FAQs on the Congress Fund for Sustainable Meetings
Find answers to your questions regarding the "Congress Fund for Sustainable Meetings" funding programme here.
1. What is supported by the Congress Fund for Sustainable Meetings?
Funding is available for events in Berlin that are aimed exclusively at a specialist audience, such as congresses, conferences, seminars and training courses. The events must fulfil special sustainability guidelines. Additional funding may be granted for the organisation of decentralised or hybrid events. A "decentralised" event is an innovative event that takes place simultaneously at several locations in Berlin. Such events are booked for a fee and participants are connected to each other via online platforms. Hybrid events take place both offline in Berlin and interactively online for a specialised audience.
2. How high is the funding?
The basic funding for sustainable meetings amounts to 25 euros per participant per event day and a further 10 euros per attendance participant per event day for hybrid or decentralised events. The actual number of participants present at the face-to-face event is crucial for calculating the funding amount. This also applies to hybrid events, where participants connected online are not taken into account.
The maximum funding amount per event is 99,950 euros.
Calculation example:
A two-day congress without online offerings with 121 participants (in the calculation example: TN) on the first day and 95 participants on the second day can receive the following funding:
121 participants x EUR 25 + 95 participants x EUR 25 = EUR 5,400
If the same congress is offered as a hybrid event, the calculation changes as follows
121 participants x EUR 35 + 95 participants x EUR 35 = EUR 7,560
3. What are the requirements for funding?
Events that fulfil the following requirements can receive basic funding for sustainable meetings:
o The event takes place in a booked event location in the state of Berlin. The booking of the venue must either be subject to a charge or be offered as part of a catering contract or the rental of a room contingent.
o The event must have at least 50 participants in attendance on one day.
o The event lasts at least one day. Grants are only awarded for days on which the event lasts at least four hours net (excluding breaks).
o The event achieves at least 300 points in at least four categories of the Sustainable Event Scorecard.
For hybrid events, it must be ensured that participants can follow the event online via live audiovisual media for the entire duration of the event (excluding breaks). Online participants must be given the opportunity to participate in the event in a similar way to face-to-face participants by asking questions or making contributions (a moderated chat function or the option to join in via video would be conceivable, for example). In the case of an event lasting several days, the grant for a hybrid event is only awarded for the days on which it takes place both in person and interactively online.
4.Who is a participant in an event?
Only the number of in-person participants (professional audience) counts; exclusive speakers, staff, service personnel, etc.
5. Is there a minimum number for online participants in a hybrid event?
No, there is no minimum number of online participants for a hybrid event. Only the number of face-to-face participants is relevant for funding.
6.To whom is the Congress Fund for Sustainable Meetings funding programme targeted?
The funding offer is aimed at organisations (e.g. companies, associations, public law institutions) and self-employed or freelance professionals who intend to hold an event in Berlin. In particular, the organiser is considered to be the person who bears the financial and entrepreneurial risk of the event, who has the economic, organisational and liability responsibility and who carries out an event on their own account.
Event venues can therefore not apply for funding in their capacity as landlords.
An important prerequisite for being an applicant is to have a registered office, a permanent establishment or a branch in the Federal Republic of Germany.
7. What is a specialised audience?
A professional audience within the meaning of the Congress Fund funding programme is defined as those participants who attend the event entirely for professional reasons. For example, because they are registering on behalf of their employer or for research reasons, such as at a scientific congress. Accordingly, funding is available for congresses, conferences, seminars or training courses. A professional motivation can also be assumed if the event serves the further training of people within the context of an honorary position. This can be assumed, for example, if a necessary qualification certificate for the realisation of voluntary activities is to be acquired through participation in the event.
8. Can associations and foundations also be grant recipients?
Yes, registered associations and foundations can be recipients of funding from the Congress Fund.
9. Are events with started preparation eligible for funding?
No, funding from the Congress Fund for Sustainable Meetings can only be granted for events for which preparations have not yet begun. In general, the conclusion of a supply or service contract attributable to the realisation of the event is to be regarded as the start of the project. This includes, for example, rental contracts for the event premises, service or rental contracts for technology, contracts for catering or contracts for the supply of advertising materials for the event.
This does not include the conclusion of a contract with an event agency for the purpose of designing, organising and staging an event. Also excluded is the conclusion of contracts that are attributable to the organiser's revenue side, e.g. sponsorship contracts.
10. When can preparations for the event begin?
Once the funding application has been submitted, Investitionsbank Berlin will send a confirmation of the application. This contains an authorisation to begin the project. Applicants act at their own risk until they receive notification of funding.
