Rahankeräykset: ohjeita vuosi-ilmoituksen tekemiseen EN

Instructions for submitting an annual money collection report

In the annual report, provide information only about the money collection and the use of money collection funds.

Money collection funds are all gratuitous monetary donations received as a result of appealing to the public.

In addition to money collection, your organisation may have a variety of other fundraising activities, such as product sales, flea market sales, membership fee income, and lottery income. These returns should not be reported in the annual report. Money collection is one form of fundraising. So, fundraising is not the same thing as money collection.

How do I fill out the annual report?

In the calculation section of the annual report, state the total return on money collection, the money collections collection costs deducted from the total income and net income from money collection in euros and cents.

Total income refers to the amount of funds raised before the amount of expenses incurred in raising funds are deducted. Net income from the money collection refers to the amount of money collection assets after deducting collection costs incurred from money collection. The net proceeds of the money collection must be used for the purpose specified in the money collection permit. 

The purpose of money collection is to finance non-profit activities. The implementation of the money collection must be cost-effective so that as much of the donated funds as possible remain available for the public benefit purpose. If the money collection funds go to the costs of organising the money collection and the share of net income remains small, the money will not be collected for public benefit purposes.

The Police Board regularly monitors the use of money collection funds and the amount of money collection costs. If collection costs repeatedly become unreasonably high, this can be addressed when auditing annual declarations.

Collection costs deducted from total income

Only the necessary, direct costs incurred in organising the money collection may be deducted from the proceeds of the money collection as collection costs. For example, organisational costs and administrative overheads are not money collection costs. Other operating expenses of the organisation should always be paid with funds received in other ways, for example with membership fee income or income from product sales.

If you use the money collection funds received by your organisation to cover money collection costs, please disclose all expenses covered in the annual report. However, not all money collection costs are required to be paid from money collection funds. Expenditure can therefore also be covered by other funds. If the money collection costs are covered by other funds in your organisation, do not report the costs in the annual money collection statement.

The costs of money collection must always be identified. If you report in the annual report unspecified large amounts of money, the National Police Board will ask them separately what expenses are included in the reported amount. It is therefore worthwhile to find out the costs as soon as you submit the annual report. In any case, the information must be provided and incomplete explanations may result in you having to submit a completely new annual report or submit a revised annual report.

Statement on the use of net collection income

The net proceeds of money collection, i.e. the amount of money remaining after deducting money collection costs, must always be used for the public benefit purpose specified in the money collection permit.

Make a report on the use of the net proceeds of the collection orally, either on page three of the paper form or in a free-form separate appendix. Indicate in the statement where the net proceeds of the money collection have been or will be used. Explain the use of the funds in a clear and individualised manner so that the annual declaration indicates where the funds have actually been used or for which they will be used.

If, for example, the funds raised have been used to cover your organisation's salary and premises costs, indicate in the annual report, in euros and cents, how much is involved. In addition, find out which non-profit activities have been associated with cost recovery. If, for example, a grant has been paid from the funds for the activities of co-operation organisations, find out in euros and cents how much and for what purposes the grant has been given. In addition, it is a good idea to explain in the annual report how your organisation monitors and certifies the use of funds by partners.

For example, the statement "The funds have been used for the purpose specified in the permit." there is not a sufficient statement, but the annual declaration must state where the funds have actually been used. If the funds collected for a specific item have not been used by the time the annual declaration is submitted, the use of the funds in the annual report for future years will be clarified.

Attachments to the annual report

Supporting documents to be submitted with annual reports include financial statements and any associated notes. The financial statements should also include an auditor’s report.

Attach also the accountant's statement of money collection if your organisation has an accountant. The accountant's report shall clarify the correspondence between the money collection income and expenses reported in the annual report and the licensee's accounts. The accountant's report issued in connection with the financial statements is not enough, but the accountant must give the statement specifically about the money collection.

Other supporting documents are not necessary. Note, however, that the National Police Board may request, for example, receipts or other information on the use of funds.

Therefore, keep receipts and other supporting documents carefully so that you can present them on request. The National Police Board also carries out more extensive inspections of the use of money collection funds by random sampling. Therefore, receipts and other supporting documents should be kept for this reason as well.

Make a printout or copy of the annual report for yourself before sending it to the licensing authority. Also remember to keep the annual money collection declaration and related material as provided in the Accounting Act.

