Call for applications 2024: Operational subsidies for specific artforms

Application period

Begins: 1 October 2024 at 8:00 
Ends: 31 October 2024 at 16:00

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.

We require that applicants familiarise themselves with the call for applications before filling in the application.

Intended recipients

Operational subsidies (general grants) are intended for registered communities (legal entities) in different fields of the arts, such as associations, cooperatives, companies, municipalities and foundations. Operational subsidies are intended to support the activities of professional artists and not recreational activities.

You can apply for an operational subsidy with one application only. Select the artform that your operations most closely involve.

Impact goals

Operational subsidies shall

• support the livelihood and employment of artists
• promote the long/term development of communities
• diversify the conditions for performing artistic and other creative work
• renew and develop the contents and structures of operations
• promote the availability and accessibility of art and culture nationwide
• promote the development, expertise and internationalisation of specific fields of the arts and culture.
   

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 and amount

In 2024, communities may apply for one-year operational subsidies. These subsidies are intended to support the operations or a certain part of the operations of communities in 2025.

The minimum amount of each one-year operational subsidy is 20,000 euros. Taike’s one-year operational subsidies may cover a maximum of 80% of the total amount of eligible 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%).

Operational subsidies may be awarded if considered necessary taking into consideration the applicant’s other state support, as well as an evaluation of the applicant’s operations. These subsidies are discretionary and are awarded on an annual basis on condition that Parliament allocates the required appropriations in the annual state budget. 

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

Previously awarded subsidies are listed on the Taike website.

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, as are the special characteristics of cultural and linguistic minorities.

Evaluation criteria for operational subsidies:

1. Ambition and quality of operations

• Are the community’s operations ambitious and of high quality?
• What is the community’s strategy and vision or operating plan for the coming years?
• What kinds of ideas and operating models do the community’s operations offer to the field of the arts, artists and audiences?
• What international activities and ambitions does the community have?
• How are equality, cultural diversity, 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?
• Does the applicant have guidelines for preventing and addressing inappropriate behaviour and harassment?
• How does the community develop its operations?

2. Scope and impact of operations

• What is the profile of the community regionally, nationally or internationally?
• What is the status of the community in its field of the arts?
• What kinds of networks does the community have?
• What is the social impact of the community’s operations?
• How do the community’s operations encourage an understanding of or discussion about art?
• How are accessibility and inclusion ensured?
• What are the key figures for operations (e.g. person years, audience numbers, number of performances, exhibitions, workshops)?

3. Quality of artistic content

• What is the quality and unique nature of the artistic content?
• What impressive is the community within its field of the arts?
• Are staff members professionals?
• What are the recent national and international merits of the community?

4. Financial sustainability and feasibility

• Have the community’s finances been managed sustainably and responsibly?
• How feasible and balanced is the community’s 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 share (%) of realised eligible expenses were covered by the previous year’s subsidy?
• What other financing does the community have for its operations?
   

General terms and conditions

Finances

• Subsidies awarded by other parties are taken into consideration when awarding subsidies. Other private and public financing is considered an advantage when evaluating the applicant’s need for a subsidy insofar as there is still a need for the subsidy.
• A community that already receives a general grant awarded by the Ministry of Education and Culture cannot receive an operational subsidy for a specific artform awarded by Taike.
• Subsidies for communities supported in previous years may be increased, decreased or not awarded according to the community’s operations, comparisons to the applications submitted by other communities, or the amount of funding that has been allocated.
• The applicant is responsible for organising accounting in the manner stipulated in the Accounting Act and Decree.
• Finances for artistic operations (revenue and expenditure) should be listed separately in a cost centre report or income statement from other operations (such as restaurant operations) and their financing.
• Taike’s aim is to give communities the opportunity to safeguard the continuity of their operations by strengthening their own capital. Own capital does not affect the amount of the subsidy if it does not exceed 50 % of the annual operating budget.
• Subsidies are awarded as de minimis aid. Information about other de minimis aid received during the current tax year and the two previous tax years must be included in the application. Taike may also award the grant in accordance with the General Block Exemption Regulation if the conditions for de minimis aid do not allow the grant to be awarded.

Quality of operations

• The community is well established and carries out regular year-round operations.
• The activities of the community cannot be profit-based.
• Communities that organise exhibitions and receive significant state funding must show that they no longer charge gallery fees from artists or that they have an acceptable plan for discontinuing these fees.
• 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.
• Subsidies are generally not awarded for educational activities.

Obligations of recipients

• Recipients must submit written clarification and a financial report of how the subsidy was used.
   

What to include with your application

• The community’s audited financial statements (signed) for the previous financial period (annual report, long income statement and balance sheet).
• The community’s operating plan and budget for 2025.
• The community’s rules or articles of associations if the applicant is a company.

The maximum file size for each attachment is 4Mb. The file names should describe the content. Applications and attachments are not returned.

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 January. 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. Taike does not disclose confidential information. 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 

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