Grant Application Process 

You can apply for a grant for a wide variety of academic and artistic purposes and from numerous sources. Grants are available for artistic work, projects, purchase of an instrument or other equipment, international networking and opportunities, research, working groups, organisations and almost anything related to your learning and career. 

There are hundreds of grant providers in Finland, and it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with their mission and conditions before applying. Find a foundation that is a good match for your project. It is a waste of time for you and the funding body if you submit applications without checking whether the fund or foundation is right for you.

Artists often have several projects in progress at the same time. However, most grant providers will only award one grant to an applicant at a time.  It’s up to you to decide which project you want to apply funding for. You will also often get better results by applying for specific projects that are relevant to your work, rather than sending out general applications to numerous grant providers. 

Attend grant info sessions. Funding bodies organise information sessions where they provide plenty of useful information on how to apply, what kind of grants are available, and so on. Take the opportunity to ask if you have any questions. If something is puzzling you, it’s likely other applicants are puzzled by the same thing. You can also ask the funder directly if you have any questions about the application or budget but can’t find the answer on their website. 

Check the application and decision-making timelines of grant providers. Note that sometimes you need to start working on the application months in advance to apply for funding on time. For example, if you start a project in June, you’ll need to know what the project will involve already eight months before, so that you can make a comprehensive enough plan and budget for it, if you want to apply for funding from the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s (FCF) main call in October. The decision on the FCF grant will come in the January or February following the call, after which you will be able to finalise the details of your project you’ll start in June.  
 

• Write a concise and clear description of your project. For more information, see the article Work Plan for an Application (hyperlink). 

• Draw up a budget for the project. For more information, see the article Project Budget (hyperlink). 

• Ask the people involved in your project for permission to be mentioned in your application. 

• For some applications, you can ask for references from key people in your field. Think about who they might be and ask for a reference letter well in advance, for example, a month before you submit your application. 

• Plan the timeframe for your grant application so that once a favourable decision has been made, you can move ahead with your project at a brisk pace. 

• Choose the fund or foundation that suits your project best. 

• Log in to the system of the grant provider of your choice and check what information and attachments are required for your application.  

• Prepare or find the necessary attachments well in advance. Make sure that the attachments are up-to-date and perfectly complement the content of your application. For example, update and tailor your résumé, portfolio, and other work samples to support your application.  
   

When You Receive a Grant 

It’s standard practice to mention the grant provider when you communicate about your project. You will find instructions on how to do this in the grant decision or on the website of the grant provider.  

The leader of the working group is responsible for the use of the grant and is therefore comparable to an employer. Clearly agree with your team on the schedule for the payment of the grant, the amount of the grant in relation to working time, roles, and responsibilities. Some grant providers pay each team member directly, so the leader does not have to manage the grant for the whole team. 

If you receive a grant but your plans change substantially, let the funder know. In most cases, the change is not a problem if the main objective remains the same. The funding body needs to know if the schedule, the people working on the project or the content changes. 

If you are unable to accept your grant, please inform the grant provider immediately. It is also possible to reschedule or temporarily suspend a work grant.  

You are allowed to earn some additional income during the grant period. So, for example, you don’t have to stop teaching part-time during the grant period. Check with your funding body for instructions on how to handle these situations. 

What If You Don’t Get Funding? 

If you don’t get funding, don’t be discouraged. Sometimes you must apply for funding for the same project several times before you get it. Although there is a lot of money to be allocated, there are also lots of applicants and only a small number of projects end up receiving funding in each call.  

The grant panels or committees select the successful applicants from the pool of applications they happen to receive that time. Sometimes there are many applications with similar content in the same round and therefore your application will not be selected. Another time, your application may be successful, because the content of the other applications is different from yours or your application stands out from a group of similar proposals.  

Grant committee members and decision-makers are often professionals in your field. Applying for grants is also about communicating to the members of the panel that you are an active player in the field. Even if your application is not successful, you have certainly left a mark as someone to be reckoned with.