Our Fundraising Goal

The vision: A permanent home for Finnish Studies at the University of Toronto.

The main goal of the CFFEF is simple: to raise funds to ensure and enhance the teaching of Finnish Studies at the University of Toronto.

We raise funds both to contribute to the existing Finnish Studies endowment and to be spent immediately for specific purposes. By definition, an endowment is a pool of funds raised by a non-profit organization which is invested, and which generates interest or ongoing income to the non-profit for a designated purpose. The principal is never spent, allowing for its continual re-investment and growth over time. Much of the income stream from the endowment goes to salary support for the instructor(s) in Finnish Studies. Any remaining funds in that income stream can be used for enhancements to the program (for example, special events or lectures, scholarships for students studying Finnish, research funds and materials for the instructors in Finnish, etc.) or can be reinvested into the endowment, thus increasing the endowment and its future income stream. Money raised for immediate specific purposes is often for student scholarships, but also occasionally for special events, receptions, and lectures.

We strive to preserve, enhance, and even expand the study of Finnish language, literature, culture and society at the University of Toronto, securing the program’s status as the most comprehensive and excellent of its kind in North America.