Finnish Cultural Foundation (SKR) – Working Grants (October joint round)

One of the few funders that will simply pay you to work. A working grant is meant to cover ordinary personal living costs while you concentrate full-time on artistic work — composing, practising, developing a body of work — rather than reimbursing a particular project. Expenditure grants are the separate track, for project costs and acquisitions such as instruments, studio time or travel, and you can apply for both together.

From October 2026 the foundation has folded its four annual rounds into one. The central fund and all seventeen regional funds now share a single window, 15 to 30 October, and you choose which fund your application goes to. Finnish citizens and people or organisations residing or operating in Finland can apply, as can anyone whose application has a clear, strong connection to Finland or Finnish culture. Applicants may be individuals, working groups or registered organisations. A limited number of multi-year grants of two to four years are awarded; some applicants who ask for one are given a shorter grant instead.

Grant amounts and detailed guidelines are confirmed each June and finalised by September, so check the current year's list before you write anything. Applications go to peer reviewers in the relevant fund. The foundation asks for a clear account of what you intend to do, why it deserves funding, how and in what timeframe you will carry it out, plus a realistic budget for expenditure requests; attachments are what let assessors judge whether the plan is feasible. Decisions reach applicants in early February and are published at the end of that month.