Traditionally, the capital structure of Finnish universities has been built entirely on public funding. However, the government is aiming to increase the share of private funding through fundraising. Foundations have a major role in the recapitalisation of universities.
On 3 April 2014, the government decided to recapitalise universities as part of its public finance and investment growth plan. Under the new plan, a matched funding scheme can triple the private capital raised by universities subject to a ceiling of €150 million. Private capital fundraising is taking place between 1 November 2014 and 30 June 2017.
Previous university recapitalisation and fund-raising took place from 2008–2011. During this period, Saastamoinen Foundation contributed €1 million to the recapitalisation of the University of Eastern Finland.
Tiedosta hyvä tulevaisuus campaign (Knowledge makes a good future)
- University of Eastern Finland’s recapitalisation campaign 2015–2017 (link in Finnish only)
- Itä-Suomen yliopiston pääomittamiskampanja 2015–2017
Taide on lahja campaign (Art is a gift)
- University of the Arts Helsinki’s recapitalisation campaign 2015–2017 (link in Finnish only)
- Taideyliopiston pääomittamiskampanja 2015–2017
Photo: Tuija Hyttinen, Seppo Karvinen & Jukka Mönkkönen from University of Eastern Finland