What kind of support can be received as political party funding

The donor must be identifiable

A political party, a party association or an entity affiliated to a party may not accept a contribution if the donor cannot be identified. However, this ban does not apply to contributions received as a result of ordinary fundraising activities.

Support may not be accepted from contributors whose identity remains unknown.

In the itemisation of election campaign costs and funding, the support recipient must also indicate who transferred the support if the support includes support transferred from the original source for a value of at least EUR 2,000 (as from 1 July 2025; before 1 July 2025, the limit is EUR 1,500). Original source refers to a donor that provides their contribution to the intermediary to be further transferred to the beneficiary. This obligation relates to the ban on receiving contributions from donors whose identity cannot be established.

No more than EUR 30,000 of contributions from one and the same donor during a calendar year

The maximum value of contributions that may be received from one and the same donor in a calendar year is EUR 30,000. The ceiling applies to support given to the same recipient by the same donor. The same donor can thus support more than one party associations of the same political party as long as the financial support given to each party association does not exceed the limit set in legislation.

The ceiling does not apply to financial support provided by an affiliated entity to a party or a party association or to financial support left in a will.

Accepting support from foreign donors is forbidden

A political party, a party association and an affiliated entity may not accept support from foreign donors. However, the ban does not concern contributions from private individuals or from international organisations and foundations that represent the party’s ideology. Support may therefore be accepted from private individuals and from the European umbrella organisation of a political party, for example.

The purpose of the ban is to restrict improper foreign influence on political activities in Finland.

Support from the central government, wellbeing services counties, municipalities and other public-sector actors

A political party, a party association and an affiliated entity may not receive support from the central government, a wellbeing services county, a wellbeing consortium, a municipality, a joint municipal authority, an unincorporated state, municipal or county enterprise, an association, institution or foundation governed by public law or a company controlled by the state, a wellbeing services county or a municipality. However, the ban does not apply to the use of facilities or ordinary hospitality, for example when a party association meets in a municipality’s facilities or coffee is served.

Associations, institutions and foundations governed by public law are legal entities established by law or decree for a specific purpose, and they are vested with public authority or entrusted with public tasks defined in legislation.

Associations, institutions and foundations governed by public law include, for example:

• the Bank of Finland and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland
• Finnish Wildlife Agency
• the Finland Chamber of Commerce and Chambers of Commerce
• the Finnish Road Safety Council, the Finnish Motor Insurers' Centre (LVK)
• Veikkaus Oy
• Ålands Penningautomatförening (PAF)
• the Finnish Bar Association
• the Evangelical-Lutheran and Orthodox Church and parishes
• reindeer herding cooperatives
• Local Government and County Employers KT
• Finnish Red Cross
• the National Defence Training Association of Finland (MPK)
• students’ unions.