By giving a legacy gift you can make long-lasting contribution to the future of research and learning. Your gift supports vitally important research and will help us educate experts capable of meeting the needs of a changing society.
Every gift matters. You can remember the University of Helsinki in your will by leaving us a fixed sum of money, a percentage of your estate or your assets in full. All legacy gifts are extremely welcome, and together they make a significant impact.
The University commits to complying with your wishes, as expressed in your will, when it receives the gift after the completion of the estate inventory. We will carry out your wishes in a way that ensures a long-term impact.
The University of Helsinki is a reliable, trustworthy and financially stable recipient and investor of legacies. Our ethically sustainable investing guarantees that your gift will have a lasting impact on the world.
Each year the University receives several legacies assigned to different disciplines. The University has dozens of historical funds based on legacies dating back centuries; the oldest was founded on the legacy of Lieutenant Erik Ekestubbe in 1745.
There are two main types of legacy gifts. You can leave the University of Helsinki a gift in your will without indicating a specific type of research or other purpose. The University will use your gift for the most essential, ground-breaking research. Such gifts are always a good option. Alternatively, you can indicate the purpose of your gift in more detail.
You can make a legacy gift by stating in your will that your estate or part thereof must be distributed to the “University of Helsinki for research, teaching and societal interaction”. You can also allocate your gift to a specific discipline, such as “to be used especially for medical research”.
The University cannot draw up your will on your behalf. A trustee, attorney or other legal representative can help you do so. However, we are happy to help you find a suitable target for your gift. Please contact us if you wish to allocate your legacy gift more specifically. By arranging a conversation, we can help you to find a specific area you wish to support at the university and ensure that the wording of your will enables the university to accept your legacy and carry out your wishes effectively.
We are also happy to discuss the option of establishing a fund in your name under the University of Helsinki Funds. A named fund enables you to support a discipline important to you, for example, in the form of student scholarships or researcher grants. You can establish a named fund in your lifetime by donating the founding capital, or the fund can be set up as outlined in your will. We will help you formulate the rules of your fund.
If you intend to leave a legacy to the University of Helsinki, we would very much like to hear from you! We would be delighted to invite you to join the University donor community, Club Giraffe, to hear more about our latest news and research.
Please contact us if you have questions about giving a legacy gift or if you would like to discuss the specific cause of your donation.
You can reach the University of Helsinki donor relations team also at donate@helsinki.fi and tel. +358 29 41 21650.
Below you can read about how donations and gifts support our researchers and students.