absolute deadline by which time Taike must receive the application.

Applications should be submitted online during the application period.

The Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) requires that applicants familiarise themselves with the call for applications before filling in the application.

Intended recipients

These subsidies are intended for legal communities, such as associations, cooperatives, companies, municipalities and foundations, who promote inclusion, cultural wellbeing, and involvement in culture and the arts. Unregistered communities and private traders are not eligible for these subsidies.

Impact goals

These subsidies shall

• promote the livelihoods and employment of artists
• promote cultural wellbeing and inclusion in the arts and culture
• promote involvement in culture and the arts nationally 
• develop cultural wellbeing contents, as well as the structures and evaluation of activities.

Who decides

Applications and the operations of applicants are evaluated by Taike’s experts. Decisions are taken by the Director of Taike based on a presentation by a special advisor.

Purpose

These subsidies shall support

• cultural wellbeing projects and activities
• the employment of artists, including those who require special support
• participation and inclusion in the arts and culture
• actors who promote involvement in culture and the arts.

These subsidies are not awarded for

• investments
• recreational activities (e.g. outings, festivities).

Taike shall decide whether the subsidy is awarded in the form of an operational subsidy or a special subsidy. Operational subsidies are granted to cover a community’s basic operations or a specific area of operations. Special subsidies are granted to support specific projects implemented in 2024. Taike may award the subsidy in the form of a special subsidy for a specific project even if the application covers all operations.

These subsidies may be awarded if considered necessary in relation to the quality and scope of operations. Other state support shall be taken into consideration.

Amount

The minimum amount of each operational subsidy is 10,000 euros. The minimum amount of each special subsidy is 5000 euros.

These subsidies may cover only a portion of the total funding and not all expenses. Operational subsidies may cover only a portion of the total funding of operations and not all expenses. The amount of the subsidy combined with other state support may not exceed the total amount of eligible expenses (100%). If a project supported by a special subsidy generates a profit, the recipient may be asked to return the subsidy in full or in part.

Further information about eligible expenses can be found on the Taike website here.

Previously awarded subsidies are listed on the Taike website here.

Evaluation criteria

The awarding of subsidies is based on an evaluation, comparison and overall assessment of applications. When evaluating applications, the following criteria and questions are used, not all of which need to be fulfilled. There is no weighting in the evaluation criteria. The regional distribution and language of applicants are taken into consideration, as is the amount of available funding. Equality and fair treatment are also taken into account.

These subsidies are discretionary and are awarded on an annual basis on condition that Parliament allocates the required appropriations in the annual state budget.

Evaluation criteria for operational subsidies

Ambition and quality of operations

When evaluating applications, the status of the applicant within its field of the arts is taken into account. In the evaluation, emphasis can be placed on the applicant's special role within its field or among the target groups of its operations.

• Are the community’s operations ambitious and of high quality?
• How are operations and the changes achieved by the operations evaluated?
• What is the community’s strategy and vision or operating plan for the coming years?
• How does the community respond to changes in the operating environment?
• How are equality, occupational wellbeing and gender equality ensured?
• How are the principles of sustainable development implemented in operations?
• Does the community pay wages and fees in accordance with fair remuneration practices?

Scope and impact of operations

• What is the status of the community in its field of the arts?
• Does the community have a special national role within its field or among the target groups of its operations?
• What is the scope of operations regionally, nationally and/or internationally?
• What kinds of networks does the community have?
• What is the social impact of the community’s operations?
• How do the community’s operations promote wellbeing and inclusion and reduce inequality?
• What are the key figures for operations (e.g. number of events, courses, workshops and performances, number of participants, publication activities)?
• What is the number of staff (person years)?
• Are the community’s staff members professionals?

Financial sustainability and feasibility

• How have the community’s finances been managed in previous years?
• How realistic and balanced is the budget for the forthcoming year?
• Is the amount of the subsidy that has been applied for realistic and necessary in relation to the scope and financial situation of operations?
• What was the community’s self-financing proportion for the previous financial period?

