The Anti-Corruption Guideline of the State of Lower Saxony defines sponsorship as the provision of a monetary or non-monetary benefit to institutions of the State with the aim of raising the public profile of the sponsor.
Sponsorship is permissible provided that even the appearance of influence in the performance of administrative tasks can be ruled out and the state's public image is not damaged. In particular, sponsorship for the purposes of public relations, culture and sports is permissible if the influence on content can be ruled out.
For the areas of intervention administration (e.g. judiciary, police, tax administration, correctional services), sponsoring has to be rejected in principle.
Also, the permanent transfer of personnel or the financing of personnel budget positions by sponsorships to the public administration needs to be avoided.
In the course of transparent administrative action, sponsorships with a value of at least €1000 have to be published in corresponding lists of public-law institutions in a manner recognizable to the public.
For questions regarding sponsorships and sponsorship agreements, Internal Audit is available as an advisory contact as well as the Budget Law and Financial Services Department (Dept. 21) and the Legal Department.