Money collection permits

The Money Collection Act came into force March 1, 2020. According to the new act, money collection permits are open-ended. 

The Money Collection Act from 2006 is still applied to all permit processes started before March 1, 2020. Permits granted according to the old act are valid until the determined end day in the permit conditions. If your organisation has a permit according to the old act, the permit is subject to the provisions of the old act. This relates to both how the money collection is organised, as well as the use of the collected funds. The terms determined in the permit continue to apply until the determined end day.  

This is how you apply for a permit

Apply for a permit in written form from the National Police Board in Finnish or Swedish. If you apply for a permit in the Police’s online services, you need Suomi.fi e-Authorizations. The Suomi.fi authorization must be in the applicant's own name. Applicants cannot use another legal person’s Suomi.fi authorization, as this would log the application under the wrong applicant’s name. For more information and instructions for applying for a Suomi.fi authorization, please visit the Suomi.fi website. 

The Police’s online services can also be used to upload supporting documents. 

Applicants who opt for the paper form can send their application and supporting documents by email to arpajaishallinto@poliisi.fi or by mail to:

National Police Board
Gambling Administration
PO Box 50
FI-11101 RIIHIMÄKI.

A fee is charged for all money collection permits. Both new money collection permit applications and applications to amend existing permits carry a fee regardless of whether or not the application is successful. 

Holders of permits that are valid indefinitely are required to report on their money collection campaigns and the use of the funds raised to the National Police Board once a year. A processing fee is charged for each annual report. 

Do the application on time and carefully. Please refrain from constantly enquiring about the status of your application, as the more time staff have to spend answering queries, the less time they have available for processing applications.

The average processing time for money collection permit applications is between 5 and 7 months. Read the instructions carefully and make sure to complete all sections of the application form. Incomplete permit applications take longer to process.

The application form as well as all supporting documents must be in either Finnish or Swedish. The attached documents must be appended to all permit applications. If these documents are not provided with your application, the permit authority will need to ask for them separately. This will delay the processing of your application. The permit authority may also request other evidence. Please note that money collection permit applications cannot be submitted in a language other than Finnish or Swedish, such as in English. All supporting documents must also be in Finnish or Swedish.

Fees and processing times - Police (poliisi.fi)

e-Authorizations - Suomi.fi

Important points concerning money collection permits issued under the old Money Collection Act 

Any money collection campaigns run with permits issued under the old Money Collection Act and the use of funds raised through such campaigns remain subject to the provisions of the old act and the terms of the permit. All permits issued under the old act have an expiry date. These permits remain in force until the expiry date specified in the terms of each permit. A permit with an expiry date cannot change into an open-ended permit. 

The use of funds raised with an old permit is reported by making money collection accounting in accordance with the terms of the permit. Any applications to amend permits issued under the old act will also be processed according to the provisions of the old act. Please make sure that you use the correct reporting template!

In matters of permitting and clearing old fundraising permits, the licensing authority is either the National Police Board or the local police department: if the permit has been issued by the National Police Board, accounts and possible appeals are made to the National Police Board, and if the permit is issued by the police department, the accounts and any applications for amendment are submitted to the police department concerned.

Contact information

Transitioning to permits issued under the new Money Collection Act

You can apply for a permit that is valid indefinitely under the new Money Collection Act even before your organisation’s old money collection permit expires. The application process under the new act is the same regardless of whether or not you already have a permit. However, if you already have a permit, you need to ask the National Police Board to cancel your old permit. 

If your existing permit was issued by your local police department, you should send your new permit application to the National Police Board and ask your local police department to cancel your old permit. It is best to ask for your old permit to be cancelled as soon as your new permit has been issued. The permit authorities make their decisions independently of each other, and processing times may vary. Please keep this in mind if you apply for a new permit and ask for your old permit to be cancelled at the same time, as your old permit could be cancelled before you get your new one. You would therefore have no valid money collection permit and could not run money collection campaigns. Please also take extra care with your accounts and annual reports: you will need to account for any funds raised during the application process either in a campaign-specific report according to the old rules or in the annual report for your new permit but not both.

Please note that priority will be given to applicants who have no previous money collection permit. If your organisation’s existing money collection permit is not due to expire for a while, you may need to wait longer for your application to be processed.

The same processing fee is charged for all new money collection permit applications. In other words, there is no financial benefit to be gained from cancelling your existing money collection permit early. However, no fee is charged for cancellations of the permit. 

Accounting for funds raised through campaigns run with permits issued under the old Money Collection Act 

Please make sure to submit your accounts and interim accounts for campaigns run with your old money collection permit on time. All permit holders have a statutory duty to submit accounts. The deadline for submitting accounts is six months after the expiry of the permit, and individual permits may include stipulations on interim accounts and deadlines for the same. Permit holders who fail to comply with the deadlines cannot be issued with a new money collection permit until their reporting obligations have been satisfied.

However, not having submitted accounts does not disqualify an applicant if the deadline has not yet passed. In other words, applicants with outstanding reporting obligations can be issued with a new money collection permit as long as the deadline for submitting accounts has not yet passed.