Information Events (Raiffeisen Foundation)

The Raiffeisen Foundation supports cooperative enterprises and institutions with the program "Information Events" in clearly presenting the function and impact of rural cooperatives as well as their upstream and downstream sectors, and in initiating a public dialogue. Events of all kinds are funded – from expert lectures and panel discussions to company visits – provided they address fundamental cooperative concerns or professionally relevant topics for the rural cooperative sector. The goal is to create transparency, strengthen knowledge transfer, and highlight perspectives for the sustainable further development of regional cooperatives. Concepts that promise long-term impact and anchoring beyond the funding period, as well as demonstrate alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals, are particularly welcomed.

Applications can be submitted informally in writing or electronically on an ongoing basis. Applicants must be cooperative enterprises or institutions submitting the funding application through their management. Decisive for approval are formal completeness, conformity with the Foundation’s purpose, a clear added value for the cooperative sector, and commitment to sustainability aspects. The application must include information about the applicant, a meaningful project description including objectives, methods, organization, and communication measures, a detailed financial plan, information on other funders and applications submitted to other funding institutions, as well as a classification of the measure within sustainable development goals. Selection takes place in a multi-stage process: after checking formal criteria, a professional evaluation by the board follows, and a final decision is made by the advisory board.