Grant procedure

Guidelines for grants concerning cultural activities

The law for organizing cultural activities in municipalities prescribes the task of the local government to promote, support and organize cultural activity in a municipality. The grants aim to support free citizen activity and the contribution between different actors of the community, and to diversify cultural activity in the region of Akaa.
The granting guidelines are decided by the Recreation Board. Awarding the grants is discretionary.

General guidelines
The grants for supporting cultural activity can be awarded to:
•    associations from Akaa who function in the fields of art and culture
•    other associations in Akaa, project and work groups, who are planning a project that can be counted as cultural activity
•    cultural institutions in Akaa
•    private people in Akaa

The grants are awarded as operational grants and project grants. A grant can be allocated to a cultural activity taking place during the ongoing calendar year. A project grant is to be applied for before the beginning of the granted project or event.
The grant cannot be used for any other purposes than it was allocated for. It is up to the person who awards the grant to decide whether it can be used for another purpose. If the grantee does not follow the given directions, the grant can be claimed back.
The grant cannot be allocated if the applier has already received other grants for the same purpose by some other unit in the Akaa municipality.

Types of grants

Operational grant
The grant is awarded for the general function of organizations that take part in cultural activity. There are certain things that are taken into consideration when awarding the grant:
•    the activity, extent and significance of the activities
•    the economy of the activity
•    the number of members engaged in the activity
•    following the plan of action

Project grant
The grant is awarded to organizations, cultural establishments and individual art aficionados including:
•    everyone who wishes to organize a public cultural event
•    promotion of art and cultural education
•    to finance publication costs
•    to exhibition activity
•    for financing instructor fees
•    for financing course expenses
•    to international activity, precedence given to twin town activity
•    for financing materials
•    to other costs at discretion
In the allocation process of both the operational grant and the project grant, special attention is paid to:
•    the extent and amount of collaboration between different actors
•    targeting the activity to children and adolescents

Application procedure
The grants can be applied for annually, and the application must be submitted by March 26th. Late applications will not be accepted. A grant can be awarded only based on an application. You can fill out the application that best suits your purposes. In general, we expect the following documents to be enclosed with the application:  
•    budget proposal or a plan of action that should introduce the activity to be granted
•    an annual report and verification of last completed financial year
•    accountant’s dictum
All grant applications can be filled out and printed from the town of Akaa website www.akaa.fi/lomakkeet in doc or excel file format. Forms are available only in Finnish.

Payment of grants
The awarded grant will be paid after the decision is legally valid. In the case of the project grant, the funds will be paid after the receipts have been received. Only half of the project grant can be paid in advance. The advance payment can be claimed back if the planned event or project has not been realised or the final outcome is different from what it was stated to be in the verdict.
An account must be given on the use of operational grants within one year from the allocation of the grant.

Other Grants
In addition to the grants awarded by the town of Akaa, there are also other grants available. For example, different foundations and communities award grants for arts and culture. The Council of Finnish Foundations (Suomen Säätiöpalvelu) can provide more information on the matter.
Important patrons of culture in the Pirkanmaa area are the Arts Council of Pirkanmaa and the Finnish Cultural Foundation.