Hiring grants for youth activities

Hiring grants are awarded to registered Helsinki-based youth organisations or similar registered associations that meet the following criteria:

• They have local, Helsinki-based youth associations, sections/departments/activity groups under their supervision, or the nature of the organisation’s activities otherwise requires organising.
• Two thirds of their members or active participants are under the age of 29.

When deciding on the allocation, we consider an organisation’s need for a grant. To determine this, we take the following into account:

The scope, purpose and nature of the applicant’s operations and its need for employees

• The number of members and active participants who are Helsinki residents and under the age of 29 and their proportion to other members and active participants
• The number of different activities
• The organisation’s regional coverage and their focus on Helsinki

The applicant’s financial status

• The applicant’s assets
• Having disproportionately low fundraising affects the grant negatively
• A disproportionately large share of administrative costs in the total expenses for the financial year impacts the grant negatively

Public grants and subsidised loans to the applicant and their use

The organisation’s role in youth policy

• Youth advocacy activities
• Social activation of youth
• The uniqueness of the organisation

We also focus on the relevance of the applicant’s activities to youth policy and education.

Evaluation

We evaluate the operations of the associations applying for a hiring grant every three years. The operational evaluation is carried out by the Partnership Unit, which submits the evaluation report to the Youth Sub-committee as an attachment to the hiring grant proposal. This evaluation is one of the eligibility criteria for the hiring grant. An external professional service carries out the organisational evaluation, which is based on a comprehensive self-evaluation by the organisations. The evaluation focuses on e.g. the organisation’s activities, administration, and results, as well as monitoring and measuring its activities and results. The evaluation both informs the Youth Sub-committee and provides organisations with a tool for improving their operations.

The deadline for applying for a hiring grant for the current year is the end of the last day in February. However, you can still submit attachments until the end of March if, for example, the association’s financial statements are not ready by the end of February. 

The application is completed electronically through the city’s grant application e-service. The registered association must identify itself through its suomi.fi authentication.

Attachments are submitted via the City of Helsinki e-services. 

You must always include the following attachments with your application:

• An action plan for the year that the application concerns
• The budget for the year that the application concerns
• Financial statements from the previous fiscal year
• The annual report from the previous fiscal year
• An auditor or operations inspector's statement regarding the previous fiscal year
• The signed minutes of the annual or spring general meeting, showing the approval of the financial statements and the granting of discharge from liability
• A list of the organisation’s subordinate local chapters and their membership numbers (if the organisation has chapters or similar groups)

A new applicant must additionally include the following attachments (as must a returning applicant if their rules or bank account number have changed): 

• The association’s current rules 
• A copy of a bank statement or the bank’s confirmation of the account holder 

For a copy of a bank statement, it is sufficient to provide the page that shows the account number and the account holder. You may redact any other information on the statement, if you prefer.

If an association is applying for a grant for its youth section in Helsinki, the youth section’s activities and finances must be shown as a separate item in the financial statements, annual report, budget and action plan, distinct from other activities. For example, the financial statements should show the youth section in Helsinki with its own cost centre.

You can also submit the attachments electronically after submitting the application until the end of March or by a deadline to be agreed upon. However, please note that delays in submitting attachments will also delay the processing of your application and the decision-making process.

Every three years, the Youth Sub-committee adopts a policy on hiring grants and decides which organisations are eligible for the grant based on operational evaluations and other eligibility criteria. However, you must apply for the hiring grant separately each year, and each year’s hiring grants are also decided separately. The decision is usually made at the Youth Sub-committee meeting held at the end of May.

The decision will be sent to the applicant by post. The Youth Sub-committee’s meeting minutes, which include the decision, are also available on the City of Helsinki's website. The Youth Sub-committee’s meeting agendas are published approximately one week before the meeting, and both the agendas and minutes can also be found on the city’s website.(Link leads to external service)

You cannot view the decisions on the city’s grant application e-service.

You should read the decision carefully. The decision always begins with the decision section, which also includes obligations and instructions for the applicant, e.g., on how to report on using the grant. The decision section also tells you the period and purpose for which the grant has been awarded. The grant must be used for the purpose and during the period for which it was awarded.

Eligible expenses for the hiring grant are:

• Employee hiring costs
• Statutory and voluntary social security and statutory insurance costs arising from hiring employees
• The employee’s travel expenses during their work

The hiring grant can only be used to cover the costs of hiring full-time employees. For example, the grant cannot be used to cover the wages of club instructors who are paid by the hour. 

Reporting on use

You must report the use of the grant received in the previous year in the new grant application. The report requires the association’s annual report, income statement, balance sheet, and auditor or inspector’s statement for the year in question, as well as the annual meeting minutes, which show a review of the financial statements and the granting of discharge from liability. You must submit a report on how the awarded grant was used by the end of February of the following year, even if you do not apply for or receive a new grant.

If you do not provide an adequate report on how the grant was used within the deadline, the hiring grant may be recovered. Please bear in mind that, per the City of Helsinki’s general grant allocation guidelines, the grant provider has the right to request all the information and documents required to verify the use of the grant. If specifically requested, the grant recipient is thus obligated to provide information beyond what is specified in the decision. 

In addition, some youth activity grant recipients are selected for an annual audit of their accounts. Each grant recipient is obligated to participate in the financial audit and provide the required documents and information if the applicant is selected for the audit.

Associations that have received a hiring grant from the Youth Sub-committee in the previous year are eligible for an advance.

Read more about hiring grant advances.

Read more general guidance on grants for youth activities. 

Read more about guidance and support for grants for youth activities. 

Please contact the planners in the Youth Services Partnership Unit if you have any questions or concerns about youth activity grants.