Number of community foundations: | 426 (2024) |
Oldest community foundation: | Bürgerstiftung Gütersloh (1996) |
Population: | 84,4 million (2023, Eurostat) |
Alliance of Community Foundations in Germany (Bündnis Bürgerstiftungen Deutschlands)
The Alliance of Community Foundations in Germany was established in 2001. At the moment, the organisation focuses on democracy issues, but also keeps working on a strong network of foundations and their actors. Therefore, the exchange with European partners has intensified in recent years. For the organisation, that has increased the awareness of common European issues and the different national challenges. It led to the strong belief of the Alliance that it is very important to promote and support the committed civil society, especially in times of political instability.
Foundation Active Citizenship (Stiftung Aktive Bürgerschaft)
The Foundation Active Citizenship is the competence center for civic engagement of Germany‘s cooperative banking group. Its mission is to sustainably foster civic engagement and non-profit organizations nationwide, with the focus on strengthening community foundations and service learning. To this end, it offers consulting services and support for CF initiatives as well as established CFs. It informs board members, staff and volunteers about important trends and challenges, supports them in all fields of their work, helps mobilize resources for local CFs and increases the awareness and reputation of CFs in Germany.
The Foundation places a special focus on supporting community foundations in asset development through donor advised funds, digitalization, and the qualification of new board members.