Germany

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.

The Foundation Active Citizenship (Stiftung Aktive Bürgerschaft) fosters civic engagement throughout Germany. It is the support organisation of community foundations, founder of the service learning program ‘sozialgenial’ and partner for civic engagement of the cooperative banking group. It offers a wide range of support and consulting services for community foundations throughout Germany. It informs board members, staff and volunteers about important trends and challenges, supports them in all fields of their work, offers networking and learning opportunities and helps mobilise resources for local community foundations. The foundation puts a special focus on providing trainings, tools and research which help community foundations to build strong boards and strengthen their financial and organisational development.

Stiften für alle – Mit Bürgerstiftungen lokales Engagement stärken e.V. (translated as “Endowing for Everyone – Strengthening Local Engagement with Community Foundations”) is an association that supports community foundations (Bürgerstiftungen) in Germany. Its mission is to strengthen local civic engagement by helping community foundations to grow and thrive, particularly through improving their fundraising capacities and access to resources.
The association provides practical support to community foundations in securing funds, building partnerships, and implementing projects that foster civic participation and democratic values. It also coordinates joint initiatives and campaigns that highlight the role of community foundations in society. Recent examples include the project “Community Foundations for Liberal Democracy” and participation in the North German Broadcasting (NDR) charity campaign “Hand in Hand für Norddeutschland 2024”, which mobilised resources and visibility for local civic causes.

Through its activities, Stiften für alle e.V. complements the work of other national support organisations by focusing on resource mobilisation and advocacy for the contribution of community foundations to a vibrant civil society.