Apply for a grant

This page contains instructions for applying for a grant. Read the entire page carefully before you start filling out the application form!

The Fund for the Promotion of Teekkari Operations awards grants in two ways: via the continuous application process and in application rounds. The grants are applied for by filling in an online form that can be filled in any time, but you should check that the application rounds’ deadlines and the decisions’ scheduling match your project’s schedule.

If necessary, the fund can request the association’s budget and the latest financial statements.

The goal of TTE Fund is to support and stimulate Teekkari and other student activities in all their forms with its grants. The more Aalto people that can take part in the project or enjoy its results, the better. The Fund especially appreciates projects that encourage people to act and work together to create something new. We also encourage applicants to active communication both within the Aalto community and outside it, as the regard for the University and its students depends on public visibility as well. Active communication also helps as many Aalto people as possible to enjoy your project in one way or another.

The Fund does not follow a strictly defined policy in its allocation of grants; instead, the Directorate uses its own judgment in accordance with the Fund’s rules and the spirit of the deed of donation. The Fund does not, however, award grants for the following uses:

  • projects making a profit
  • schoolwork and Master’s or other theses
  • funding of regular basic operations
  • grants for the payment of salary or fees for possible volunteer work
  • already executed projects – that is, funding cannot be applied for retrospectively
  • alcohol
  • useless stuff

In addition, the Directorate is highly critical of various excursions and study trips, as the funding for these should be available from either the corporate world or the University. When fundraising for such projects, you should look into opportunities for collective work efforts, sponsor deals and funding from the City of Espoo or Helsinki, for example. If your project participates specially students within the Aalto School of Business, you may also apply grants from KY foundation.

You can access the application form here

Continuous application

The Directorate decides regularly upon the applications received via the continuous application process, which means that you do not have to wait until a certain date for the decision. In the continuous application, it is possible to apply for grants of 2 000.00 € at most throughout the year, except for the holiday month of July. The grants are meant for small projects that can be executed on a quick schedule, which is why the grant amount is awarded on an all or nothing principle. In the main, the grant decisions are announced within two weeks of submitting the application. In the continuous application, only the online form is filled in, without the need to attach a separate application. The applicants are informed of the decisions personally, and the awarded grants are published on the “Awarded grants” site.

Important to note:

  • The amount of the grant is a maximum of 2 000 €.
  • A project is granted either the applied-for amount of funds or nothing at all. In other words, if the Directorate considers the applied-for amount to be too much for the project, it is not awarded a grant. You should think carefully about how much funding to apply for.

The awarded grants must be collected within one year of them being granted. Any grants not collected by the deadline are considered expired.

Application round

Application rounds are organised three times per year, and in these, you can apply for a grant towards bigger as well as smaller projects. There is no maximum amount for grants in the application rounds, which means that the awarded grant amount may also differ from what was applied for. Going through the applications starts only once the application round has closed, and the decisions take around 3–4 weeks. The Fund Directorate’s knowledge and understanding of the project are based on the submitted application alone. The application is submitted via the online form in PDF format, and it must contain a project plan, a communications plan and a budget. A summarised description of the project must be written on the online form, but the application itself must be highly detailed. In the case of a very big project, the Directorate may also invite the applicant(s) to its meeting to present the project in more detail and to answer any questions. The Directorate’s secretary or Chair will always arrange these situations with the applicant(s) separately.

How to prepare a project plan?

Include the following in your project plan:

  • Towards what are you applying for a grant and why?
  • Why should a grant be paid out to you in particular?
  • What kinds of phases or parts does the project comprise?
  • What is the project’s goal?
  • What size group does the project concern? Students and graduates broken down.
  • What is the project’s schedule?
  • What makes this project something that reaches for the stars, gets other people excited to join in and can be seen and heard?
  • Is the project responsible for sustainable development? How has sustainability been taken into account?
  • Drafts, images and examples of usage may be helpful in constructing a clear project plan.
  • A long-term project that requires both temporal and financial maintenance

Aim for the project plan to convey to the Fund the project team’s best ideas as well as the motivation and enthusiasm for carrying out the project.

How to prepare a communications plan?

A communications plan is meant for clarifying how the project will be communicated about. It does not need to be as extensive as the project plan, but it needs to demonstrate how the project will be visible also to others than the grant applicants.

In the communications plan, think about the following, for example:

  • How, where and when will you communicate about the project?
  • How will the project be visible, for example, to your association’s members, to associations operating within AYY, to all AYY members or even in national media?
  • Is the project targeted at specific groups, and how will they be reached?
  • How could you get the public at large excited about your project?
  • How will the project be documented?
  • TTE Fund appreciates visibility in the projects it supports. How could the Fund’s involvement be made visible in the final product, event or the project’s marketing? Don’t be afraid to bring even unusual ideas to the table – how about an acted-out advert, a drinking song full of praise or a kind-hearted caricature of TTE Fund?

You can get hold of TTE Fund’s logo or ready-made advert templates by contacting TTE Fund’s secretary at tter(at)ayy.fi.

How to prepare a budget?

A budget lists all expenses and income related to the project in as much detail and as extensively as possible.

The goal is for the budget to tell the Fund at a glance what the financial scale of the project is and on what the applied-for grant amount is meant to be used. A carefully prepared budget demonstrates that the grant applicant has a good overall picture and plan for the project and the resources it requires. Which is why you should put some effort into preparing it.

Include the following in the budget:

  • ALL project-related expenses; that is, not just those you are hoping to cover with the grant.
  • How costly are the materials and the production?
  • Will there be marketing expenses?
  • What kinds of unexpected situations may arise, and how are these prepared for?
  • Which costs would the TTE Fund’s grant be used to cover?
  • ALL project-related income; what has already been realised as well as what is expected.
  • What is your closest estimate of ticket sales, other sales income or the next few years’ rental income? Students and graduates broken down.
  • Have you applied for or are you planning to apply for other funding? For how much?
  • What kinds of sponsor deals are being planned?
  • How much effort will the association, project team or grant applicant themself put into the project?
  • If the result of the project is something that can be rented, how much rent is to be charged? Is the rental price different for association members, AYY members and others? What is the estimate of annual rental income?
  • In the main, TTE Fund does not back projects that return a profit or whose expenses are all covered by the grant amount.
  • You are welcome to also create alternative budgets.
  • What is the project’s best-case scenario or its worst-case scenario?
  • How badly do you need funding from TTE Fund in either case?
  • If the applicant has ongoing activities (e.g. an association), also include the amount of the annual budget (income and expenses) and the amount of the membership fee in the budget.

When preparing the budget and planning the project’s execution, it is good to remember that purchasing a ready-made product or service is not always the best or the cheapest option. Doing things yourself often gets you good quality inexpensively, as well as a result that meets your specific needs. TTE Fund also appreciates projects with a DIY spirit!