About Finnish Foundations

“Foundation” is the general term in Finland
It is equivalent to the british term “Charitable Trust” and the american terms ”Non-profit foundations” and “Private foundation”
Foundations have to be for public benefit only and need to be registered to be able to have the non-profit status and to get the tax benefits
Foundations are categorised inofficially according to their operational purpose
- Operative foundations, for example nursing homes and housing foundations
- Grant-making foundations
- Mixture of operations and grant-making

The amout of registered foundations in Finland is c. 2,700.
C. 800 of above mentioned are grant-making foundations.
Oldest of the Finnish foundations was established in the 19th century.
Balance sheet total for all Finnish foundations is over 20 billion EUR in market value.
Median size of balance sheet total is 1,3 million EUR in market value.
100 largest foundations represent more than 80% of the balance sheet total mentioned above.
62% of foundations’ investment are in stock market, 17% in the interests.

Most common areas of action are culture, recreation, research and education.
New Foundations Act (only available in Finnish and in Swedish) since December 2015, previous Act from 1930’s.
Official supervision by Finnish Patents and Registration Office.
Newest facts about Finnish foundations supporting research and innovation, see EUFORI-study (2015)
Simple taxation summary:
– Public benefit foundations get tax exemption.
– Private donations are not tax deductible.