How to Make Subvention Programs Work Harder

Conferli’s subvention study sought to understand how subvention practices can fuel sustainability strategies, amplify impact initiatives, and create stronger, more equitable partnerships between destinations and associations.

Subvention programs have long been used to attract conferences to host destinations and benefit local communities. Public or government funding is the dominant source for these programs in Europe and Asia, which help to cover the costs of hosting events; in North America, CVB-funded programs are more common. Subvention programs have historically been intended primarily for economic benefit and a number of factors blunt their full potential for impact beyond that, according to a recent subvention market study.

The study — subtitled “Subvention as a catalyst for sustainable and impactful transformation in the Business Events Industry” — was led by conference-matchmaking platform Conferli in consultation with GDS-Earth, the Global Destination Sustainability Movement, and Meet4Impact, a Montréal, Canada–based nonprofit that works to help destinations and event organizers maximize the social, cultural, and environmental impact of their events.

The study explores the current landscape of subvention programs for meetings and events, based on data obtained through surveys, in-depth interviews, and live workshops conducted with 55 associations and 115 destinations around the world. It shines a light on the limitations of current approaches to subvention as well as how associations and destinations could change how they collaborate to go beyond economic impact and leave a legacy in host destinations.

One key finding is that while 91 percent of destinations surveyed believe that subvention can be a driver for positive change, only 6 percent have embedded change-driven criteria into their subvention programs. Bregje Frens, cofounder and chief commercial officer at Conferli and one of the report’s co-authors, provided additional context for this seeming mismatch between intentions and execution to Convene over email. “Several operational realities stand in the way,” she wrote. “Public-funding frameworks are still designed to justify economic return, not social or environmental outcomes. Subvention is often tied to tourism budgets, and changing those KPIs requires political will and proof that ‘impact’ is measurable. Then there’s fragmentation: multiple stakeholders (CVBs, tourism boards, ministries) share ownership, making it hard to assign accountability. Add in administrative complexity and limited data tools, and progress stalls, even when the intent is there.”

Another big takeaway is that while utilization of subvention programs is consistently high — nearly four out of five destinations surveyed have programs, and just over half of associations say they depend on these programs — there is oftentimes limited financial support after an association has booked with a destination. Geneviève LeClerc, CEO and cofounder at Meet4Impact as well as one of the report’s co-authors, shared her perspective on how the best of intentions fail to materialize into change initiatives for individual destinations. “There is subvention funding available to the events or the associations to attract the event to the destination — to increase visitation or attendance — but there’s a lack of dedicated funding that supports associations or event owners once they’re confirmed in a destination to pursue any kind of change agendas that would require a bit more than lip service,” she told Convene.

“This has become an obstacle because we’ve got associations wanting to do this but not having the resources. They’re being invited to do impact and sustainability by the destinations to pursue the destinations’ strategic objectives, and yet the destinations are not really putting money on the table. They’re running these pilots, but there’s no plan for succession once the pilots are over,” LeClerc said.

Going Beyond Lip Service

A gap between destinations’ subvention offerings and event planners’ expectations is another key takeaway from the report. A staggering 95 percent of associations specified that destinations they work with fail to communicate how to use subvention strategically. The report specified the types of mission-driven support that associations most frequently request from destinations. These include financial support (87 percent), tools to measure impact (66 percent), sustainability guidance (53 percent), connections to local stakeholders (45 percent), and accessibility/inclusion support (34 percent). By contrast, the top priorities for destinations who responded to the Conferli study are economic impact, delegate numbers or hotel nights, and sector alignment — for example, wanting to be seen as an accessible destination.

Any guidance is better than none at all, but some destinations are way ahead of the game. LeClerc pointed to Destination Canada’s International Convention Attraction Fund, created in 2024, as an example of a subvention program with clearly communicated objectives. Associations have the opportunity to include a legacy plan with their initial application in order to bolster their chances for subvention funding. “They make legacy plans optional, but they give extra money and extra budget if an event does submit a legacy plan, and they provide a set of eight dimensions where the event could be looking at,” she said. “So it’s not very narrow, it’s quite broad, but it has to align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and it has to align with these eight dimensions. At this point, about a third of the submissions they’ve received have submitted legacy plans.”

In addition to monetary incentives, cities should offer tangible support to event staff and volunteers as planning ramps up. “You need to provide toolkits, person-to-person support, and training,” LeClerc said. “It’s really important that any subvention fund that would be developed to support a change agenda in the destination has resources put behind it to help clients implement that once they got that money.”

The study points to the European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ) as an organization that is continually looking to maximize the impact of subvention programs beyond a transactional funding model. EFRJ works hand-in-hand with the local destinations that host its rotating biennial conferences in European cities to align their meetings with local initiatives in justice reform, social innovation, and community building. This co-creative approach lets local stories and stakeholders take center stage at the event, for example, when EFRJ met in Tallinn, Estonia last year, the conference focused on restorative justice in times of war, whereas the 2023 meeting in Pamplona centered on regional policy innovation. EFRJ also integrates informal gatherings and public events, like social dinners in local community centers instead of traditional restaurants, into the event schedule in order to deepen connections among participants and between attendees and host cities.

‘A Collective Move to Raise the Bar’

Looking ahead, Frens said the landscape will shift to a more focused, results-driven approach to subvention in line with LeClerc’s call for more hands-on support from destinations. “We’re moving from ‘how much’ to ‘how meaningful.’ Cities will differentiate themselves through their ability to measure impact, share transparent results, and actively help associations build legacy projects that align with local priorities,” Frens said. “Ultimately, this isn’t a race against each other, it’s a collective move to raise the bar, to compete on purpose, not price, and to show that every funded conference can leave a lasting positive footprint for people and place alike.”

Although the industry has a long way to go, subvention is still a powerful tool for change in the business events industry. “The first step is simple: Ask for subvention, and ask for it differently,” Frens said. “Many associations either don’t know support exists or only see it as financial aid. The report clearly shows that subvention can be far more strategic if associations use it to advance their own mission.”

It Never Hurts to Ask

Frens offered these practical considerations for event planners keen on maximizing the impact of subvention programs.

1. Define your impact goals early
Be clear about what you want your conference to achieve, socially, environmentally, or in legacy terms.

2. Include these goals in your RFP
Add a short section on “subvention & impact” that asks destinations not only how much they can offer, but how they can help achieve your objectives.

3. Prioritize partnerships, not discounts
Choose destinations that want to co-create outcomes and provide access to local stakeholders, tools, or expertise.

4. Track and share results
Even simple reporting on accessibility, inclusion, or carbon footprint helps build a case for smarter subvention use across the industry.

Kate Mulcrone is Convene’s digital managing editor.

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