Ways to donate

Our donors

The Finnish Cultural Foundation is one of the most important supporters of science, research, art and culture in Finland. This is thanks to our strong financial standing, built on decades of donations and bequests.

Our donors are extremely important to us, and we take great care to ensure that any donations received are used in accordance with the donor’s will. We also offer those who make a donation or a bequest to the Finnish Cultural Foundation the opportunity to follow our activities up close.

The Finnish Cultural Foundation currently receives around €10 million a year in donations and bequests. If you would like to make a donation or bequest to science, research or the arts, our legal counsel will be happy to tell you more.

Anna Kulju

Director of Legal Affairs

wills, donations and legal matters

+358 50 575 0087 firstname.lastname@skr.fi

You can specify that your donation can be freely used for science, research and the arts, allowing our experts to direct your donation to the areas they consider most relevant at any given time.

If you want to direct your bequest or donation to a specific purpose or ensure that your name or the name of a loved one lives on, you can request that a donor fund be established. You can support, for example, an area of art or research related to your or your loved one’s personal history or career. A donor fund’s purpose can also be supporting science, research and the arts in general. Today, the Finnish Cultural Foundation has more than 900 donor funds.

A donor fund can be set up if the donation is at least €100,000. This ensures that the investment will generate sufficient revenue within a reasonable timeframe to be distributed as grants. Smaller bequests and donations are distributed as donor grants.

The Finnish Cultural Foundation can organise collections to mark anniversaries or in memory of someone. The accumulated funds can either be distributed as donor grants or channelled to an existing donor fund.

The donor’s name will remain confidential until a donor fund is set up or the donation is made public. Even then, the donor can choose to remain anonymous.

How we manage our capital

Funds donated or left in a will to the Finnish Cultural Foundation are added to our investment portfolio, which is managed as a single entity. After the administration costs have been deducted, the revenue on the capital is divided between the donor funds in proportion to their capital.

20% of the revenue from donor funds established for a specific purpose is transferred annually to the general fund of the central or regional fund. From the general fund, grants are awarded to areas of science, research or art that lack dedicated funds.

Bequests

A bequest is always tailored to individual needs and wishes. We are happy to help with drawing up your bequest and with the practical arrangements relating to it. As part of the process, we will discuss the possibility of establishing a donor fund.

Even if your bequest for the Finnish Cultural Foundation is drawn up elsewhere, we recommend that you contact our legal councel, who will be happy to advise you on matters relating to the foundation.

We carefully follow the wishes of the person making the bequest. We are also happy to take care of practical matters such as funeral arrangements, estate administration and the liquidation of assets. We can also take care of the maintenance of a grave and work with the National Archives of Finland to create and conserve personal archives.

What can donations make possible?