The City of Vantaa's general grant terms

Grants are awarded to associations and other communities in Vantaa on the basis of applications. Grants can also be awarded to associations and other communities outside of Vantaa if the activities for which the grant is to be awarded are targeted at Vantaa residents. In the case of grants and stipends awarded to private persons, the applicant must live in Vantaa or the applicant’s municipality of residence must be Vantaa. 

When awarding a grant, the quality and scope of the applicant's activities will be assessed. In addition, the methodicalness of the activities and the appropriate use of previous grants awarded to the same applicant will be taken into account when awarding a grant. 

Grants will not be awarded to the same activities for which the applicant has already received or is receiving a grant from the City of Vantaa. Grants will not be awarded to services covered by the City of Vantaa's outsourced service agreement.

Grants will not be awarded to activities whose purpose is to wholly or partially promote the dissemination of a religious message or the practice of a religion. Participation in the activities for which a grant is to be awarded must not require participation in religious activities.  

Grants will not be awarded to party-political activities. However, the City of Vantaa may at its own discretion award grants for activities that strengthen young people’s capacity for operating in a democratic society. 

Applications for grants are primarily submitted through e-services. The application must be received by the given deadline. The application periods for grants will be announced on the City of Vantaa's website. 

In the case of associations, applications for grants can be submitted by the association’s signatory designated in the Register of Associations or a person authorized by the association. 

If the application is incomplete, the City of Vantaa may request that it be supplemented. Supplements must be submitted by the given deadline. If the application is not supplemented, the application will be processed on the basis of the information provided. 

Grants and stipends can be paid, at the earliest, when the decision on awarding the grant or stipend enters into force. The payment of operating grants and project assistance is explained in more detail in the sections “Additional terms for operating grants" and "Additional terms for project assistance”. 

A grant or a part thereof can also be paid in advance on the basis of an application. Those applying for advance payment commit to repaying the advance payment if the grant is not awarded or the grant decision is repealed.  

The awarded grant is applicant-specific and cannot be transferred to another community. However, the City of Vantaa may at its own discretion permit the transfer of a grant, for example to the organization’s member association. 

The grant must be used for the purpose for which it was awarded.  

The grant recipient must provide an account on the spending of the awarded grant to the extent required by the City of Vantaa. The account on spending must be submitted by the given deadline.  

In the case of associations, accounts on spending can be submitted by the association’s signatory designated in the Register of Associations or a person authorized by the association.  

If the account on spending is incomplete, the City of Vantaa may request that it be supplemented. Supplements must be submitted by the given deadline. If the account on spending is not supplemented, the account on spending will be processed on the basis of the information provided.  

The City of Vantaa will make a decision on approving or rejecting the account on spending as well as possibly recovering the grant. 

The use of the grant must be easily monitored in bookkeeping. The grant recipients shall apply the Accounting Act and its statutes and regulations to their bookkeeping. Associations that receive grants shall apply the Auditing Act and the Associations Act to their auditing or performance auditing.  

The City of Vantaa has the right to audit the grant recipient’s/applicant’s operations, administration and bookkeeping to the extent the City of Vantaa deems necessary at any time to verify that the grant is used in accordance with the grant conditions.  

If the grant is spent on paying salaries or fees, the grant recipient is responsible for paying withholding taxes and other statutory fees.  

Grant recipients must publish in their annual report or in another way required by the body awarding the grant make public that the community has received financial assistance from the City of Vantaa. 

Grant recipients must cooperate with the City of Vantaa on matters relating to the activities for which the grant is awarded.  

The grant or part thereof shall be recovered if:  

• the use of the grant or part thereof deviates from the purpose it was awarded for,  
• no acceptable account on the spending of the grant has been submitted by the deadline or an incomplete account on spending has not been supplemented by the deadline,
• the provided information is incorrect,  
• the grant or a part thereof is not used,
• the applicant receives or has already received a grant for the same activities from the City of Vantaa, or
• the decision on awarding the grant is repealed. 

For a particularly weighty reason, the grant or part thereof may not be recovered even if an acceptable account on the spending of the grant has not been submitted by the given deadline. 

A decision on also using a grant during the calendar year following the fiscal year for which the grant was awarded or, for specific reasons, for several years, can be made on the basis of a separate application submitted by the grant recipient. 

A decision on changing the purpose of the awarded grant can be made for a specific reason on the basis of a separate application submitted by the grant recipient. 

The grant recipient must not use the grant to pay for the costs of fund-raising or business and investment activities, nor for increasing their financial assets or other long-term investments. The rules on state aid will be taken into account when awarding a grant. 

Operating grants are awarded for an association’s basic activities or, upon consideration, for a specific part of an association’s activities that are compliant with the association's rules. The operating grant will be awarded once a year and it must be spent during the year it was awarded. In order for an association or other community to receive an operating grant, it must have operated for at least one fiscal year by the end of the application period. 

The costs that are eligible for a grant are specified in more detail for each grant type. The City of Vantaa's support percentage (%) of an applicant’s eligible costs can be determined on a grant-type-specific basis.  

New applicants must submit the association's rules and certificate of the account holder as an attachment to the application. In the event of a change in the association's rules or account number, the attachments must be resubmitted. 

In the account on the spending of the operating grant, the revenues and costs of the activities must be specified. When the grant is worth €5,000 or more, separately specified attachments must also be submitted with the account on spending. The necessary attachments and their requirements have been specified in the grant-type-specific terms and conditions. In the case of grants below €5,000, the documents must be delivered separately upon request.  

Operating grants are paid when, for previous grants,  

• the City of Vantaa has received and approved an account on spending, or  
• the grant has been repaid in full, or  
• a payment plan approved by the City of Vantaa has been drawn up for the grant to be recovered.  

Project assistance is a targeted grant that is awarded, for example, to events, projects, courses and hobby groups. 

Project assistance is awarded to the activities described in the application. The amount of project assistance is based on the costs of the activities described in the application and, for some types of grants, on the grant sum specified per session. The calculation method and the grant sum per session are determined on a grant-type-specific basis. 

The project assistance application must be submitted no later than 21 days before the start of the activity for which the grant is to be awarded, unless otherwise specified in the grant-type-specific terms and conditions. For applicants receiving an operating grant, project assistance can only be awarded for justified reasons.   

Project assistance is paid upon an account on spending. The payment of project assistance is specified in more detail in the grant-type-specific terms and conditions.