Grants | City Funds

Purpose of the grant 

The City Funds of the Kordelin Foundation promote local arts and culture. The grants support projects that promote the common good, build dialogue, and create new ways to work and cooperate. The end result may be e.g. a public art or culture event, performance, series of concerts, or a piece of public art. Funded projects must benefit the local community and its inhabitants. Each city fund awards grants only to projects that are carried out in the city in question.

The projects are expected to display an innovative and experimental approach: they can create new experiences for the public, new content, or repeatable or scalable operational models. We value strong local roots and cooperation with local stakeholders and creators. 

In addition to the above, the Huittinen Fund supports a regularly organized nationwide wind instrument event. Moreover, the Seinäjoki Fund regularly grants a technology award. More information on our funds. 

Funding path with the Foundation 

The Foundation provides different types of funding methods, allowing a project to receive long-term funding during a span of several years. A project financed by a city fund can start out as an experiment, building the basis for further, expanded operations. A promising project may become eligible for the Foundation’s August grant round, expand into a two-year Major cultural project, and, if successful, also receive bridge funding to ensure its continuity. We seek to create vibrant and self-supporting cultural industries that enrich society in a sustainable manner.

Who can apply?

Grants can be applied for by private individuals and registered collectives that hold a business identifier. Applicants need to be Finnish or operate in Finland. Working groups may apply if the official applicant for a grant is a collective, e.g. an association, cooperative, or a company. 

How will applications be evaluated? 

Evaluation of the applications will be based on the following considerations:

• Implementation plan and local significance. How do the project’s goals and results benefit the local community? What is the significance of the project for the region? 
• Target audience. What is the project’s target audience and how will they be reached? 
• Innovative and experimental approach. The project has an innovative, open-minded and/or experimental approach, and it strengthens local identities and the sense of community through culture and arts. Results may include new contents, ways of working, or new experiences for the public. A project financed by a city fund can first start out as an experiment, building the basis for further expanded operations. 
• We value strong local roots and cooperation with local stakeholders and promoters. 

The evaluation process consists of 3 stages: 

1. The Fund’s expert members evaluate all received applications.
2. Funding decisions are prepared in a joint meeting of the Foundation’s and the Fund’s experts.
3. The Foundation’s Board will make the final funding decisions.

Amount and duration of the grant 

The grants available to applicants are expense grants. Expense grants will be used to cover the expenses accrued by the project, such as, for example, salaries and purchased services. You cannot apply for an individual working grant. 

The amount of the grant varies by fund from €8,000 to €20,000. The amounts are fixed, which means you cannot apply for a grant that is smaller or larger than the announced amount. 

Huittinen Fund
Grant amount is 15 000 €. Two grants will be awarded.
Hyvinkää Fund
Grant amount is €8,000. One grant will be awarded.
Jyväskylä Fund
Grant amount is €10,000. One grant will be awarded.
Lappeenranta Fund
Grant amount is €10,000. One grant will be awarded.
Nokia Fund
Grant amount is €20,000. Two grants will be awarded.
Raahe Fund
Grant amount is €10,000. Three grants will be awarded.
Rauma Fund
Grant amount is €10,000. Three grants will be awarded.
Savonlinna Fund
Grant amount is €10,000. One grant will be awarded.
Seinäjoki Fund
Grant amount is €15,000. Two grants will be awarded. 

Applying for a grant 

Grants from city funds can be applied for every other year. On odd years there will not be an application round. The application period is from 15 to 31 January 2026. The application period ends on 31 January at 4 pm Finnish time. Applications are submitted in the online grant service. Grant applications can be created and sent in the grant online service only during the application period. When filling the application form, applicants choose the Fund to which they wish to direct their application. 

Applying for a grant requires signing in with personal bank identifiers or a mobile ID. When applying for a collective grant, the application is filled in by the person responsible for the project. The application and its attachments must be submitted via the online grant service within the application period. The Foundation does not accept incomplete or late applications or attachments. 

Attachments to the application

• CV of the person in charge of the project (mandatory). We recommend using the CV template for researchers created by the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity’s (TENK) where applicable. 
• Project plan (mandatory). Maximum length five (5) pages. 
• Confirmation of interest (optional). The Foundation will consider it an advantage if the applicant can already in the application phase demonstrate that a project partner has expressed interest in the project. This can be verified by attaching to the application an email or a document received from such a partner, i.e. for example a confirmation from a producer, venue, gallery, or publisher. Contracts should not be submitted. 
• Project budget (mandatory). 
• Report on operations and financial statement (only for collective applicants, mandatory). 

Instructions for preparing and submitting attachments: 

• Name the attachments in a way that describes their content, avoiding special characters. 
• All attachments must be in PDF format and must be submitted as individual files through the online grant service. 
• The maximum size of each individual attachment is 3 MB. 
• In the image attachment, each image must have a caption or legend. 
• If the application is incomplete, the service will prevent it from being submitted until all the required information has been added. 

General terms of the grant

The work or project can begin immediately after receiving a positive grant decision. The project should begin during the year the grant was awarded. If, for example, the grant is awarded in 2026, work must commence during 2026. Grants are not awarded retrospectively. A report on the use of a previous grant received from the Kordelin Foundation must be submitted before applying for a new grant. 

Grants and taxation 

More information is available on our web page Instructions for Grant Recipients. Tax regulations may change, and their interpretation may vary. The Kordelin Foundation does not provide tax advice or guarantee the accuracy of provided information. With any unclear issues, grant recipients should seek the advice of the tax authorities (vero.fi). 

Frequently asked questions

Please see Frequently asked questions.

Decisions 

The Board of the Alfred Kordelin Foundation will make decisions on grant awards in March or April. We will notify all applicants of the decisions via email during April.