Decision-making

Decisions about most subsidies are taken by the Director of Taike, others by the arts councils. Applications are reviewed by the national and regional arts councils, which serve as Taike’s expert bodies.

The arts councils possess a wide range of expertise in the field of the arts, as the members of these bodies are art professionals and other experts. All decisions are made on the basis of recommendations that are presented by Taike’s special advisors (civil servants).

All Taike subsidiaries are discretionary.

Decisions on operational subsidies are made in January and February. Decisions on special subsidies are made between February and May.

Appeal decision

Appeals must be made within 30 days of receiving notification of the decision, not including the day on which the notification was received.

Guidelines for the appeal will be sent to the applicant as an attachment of the decision.

You can send the appeal and related appendices as attachments. The maximum number of attachments is five and the maximum size for each attachment is 4 Mb.

Decision-making criteria

Operational subsidies

Decisions are based on a comparison of applications and a general evaluation. Factors that are taken into consideration include the community’s activities, comparisons to the applications submitted by other communities, the amount of funding that has been allocated, and other state subsidies that have been awarded by Taike and its arts councils, as well as by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The Arts Promotion Centre Finland does not award multiple state subsidies for the same purpose.

Applications are evaluated according to the following guidelines.

Quality of the operations and organisation:

• What is the standing of the community within its field of the arts?
• Are staff members professionals?
• How interesting are the operational plans and their objectives, and can they be achieved in the proposed way?
• What kinds of new ideas and operating models does the project offer to the artform/artists/audiences?
• Do the community's operations have local, regional, national or international significance?
• Do the community's operations encourage a broader understanding of art and promote debate about art?
• How networked are the operations?
• How diverse, active and accessible are the operations?
• Does the applicant have a strategy, vision or development plan for at least the next two years?

Financing and volume of operations:

• Is the subsidy that has been applied for essential for carrying out the operations?
• Is the budget realistic and balanced? Is the amount of the subsidy that has been applied for suitable in terms of the scope of the operations?
• How have the community's finances been managed in previous years?
• What share (%) does the subsidy represent of the total budget in relation to the amount to be financed by the community itself (%)?
• Are the operational plans realistic in terms of existing resources?
• What is the volume of the operations? What are the key figures for operations? (e.g. audience numbers, the number of performances, publishing activities, courses, etc.)

The community must have operated as a registered community for at least three years and carries out regular year-round operations.

Regional and linguistic factors are also taken into consideration.

Grounds for not awarding a subsidy:

• If the applicant’s activities are based on profit-seeking
• If the applicant’s activities are hobby-based
• If the application arrives after the application deadline
• If the application is incomplete  and the required information has not be supplied following a request for such information
• If the applicant has not provided clarification of previously awarded subsidies

Special subsidies

The arts councils evaluate each application for a special subsidy. Decisions are based on a comparison of applications and a general evaluation. Factors that are taken into consideration include the amount of funding that has been allocated and other state subsidies that have been awarded by Taike and its arts councils, as well as by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The Arts Promotion Centre Finland does not award multiple state subsidies for the same purpose.

Applications are evaluated according to the following guidelines.

Quality of the project:

• What is the standing of the community within its field of the arts?
• Does the project plan adequately describe the artistic basis of the project?
• Is the project plan credible, are its objectives interesting, and can they be achieved in the proposed way?

Scope and impact of the project:

• Does the project have local, regional, national or international significance?
• Does the project encourage a broader understanding of art or debate about art?
• What kind of new ideas and operating models does the project offer to the artform/artists/audience?
• Does the project have significance in terms of developing the artform?

Financing and implementation of the project:

• Is the project plan, including its budget, realistic and feasible?
• Is the subsidy that has been applied for essential for carrying out the project?
• Does the project involve cooperation partners?
• How have the community's finances been managed in previous years?
• Is the amount of the subsidy that has been applied for suitable in terms of the scope and the theme of the project?
• What share (%) does the subsidy represent of the total budget for the project?
• Does the project already have confirmed financing? If not, how realistic are the other sources of income (risk management)?

Regional and linguistic factors are also taken into consideration.

Additional terms

• Special subsidies are not awarded to cover the costs of a community’s regular operations.
• In general a community may receive either an operational subsidy or a special subsidy from Taike.

Grounds for not awarding a subsidy:

• If the application arrives after the application deadline
• If the application is incomplete  and the required information has not be supplied following a request for such information
• If the applicant has not provided clarification of previously awarded subsidies