Foundation for Economic Education

Purpose and mission

The Foundation for Economic Education is an association founded by Finnish businessmen in 1919, and its ca. 1,000 members belong to 17 regional committees.

We support research and education in business and economics primarily through grants. Most of the profits of funds donated to us are used for grants; the other operating costs amount to less than 15 %. Donations made to us maintain their real value in designated funds, which the donators name. Our investment activities are based on long-term balancing of profitability and risk.

Each year we provide some three million euros worth of grants through an application process to business economists in different stages of their careers. In addition to grants, the Foundation for Economic Education has in 2008–2011 participated in Aalto University’s foundation capital fundraising by donating 22 million euros to the university, and has also donated altogether 3.4 million euros to other Finnish universities providing business education.

In the fundraising round of universities that ended on 30 June 2017, the Foundation for Economic Education donated a total of EUR 5.0 million to ten Finnish universities in 2016–2017, allocated to the field of business research and education. The decisions were based on the Fund’s sustainability strategy and followed the Ministry of Education and Culture’s instructions on the capitalization of universities and the conditions and procedures for state-eligible funding for 2014–2017. The investment in Finnish business research and education was a gift to 100-year-old Finland.

Most of the awarded grants are used for academic research. Read more about research supported by us in our Grant Blog! We also publish awarded grants on our website.

Every year, a significant part of the grants is awarded from special funds, several of which are closely related to the activities of well-known Finnish businessmen for the benefit of Finnish business and the economy. Of the Fund’s 100th anniversary 2019 grant round, EUR 1.0 million (20.5 %) was covered by special funds.
 
The Foundation for Economic Education is a member of the Council of Finnish Foundations. The Council is the joint cooperation body of grant-awarding foundations and funds. The members of the Council comply with good governance of foundations.