Ethical principles for Uniarts Helsinki’s fundraising
Uniarts Helsinki is committed to the values and principles of responsible fundraising.
The external relations work of the University of the Arts Helsinki (Uniarts Helsinki) aims at forming long-term, strategic partnerships that honour the values of all the parties involved. By forming partnerships, the university hopes to increase its societal impact and provide economic benefits for everyone involved. The partnerships are built on mutual respect and shared pride in the results made.
Uniarts Helsinki is committed to the Finnish Fundraising Association’s (Vastuullinen Lahjoittaminen, VaLa ry in Finnish) statement on values and principles in responsible fundraising. It was used in drawing up the following guidelines:
- Honesty: Uniarts Helsinki’s fundraising is honest, responsible, and truthful, and the donations are used in a manner that promotes Uniarts Helsinki’s mission.
- Respect: Uniarts Helsinki’s fundraising respects the university and the donors. All forms of privacy and freedom of choice are valued in all fundraising operations. The donor’s will is always respected.
- Openness: Uniarts Helsinki acts openly in its fundraising. When raising funds, the university informs the parties involved of actual or potential conflicts of interest and avoids any form of personal of professional misconduct.
- Transparency: Uniarts Helsinki reports on donations and their use, management, costs and returns in a precise and understandable manner. This is done by using the Uniarts Helsinki reporting template.
See below for a more detailed description of how the ethical principles are applied in Uniarts Helsinki’s operations. The foundation of all fundraising activities is having the necessary permits. Furthermore, the value of honesty is fostered by keeping donations and partnerships separate from the university’s other processes. We comply with the regulations on data protection.
See below also for a more detailed account of deeds of donations and agreements that ensure the mutual respect. To promote openness and transparency, we also provide further details on the following: what we do with the donations; what our investment policy is; how we foster our donor and partner relations; and how we take care of the communications and reporting directed at donors and partners.
Permissions and trust
Uniarts Helsinki has been granted a fundraising permit by the National Police Board, and it adheres to the existing legislation and norms in all of its operations. All fundraising and cooperation is based on trust. The university’s activities are founded on honesty, truthfulness and the best available knowledge. The university acts in a manner that builds up the donors’, funders’ and other stakeholders’ trust in its operations.
Donations and partnerships are managed separately from other processes. The university’s procurements are managed as part of the public procurement process, which is regulated by the Act on Public Procurement. Donations and/or partnerships do not give an advantage in negotiations or other interactions with the university. A donation is never a bribe. Donations and partnerships do not influence the recruitment of employees, student admissions, students’ academic success or completion of a degree. Donations and partnerships cannot be used to influence the university’s teaching, research or publications in a manner that goes against the university’s strategy, values or research integrity guidelines.
Data protection
Employees at Uniarts Helsinki do not disclose any confidential information or business secrets to third parties. They respect the principle of confidentiality in all conversations and other communication that they engage in. Uniarts Helsinki complies with the legislation and regulations concerning data protection and confidentiality. The data in the donor register are only accessible to the university, and no data is shared with third parties. You can read more about data protection at uniarts.fi/data-protection.
Accepting donations, deeds of donations and agreements
It is possible to donate to Uniarts Helsinki with a deed of donation. The final decision on accepting this kind of a donation is made by the rector of Uniarts Helsinki. Donations must always be in line with the university’s values and operations. Accepting a donation may never jeopardise the reputation of the university or other donors. The donor and the source of the donation must be known, and the payment methods of the donor must be reliable.
Expenses and other responsibilities that result from the donation must be estimated to be reasonable. The deed of donation must state the amount and aim of the donation as well as other conditions, for example concerning reporting practices of the collaboration project and principles for conditional donations. As for deeds of donation in the context of the government’s capitalisation campaigns, the university shall adhere to the guidelines set by government officials.
It is possible to donate to the foundations and specifically defined projects of the university on a continuing basis. Bequests and donations made on special days such as birthdays to Uniarts Helsinki are also possible. Instructions regarding all forms of donating can be found at uniarts.fi/donate.
Compensation-based activities and agreements
In all Uniarts Helsinki operations, there is a clear distinction between a gratuitous donation and cooperation that is based on mutual benefits. Agreements concerning different kinds of partnership projects define the nature of the partnership within the framework of legislation and generally accepted principles. The agreements state both parties’ responsibilities and expected compensations as well as the conditions on payments.
Use of donations
It is our objective to secure the future of high-quality education in the arts in Finland with the help of the donations. In education, our main development targets are increasing our internationality and strengthening interaction and research in the arts. Donations help the university to upgrade its international profile, increase the number of visiting professors, promote the influence of art in society, and invest in strategic, specifically defined targets.
Investment principles
Uniarts Helsinki’s investment portfolio consists of investment assets. The income from investments is used to develop the university’s operations. The purpose of the investment assets is to secure the university’s financial leeway and improve the stability of finances. Both the short-term and the long-term needs of the university are taken into account in asset management and in the allocation of the funds. Uniarts Helsinki’s investment policy has been prepared with the help of an investment committee consisting of investment professionals. The goal of the policy is to secure all Uniarts Helsinki’s investment assets and to ensure that good administrative practices are followed.
The investment horizon of Uniarts Helsinki is long, which minimises the effects of short-term exchange rate fluctuations. The university would not be able to achieve its target rate of return with a low-risk investment portfolio, because the expected return of a portfolio of this kind would not be high enough. Risk management is based on sufficient diversification and the overall balance of the portfolio. When it comes to individual investment decisions, the risk is assessed according to the overall risk level of the portfolio. The long-term goal of investments is a nominal yield of 6 to 7 percentage points on average, with the yield of any five consecutive years expected to be positive. On average, 3 to 4 percentage points of the return on the portfolio is used every year for developing operations. Even though the strategic allocation is, in principle, a long-term average allocation, it is always necessary to take the prevailing operating conditions into account.
Uniarts Helsinki is committed to promoting the principles of responsible investing. The university adheres to the existing legislation and legally binding provisions in its investment activities. When making investments and selecting cooperation partners, the generally accepted environmental, social and governance standards (ESG) are emphasised. The principles of responsible investing are integrated as part of investment activities promoting the principles of safe and profitable investing. The principles of responsible investing support the objectives of sustainable development. Asset managers must be committed to following the aforementioned principles of responsible investing in their investment activities, processes and choice of investments.
Donor and partner relations
Uniarts Helsinki builds and fosters diverse, high quality, and long-term donor and partner relations. This is achieved by offering versatile donation and collaboration opportunities to private individuals, foundations, corporations, and other organisations.
The university respects the donors’ rights by providing them with up-to-date information about how the donations are used and taking into account the donors’ privacy and wishes in its operations. The university is regularly in contact with donors and partners and shares information concerning the use of the funds, results of fundraising, and different kinds of events that they can participate in with them.
Uniarts Helsinki expresses its gratitude for the support it has received by organising events for its partners and donors. The most significant donors and partners may be acknowledged through various arrangements. Uniarts Helsinki publishes up-to-date information on donations and collaboration projects on its website. An exception to this are government’s capitalisation campaigns, where the university follows the guidelines of government officials regarding acknowledgement of donations and donors.