Resident participation: General and operating grants

Information about resident participation general and operating grants

Application period 2.5.-2.6.2025

A general grant may be allocated for the costs of community centres maintained by corporations and companies, such as rents and personnel expenses. A general grant may also be used to cover other costs incurred for the maintenance of community centres, such as costs related to data connections, cleaning or the purchase of supplies.

Financial support may be provided for personnel costs incurred for coordinating resident activities in a community centre or the local area, taking care of the reservation management of a community centre, and organising low-threshold meeting place activities open to all in a community centre.

An operating grant may be allocated for coordinating and developing cooperation and influencing structures supporting local participation; improving local communications organised with communal and participatory methods; or developing and piloting methods and models that improve local participation and influence, among other purposes.

Criteria for grants

• Grants for resident participation are awarded for non-profit activities for different population groups that are in line with the City of Helsinki’s City Strategy, supplement the activities provided by the City, are open to all, generally free of charge, and promote interaction, regional cooperation and participation.

  Activities are considered to be free of charge even if they involve a nominal material fee or another charge based on cost price. Whether the activities are held occasionally or regularly has no impact on the definition of free of charge.

• The objective of the activities for which a grant is awarded must be to improve residents’ opportunities for participation and influence, community spirit, and the comfort and attractiveness of the area.
• The objectives include local balance, needs-based consideration and the continuity of activities. The awarding of support prioritises areas where less activities are organised or which are deemed to benefit the most from receiving support.
• A condition for receiving a full salary subsidy is that the job description of the person to be hired must include coordination of community centre activities and local development/cooperation as well as organising community centre activities that are open to all and facilitate interactions. A salary subsidy may not be used for taking care of an association’s general administration. If an area has several community centres that receive grants and that clearly overlap in terms of the activities they organise and their participants, a full salary subsidy may be divided between two community centre operators.
• An operating grant may be awarded for organising cultural and neighbourhood events in so far as the events include activities that support the participation and influencing opportunities of local residents.
• The applicant must also have other resources to support the activities, which may come from fundraising, membership fees, income gained from the premises or renting them for a short period of time, voluntary work, and other grants. In so far as a community centre or a part of it is rented for use by an external operator for an extended period of time, no grant may be awarded for the facilities.
• A grant may be used to cover administrative costs such as tools in so far as the costs directly relate to open community centre activities. A grant may not be used to cover an association’s general administration costs, such as annual meeting expenses, bank charges or financial statement expenses.
• A grant may not be used for investments or to cover costs incurred from a major improvement of community centre facilities.
• In the awarding of grants, attention is paid to the cooperation between community centre operators as well as cooperation with the City of Helsinki and other local operators.
• In the awarding of grants, attention is paid to the public benefit offered by the recipient of the grant as well as the impact of the activities and the recipient’s self-sufficiency.