Evaluation criteria for special subsidies

Quality of the project

• Is the project plan well prepared and its objectives interesting?
• What kinds of ideas and operating models that promote wellbeing and inclusion does the project offer?
• How noteworthy is the community implementing the project in its field of the arts?
• Are the community’s staff members and project implementers professionals?
• What is the quality of the project’s cultural content?
• How realistic is the project in terms of its implementation?
• Does the community pay wages and fees in accordance with fair remuneration practices?

Impact of the project

• How does the community evaluate the implementation of the project and what indicators are used?
• What is the impact of the project regionally, nationally or internationally?
• What is the social impact of the project?
• How does the project promote an understand of the arts/culture and a discussion about the arts/culture?
• What kinds of cooperation partners does the project have?
• What kinds of expertise does the project have?
• How does the project promote wellbeing or inclusion?
• How are the results of the project communicated?

Project financing

• How have the community’s finances been managed in previous years?
• How realistic is the project’s budget?
• Is the amount of the subsidy that has been applied for in relation to the scope of the project?
• What is the need for the subsidy in relation to the community’s financial situation?
• What other funding does the project have?

General terms and conditions

• Subsidies awarded by other parties are taken into consideration when awarding subsidies.
• Operational subsidies can be awarded to communities that have been operating as a registered community for at least three years and that carry out regular year-round operations.
• The activities of the community cannot be profit-based.
• Subsidies for communities supported in previous years may be increased or decreased according to the community’s operations, comparisons to the applications submitted by other communities, or the amount of funding that has been allocated.
• The subsidy must be used during the year in which it was awarded. New subsidies shall not be awarded if previously awarded subsidies for the same purpose have not been used.
• Recipients of subsidies must submit written clarification and a financial statement of how the subsidy was used.
• The Arts Promotion Centre Finland requires that communities comply with the Act on Equality between Women and Men (609/1986) and the Non-discrimination Act (1325/2014), as well as other legislative obligations for employers.

What to include with your application

• It is mandatory to include the community’s audited financial statements (signed) for the previous financial period (annual report, long income statement and balance sheet) and operating plan and budget for the forthcoming year.
• In addition, you may also include up to two attachments that are relevant to your application. The file names should describe the content. The maximum file size for each attachment is 4Mb.

Attachments may not be sent by e-mail. 

Grounds for disqualification

• If the application arrives after the application deadline. Applications must be received by Taike by 16:00 (4:00pm) on the last day of the application period.
• If the application is incomplete (if the required information has not been delivered to Taike following a request for such information).
• If the applicant has not submitted written clarification of previously awarded subsidies before the given deadline.

Subsidies are subject to the Act (657/2012) and Statute (727/2012) on Taiteen edistämiskeskus (only in Finnish); Discretionary Government Transfers (688/2001); Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003). Taike monitors the use of subsidies and is entitled if necessary to review the finances and activities of recipients.

How to apply

Log in and fill in the application online (user interface in Finnish)

You can log in using Suomi.fi e-identification.

Instructions for using online services

If you are unable to use our online services, please contact Taike’s customer service.

Guidelines for subsidy applicants

Notification of decision

All applicants will be notified of the decision in writing by the end of February. Applicants will be informed by e-mail when the decision can be accessed from our online services. If you do not receive the e-mail to your inbox, remember to check also your junk mail folder. Applicants are responsible for checking their e-mail messages on the address supplied in the application.

Applications are public documents

Applications submitted to Taike are public documents, about which everyone is entitled to receive information according to Finnish law (Act on the Openness of Government Activities 621/1999). For example, the media can request to view applications. The project plans of communities are confidential to the extent that they contain information considered to be business secrets, such as artistic ideas or information about private individuals. Information about subsidies awarded to communities is published on the Taike website.

Taike submits information about all state subsidy decisions for publication on the tutkiavustuksia.fi website (Act on Discretionary Government Transfers 688/2001).

Further information

Isto Turpeinen, Special Advisor

Customer Service, t. 0295 330 700, [email protected]