Targeted grant for sports

Target grants are for development work that is intended to prevent 8–15-year old children and young people from dropping out of guided sports and physical activities. Target grants are intended to develop guided physical activities in a direction where children and young people commit further to guided physical activities in their leisure time. Eligible projects must be targeted primarily at children and young people from Helsinki.  

Eligible projects must implement at least two of the minor measures as described below. The measures chosen must be clearly tied to the current status of the association and its existing resources.  

• Creation/modelling of the club’s internal activity paths  

• New and varied ways for goal-oriented and leisure activities  

• Various ways to participate in club activities in addition to regular leisure sports activities  

• Improving instructor and coach competence in line with the goals of the target grant  

• Participation/involvement/commitment of parents/guardians in club activities  

The assessment of grants focus on applications that attempt to reduce drop-out through new types of partnerships and development measures, enabling children and young people to engage in the activities in a more varied manner at different levels. Eligible projects must strive for long-term change in preventing the drop-out phenomenon.   

An application assessment also focuses on the following factors: the project scope and appropriateness in respect to the goals of the grant, the feasibility of the project's financial and operating plan, the applicant’s existing funds and other possible external funding for the activities, continuity of the activities after the project period and assessment of the impact. Implementing the project in cooperation with other operators is considered to be a benefit.  

The grant can be used on project expenses that are not the operator's regular basic expenses. The projects are required to have a share of self-financing. The grant may not be used to fund the purchase of fixed assets. Target grants may not be used to support business activities.  

The Project must have a person in charge, a clear operating plan as well as clear, realistic and measurable goals. Grants are provided for projects that last for one year.   

Grant sums range between EUR 2,500 and 25,000.  

The applicant must comply with the principles of good governance, the ethical principles for sports communities and  principles of the UN convention on the rights of the child in all its operations. 

• Read the ethical principles for sports communities(Link leads to external service) (pdf, in Finnish) 
• Read the principles of good governance for associations(Link leads to external service) (pdf, in Finnish) 
• Read the principles of the UN convention on the rights of the child (in Finnish)(Link leads to external service)

The targeted grant application period is from  11 March to 5 April.

The grant is applied for through submitting the following two forms by the given deadline:

• a general grant application form for Sports (the grant type must be Targeted grant)
• a separate Webropol appendix(Link leads to external service) (In Finnish)

Click here(Link leads to external service) for instructions on how to use the e-services to apply for a grant and how to log in.

In exceptional cases, the grant application may be submitted to the City Register Office at City of Helsinki Register Office, Culture and Leisure Division/Sports, PO Box 10, FI-00099 City of Helsinki, Finland (street address: City Hall, Pohjoisesplanadi 11–13). Applications submitted to the City Register Office must arrive by 15.00 on the last day of the application period.

The application must be accompanied with the mandatory attachments specified for each grant, a list of which is available below.

In addition to the application form, the applicant must complete a mandatory Webropol appendix for the application to be processed (link above).

If the applicant has not previously applied for any grants from the City of Helsinki or if any of the relevant information has changed, the following documents must also be attached to the application: 

• Rules of the association 
• A notice from the bank on the account holder or a copy of a bank statement (the applicant must have its own Finnish bank account into which the grant will be paid) 
• An extract from the Register of Associations
• Financial statements, an annual report and an audit report (most recently confirmed)
• A budget and an action plan for the application year

The decisions on targeted grants are made by the Sports Sub-committee of the Culture and Leisure Committee. The aim is to make a grant decision in May. The grant decisions, including the instructions for appeal, will be sent for information to all applicants. 

Decisions by the Sports Sub-committee of the Culture and Leisure Committee can be viewed here(Link leads to external service).

The grant will be paid in accordance with the grant decision in one instalment into a bank account specified by the recipient. If the recipient does not have a bank account, they must open one. The City of Helsinki will only pay a grant into a bank account in the name of the recipient. 

A prerequisite for the granting and payment of the grant is that there have been no discrepancies regarding any grants awarded by the city to the recipient in previous years. The city has the right to suspend the payment of a grant until the matter has been resolved if there is reason to suspect that the prerequisites for the recovery of a grant specified in Section 10 of the general grant criteria of the City of Helsinki are met.

The city has the right to set off the grant in whole or in part against a recoverable claim from the recipient.

The grant can only be used for the purpose stated in the grant decision. If the grant decision does not specify the purpose, the grant must be used for the purpose stated in the application. Targeted grants awarded in 2024 may be used until 31 May 2025, unless otherwise specified in the decision.

Acquisition of equipment directly related to or enabling the implementation of the activities may account for up to 20% of the total budget of the project.

The grant cannot be used for fundraising or for business and investment expenditure, or to increase the association’s financial assets or any other long-term investments. The grant cannot be forwarded to other associations or distributed as individual grants to members.

The use of the targeted grant must be reported via a separate form. The grant decision indicates when the report must be submitted. 2023 report form for targeted grant(Link leads to external service) (in Finnish).

Read more about the other documents governing the award, use and reporting of grants for sports on the Guidance and support page(Link leads to external service).

The contact details of personnel providing personalised guidance on sports grants are available on the Contact details page(Link leads to external service).