Applying for an operating grant
Who can apply for a grant?
Turku-based sports clubs and associations that organise sports activities can apply for an operating grant. The grant is intended for associations whose primary purpose, as outlined in their governing rules, is to engage in physical activities. Physical activity includes both coached, competition-oriented sports and recreational or fitness exercises.
- The grant requires that regular physical activity has taken place at least once a week for a minimum of three months during the previous operating period. For regular sports activities, we take into account the time periods when municipal sports facilities are available and can be used for these activities.
- We do not support exercise activities that are instructed or coached remotely via streaming, email, or other communication media.
Operating grants also include start-up grants. We provide start-up grants to sports clubs and associations when the general criteria for operating grants are not applicable. This includes, for example, clubs that started their activities in the same calendar year they apply for an operating grant or in the middle of the previous year.
At the discretion of the Sports Committee, we provide start-up grants of EUR 200 per association. To apply for a start-up grant, use the same form and submit it by the same deadline as the operating grant application. A Turku-based association may receive a start-up grant if it has been registered as an association through the Finnish Patent and Registration Office. You can receive a start-up grant only once.
When to apply for an operating grant?
The application period for operating grants is from 18 September to 31 October each year.
Apply for a grant for the following year based on data from the current year. When applying, include an estimate of the physical activity data for the remainder of the year (November and December).
How is the grant amount determined?
The grant amount is determined based on the extent of sports activities, the target group, and the available annual budget. The Sports Committee confirms the available budget annually. We allocate approximately 70% of the budget to activities for children and young people under the age of 20, and 30% to activities for adults (aged 20 and above).
We calculate the grant based on the operating data from the previous calendar year. In other words, we calculate the grant for 2025 using data from 2024. The grant amount is determined based on the figures provided by the club. The numeric value is calculated by multiplying the following factors:
- number of months (3-12 months) when activities are arranged for the age group
- average number of participants
- age group coefficient
| Age group | Coefficient |
|---|---|
| Children (12 years and younger) | 2 |
| Young people (13–19 years) | 4 |
| Adults (20 years and older) | 1 |
- Do not report competition, tournament or camp days separately, as they are included in the group’s average number of weekly practices.
- Do not report groups maintained by Sports Services or groups supported through purchased services (such as Kunnon äijät, Leidit Liikkeellä or similar). The number of weekly practices must not include recreational activities for groups that the city supports during the transition phase of the grant and facility pricing reform.
- When awarding grants, we do not take into account individual events or operational periods of less than three months.
- The club applying for the grant must offer its own junior and/or adult activities. Outsourced activities for athletes registered with a different club do not qualify for the grant.
How to apply
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1Fill in the application form online
Fill in the electronic application form: Grant application service (in Finnish or Swedish)
We recommend using the Mozilla or Chrome browser. The form requires identification.
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2Submit the required attachments
Submit the following attachments for the upcoming period with your application:
- Budget
- Action plan
Submit the following attachments for the current period:
- Annual report or equivalent
- Financial statements (income statement and balance sheet) or equivalent
- Performance audit report/Auditor’s report
- Association’s rules and regulations (new applicants and clubs whose rules have been updated)
- A report on the measures taken to prevent the use of tobacco and nicotine products (new applicants who organise activities for children and young people)
- Attendance sheets for exercise groups
Submit the attendance sheets as an attachment by the end of the application period. You can add other attachments to the application after the application period has ended.
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3Wait for the grant decision
The Sports Committee aims to process the grant applications at its meeting in February.
To the grant recipient
Payment of the grant
We will pay the grant to the recipient’s bank account once the required attachments have been submitted to the electronic grant system and the grant decision is final.
The club may withdraw a portion of the grant in advance, before the final payment decision is made. Please read the advance withdrawal policy and its terms below.
The advance withdrawal policy may be used by sports clubs that:
- have received an operating grant of at least EUR 3,000 from the Sports Committee in the previous calendar year, and
- are also applying in the calendar year in question.
An advance payment of 50% of the amount that the association received as an operating grant in the previous calendar year may be made, subject to a repayment commitment. If the advance payment exceeds the final operating grant amount, the city will recover the excess amount. The advance withdrawal process starts on 2 January 2025 and ends when the Sports Committee has made a final decision on the matter.
Monitoring of grants
The Sports Committee supervises compliance with the operating grant guidelines. If the association violates the guidelines or deliberately provides incorrect information, it must reimburse the full grant awarded by the city, including any amount already used. Each year, Sports Services check the accuracy of the reported information by randomly selecting six clubs for closer inspection.