Congress Initiative Bavaria

Funding conditions

Recipients of funding are event organizers or persons verifiably appointed by them who plan and carry out events in Bavaria.

Eligible applicants are

• Legal entities under private and public law,
• partnerships with legal capacity,
• self-employed and freelance professionals.

Funding is provided for conferences and conventions that are closed-door events aimed at a specialized audience. This includes conferences and conventions held in conjunction with trade shows, as well as those held in conjunction with (legally required) membership meetings.

Funding is provided for events that meet the following requirements:

• No orders related to the event have yet been placed, no contracts have been signed, and no other obligations have been entered into; in particular, the event venue has not yet been bindingly reserved.
• The event takes place in Bavaria. The organizer’s registered office is irrelevant for funding purposes.
• The event is being held for the first time, or at least one of the three previous events did not take place in Bavaria; alternatively, for events that have been held only once or twice so far, at least one event did not take place in Bavaria. Events may be funded up to two times in five consecutive years.
• The event lasts at least two days, with at least four hours of substantive program content on each day. Breaks and program segments that are primarily for entertainment purposes are not considered part of the substantive program.
• Depending on the venue, the event must have at least 100, 200, or 300 on-site participants on each day of the event. Hybrid events are eligible for funding; however, online participants are not counted when determining the total number of participants.
• The event venue may not be provided or rented by the applicant itself or by an organizational unit legally affiliated with the applicant (e.g., a subsidiary).

Only expenses directly related to the organization of the event are eligible for funding. Expenses for a supporting program are not eligible. A supporting program is defined as event components that take place alongside the main professional program items and do not serve the purpose of professional exchange. Eligible expenses (by category) are:

• Rent for event venues, including operating and ancillary costs,
• Expenses for catering,
• Expenses for technology, equipment, or similar items,
• Honoraria, travel expenses, and expenses for lodging and meals for moderators, speakers, and interpreters,
• Expenses for general organization,
• On-site registration and hostesses,
• Public relations expenses,
• Security expenses,
• safety and hygiene measures.

Value-added tax is eligible for funding only to the extent that the grant recipient is not entitled to a tax credit for the funded event.