Funding guidelines in plain language

We support development processes. Experienced artists or cultural professionals (mentors), with or without disabilities, accompany and advise a disabled artist or cultural professional (mentee).

The mentors support the mentees’ artistic and professional development for eight months.

The mentees pick their mentors themselves. They choose the mentors who can best help them achieve their goals.

The mentees and mentors first discuss all the important questions with each other.

Then, they submit the funding application.

The mentors confirm in writing (with a ‘letter of intent’) that they will advise the mentees in at least six talks, lasting two hours each, if they receive the funding.

The mentees should have enough time to meet with their mentors and participate in the other events offered by the programme.

For this reason, the mentees receive a grant, which supports their income. The grant enables the mentees to: 

• take part in advising and coaching by the mentors.
• work with the programme to gain qualifications and to network.
• participate in the academy programme offered by the German Federal Cultural Foundation. With this programme, mentees can get further education and network with other participants

The mentees are supposed to have barrier-free access to the mentoring programme.

The mentees can be reimbursed by the German Federal Cultural Foundation for any costs for accessibility, such as translations into sign language. The German Federal Cultural Foundation calls these costs ‘access costs’.

The mentors receive compensation for their services (also see 3. How much is the funding?). They can also take part in the entire programme.
 

 Artists and cultural professionals who identify as disabled and who would like to take a leadership role in their area of work later on.

They should work artistically at a professional level or work in an art-related field, e.g. curation, dramaturgy or cultural education.

Career starters and career changers are also eligible for funding.

Their place of residence must be in Germany.

The German Federal Cultural Foundation awards a grant of €4,000 to each mentee.

After giving legally binding approval, the Foundation pays out the sum in eight equal monthly instalments.

The necessary costs for accessibility (‘access costs’) are reimbursed by the German Federal Cultural Foundation. Invoices and receipts must be sent to the Foundation for this purpose. The Foundation checks the invoices and then reimburses the access costs.

The costs are not reimbursed if they are covered by integration benefits.

Integration benefits (external link, opens in a new window) (external link, opens new window) are a form of support for disabled people. It is described in Title 9 of the German Social Code (SGB IX).

The mentors receive a one-time gross payment of €1,200 for at least six two-hour talks with their mentee.
 

The mentee must choose their mentor at the time of application.

Applicants can only use the online application form provided on the Foundation’s website.

They must complete the form in full.

The application form is accessible.

It is possible to submit application documents in these formats: 

• video, in spoken German
• signed in German (German Sign Language or Signed German)

A short general data sheet must be completed in writing.

You must upload the following documents together with the online application:

• A brief outline of your motivation and ideas for mentoring (maximum two pages of text or five minutes of video). The following questions are particularly important:

1. What are your artistic and personal goals? What goals do you have for cultural work and cultural institutions? And how will the “Mentoring Programme for Disabled Leadership” help you achieve them? What questions and challenges would you like to work on and resolve during the process?
2. How can your chosen mentor help you on your path? What skills do they have? What form of exchange would you like? 

• Brief description of your artistic background (maximum two pages of text or five minutes of video). 
• Letter of intent and a brief biography of the mentor (maximum one page of text or two-and-a-half minutes of video).

The video files must be supplied via a separate download link. The link must be entered in the corresponding fields of the online application.

The German Federal Cultural Foundation awards funding in three application rounds.

• The first round ends on 15 September 2023.
• The second round ends on 15 May 2024.
• The third round ends on 13 December 2024.

The date of submission of the online form determines whether your application was sent on time.

The German Federal Cultural Foundation decides if an application is eligible for funding based on the documents that are submitted on time.

The Foundation does not process applications that arrive too late or are incomplete.

About ten weeks after the application deadline, an independent expert jury recommends suitable applications.

The Executive Board of the Cultural Foundation then selects the mentees.

There are three funding application rounds. The funding is for an eight-month period.

A decision on the applications from the first round is planned for mid-November 2023.

Once the Cultural Foundation has approved funding, the mentoring can begin immediately. It must be completed after eight months at the latest.
 

The rules agreed in the grant agreement, sections 23 and 44 of the German Federal Budget Code (BHO) and the General Administrative Regulations 
issued for this purpose apply to the approval of the funding, the payment of the money and the invoicing. They also apply to proof and verification of the use of the money, possible withdrawal from the grant agreement, and possible reclamation of the payments made.

The Bundesrechnungshof may carry out audits in accordance with BHO sections 91 and 100.

The Federal Government Commissioner for Cultural Affairs and the Media (BKM) and the Federal Office of Administration (BVA) may also carry out audits in accordance with their agreement with the German Federal Cultural Foundation.

If the recipient does not comply with the rules of the funding agreement, the German Federal Cultural Foundation may reclaim all or part of the funding.
 

These funding guidelines take effect on 8 April 2024 and are subject to change.