Annual plan

Also submit an annual plan to the National Police Board either in connection with the annual report or no later than two months before the beginning of the next financial year. In the annual plan, tell us about the money collections you plan to organise in the coming financial year. The annual plan must provide at least the following information:

  • number of planned money collections
  • money collection purposes
  • money collection return expectation
  • estimated collection costs
  • planned collection methods and partners

The annual plan can be, for example, a free-form listing of planned money collections.

An indicative estimate is sufficient for money collection income and expenditure expectations. If you intend to continue previous collection projects, you can indicate in the annual plan how the previous activities will be continued in the coming financial year. Also indicate in the annual plan if there are no plans to collect in the coming financial year.


 
 

Esimerkkejä hyväksyttävistä keräyskuluista EN

Examples of eligible collection costs

Examples of the most typical money collection costs are collected below. The list is not an exhaustive listing of all money collection costs.

Staff costs

  • salaries and fees paid to the money collection holder's own employees for arranging money collection

Administrative and business expenses

  • administrative costs related to the immediate organization of the money collection (excluding accounting and auditing costs)
  • premises costs directly related to the organization of the money collection, eg renting a money collection agency (only insofar as the office is used to organize the money collection)

Accounting and auditing costs

  • For example, the auditor's fee for an opinion annexed to the annual report (accounting and auditing costs can only be accepted on a discretionary basis, to a limited extent and only to the extent that the costs are directly related to money collection)

Telecom operator costs

  • Compensation paid to telecom operators for paid service numbers used in money collection(donation calls and text messages, fixed start-up fees, etc.)

Material and office supplies costs

  • material and office supplies costs for organizing the money collection, such as ink and paper for printing the money collection brochures

Costs incurred in using the service provider

  • compensation, commission, etc. to be paid on the basis of the contract.
  • the costs of maintaining the donor register paid to an external party (insofar as the use of the register is related to money collection- not the full cost if the register is used for purposes other than money collection, eg membership acquisition)

Collection planning costs

  • compensation paid to an advertising agency, etc. for planning a collection campaign
  • direct costs incurred by the permit holder in planning the money collection campaign (eg planning meetings, planning materials)

Printing costs

  • compensation to the printing house for the printing of collection label stickers and collection lists
  • the printing costs of the magazine (insofar as the magazine contains the implementation of money collection. For example, a 12-page publication with 1 page for a money collection petition: printing costs are reported as collection costs 1/12)
  • money collection brochure printing costs
  • the cost of printing money collection letters
  • the cost of printing the transfer forms used for money collection

Postage

  • envelopes and stamps used for mailing money collection letters or similar money collection material
  • Compensation charged by Posti for its services: various agreements with Posti
  • on the posting of money collection letters, the postage costs of the magazine insofar as money collection has been carried out with the help of the magazine (distribution as described above for printing costs)

Marketing and advertising expenses

  • the cost of advertising related to money collection campaigns
  • newspaper, radio, TV advertisements, Internet advertisements
  • advertising brochures, flyers, etc.

IT costs

  • the cost of updating the money collection's website (money collection updates and up-to-date money collection information)
  • equipment purchases (insofar as they are used for money collection. The distribution percentage must be estimated on the basis of the distribution of use, if necessary.)
  • software acquisitions (insofar as they are used for money collection. The distribution percentage should be estimated on the basis of the distribution of use, if necessary.)

Banking and payment intermediation costs

  • Compensation paid to the bank for opening and closing a money collection account
  • money collection account banking fees
  • payment intermediation costs and payment service provider costs
  • the costs of the online payment platform in terms of money collection(eg payment intermediation costs related to the use of the donation button)

License fee and annual notification fee

  • the fee charged by the licensing authority for the money collection decision
  • the fee charged by the licensing authority for submitting the annual declaration

Other expenses

  • Acquisition of collection tickets, permit stickers, seals, including acquisition costs of equipment for collectors' vests, etc. (if used for non-money collection activities, the percentage should be estimated according to use)
  • telephone costs insofar as they were used for money collection (calls made and text messages sent. The distribution percentage should be estimated if necessary.)
  • the costs of acquiring and maintaining the address details of the persons subject to donation requests (if a separate service provider is not used to acquire or maintain the donor register, but the matter is handled by one's own activities)

Please note that the “Other Expenses” section of the Annual Report is not intended to report large unidentified amounts. If you report expenses in this section, please also include in the annual report an explanation of what expenses have been reported in this section. If you report multiple costs, please identify each cost item separately.