11. Where and how can I apply for funding?
To apply for funding, the forms must be completed and uploaded to the IBB customer portal. In addition, some supporting documents, such as an extract from the commercial register or register of associations, must be uploaded. The application for funding and its attachments must be submitted to the authorisation office purely digitally via the customer portal. It is not necessary to send in unsolicited printed and signed copies.
The applicant can be supported by an event agency when completing the funding application. The application must ultimately be submitted by the applicant.
12. Can I submit several funding applications?
Yes, an organiser may submit several applications for funding. However, only one funding application may be submitted per event. However, it is possible to submit funding applications for different events.
13. What should I bear in mind when preparing and organising my sponsored event?
The programme must be designed in such a way that it lasts at least four working hours per funded day. Supporting programmes are not eligible for funding.
In addition, appropriate participant lists must be prepared and maintained. You will receive instructions on how to handle the data collected to inform your participants with your grant notification.
The lists of participants must be kept as follows:
o List of participants with first and last names/institution/city/country,
o signed by the participants actually present on each day of the event, or
o a list generated from a digital registration system that ensures daily registration at the event venue in the sense of an attendance check and signed by the applicant's management to confirm its accuracy.
If you are applying for additional funding for the fulfilment of sustainability criteria, please note the evidence to be provided at the time of application and keep the relevant evidence until you submit the call for payment. Cash payment receipts are not accepted as proof for reasons of money laundering prevention.
14. My notification refers to the state's minimum wage law, what does that mean?
All employees (including those working outside the project) will be paid at least the current minimum wage of the state of Berlin (§ 9 LMiLoG Bln) to the extent that they receive grants from the state of Berlin. In the case of the Congress Fund, this applies to the duration of your event. The current regulation can be viewed on the website of the State of Berlin.
https://gesetze.berlin.de/bsbe/document/jlr-MindLohnGBEV2P9
15. By when must my funded event take place?
The event must have taken place by 31 December 2025. Applications can be completed and uploaded via the IBB customer portal.
16. When will I receive the funding?
The funding will be provided after a successful review of the payment request. The application must be submitted no later than 4 weeks after the event has taken place.
17. What documents do I need to submit for the payment request?
The following documents must be submitted:
o List of participants with first and last names/institution/city/country, signed by the actual participants present on each day of the event or generated from a digital registration system that ensures daily registration at the event venue in the sense of an attendance check, and signed by the applicant's management to confirm its accuracy
o Detailed proof in the form of a confirmation of use (including details of the total costs, the eligible costs (see no. 5.3), the income and a confirmation that the funding was used exclusively to fulfil the purpose specified in the approval notice, that it was used economically and sparingly and that the information corresponds to the books and receipts)
o Invoice for the booked event venue in the federal state of Berlin and the corresponding original proof of payment. Final event programme showing the content (including speakers, if applicable) and the net duration of the event (excluding breaks) in chronological order
o Details of the sustainability criteria actually fulfilled ("Sustainable Event Scorecard") and corresponding evidence
o If required, proof that the event was a hybrid event (original invoice from a service provider for the stream provision or other proof with comparable significance regarding the hybrid nature of the event and corresponding proof of payment)
o If additional funding for decentralised days was applied for: brief concept, rental contracts for the individual venues and invoices for the technology.
18. What is the industry code that must be entered?
For statistical purposes, the Federal Statistical Office has developed an industry catalogue and classified industries with a code. When applying for the Berlin Congress Fund, an industry code must be specified in two places:
1. The applying organisation must specify which industry it belongs to.
2. In order to better understand which events are being funded, the sector to which the target group of the event belongs to must be specified separately.
The classification of economic sectors can be found at https://www.destatis.de/DE/Methoden/Klassifikationen/Gueter-Wirtschaftsklassifikationen/klassifikation-wz-2008.html.
The first five digits of the code must be entered.
19. What is the transparency database and what is my entry for?
Successful applicants receive a grant from the state of Berlin through the "Congress Fund for Sustainable Meetings" funding programme. All legal entities that receive or wish to receive grants from the state must be registered in the transparency database in order to increase the clarity of the information and thus increase transparency. Further information and the possibility to register can be found here:
Can't find the answer to your question?
If you have any questions about the funding programme and the application process, please contact:
Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB)
kongressfonds@ibb.de
visitBerlin merely supports the application process for the funding programme.
The FAQs are updated regularly, as of 20 Febuary 2024..