Foundations in Germany: Comparative sectoral perspectives

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

The German foundation sector gained in importance during the last 20 years, counting more than 19,000 foundations today. In terms of numbers and assets, it is likely the world’s second largest after the US. However, the German foundation sector remains under-researched. The research project presented in this panel seeks to fill the glaring gap in knowledge about the roles, the positioning and the likely contributions of foundations in Germany. The project follows a similar project on the roles and contributions of American foundations (Hammack/ Anheier, 2010), and is funded by Fritz Thyssen, Hertie, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Mercator and Volkswagen foundations.

The project started in the fall 2013 and, in its empirical phase, involved a number of steps: (1) preparing a comprehensive statistical database of the German foundation sector; (2) creating a purposive sample of “most relevant German foundations”; (3) conducting a representative survey of 1,000 private foundations; (4) holding expert interviews with over 100 foundation managers, (5) carrying out case studies on the 100 “most relevant German foundations”, and (6) conducting focus groups with participants from different stakeholder groups to validate preliminary findings.

We argue that foundations position themselves around three overarching objectives: Approximately two thirds want to provide relief, half of them aim at preserving culture and tradition, and around one third strives for political and social change. This triangle of objectives can be differentiated into numerous more specific societal roles, e.g. with foundations interpreting their relation to the state in a complementary or a subsidiary way, foundations that want to help the socially disadvantaged or foster the gifted, foundations that seek for innovations or just want to fund existing institutions. Our project data enable us to trace back the societal roles and positions of foundations to their structural context.

For most of the empirical work and analysis, we focused on four fields (education, science and research, social welfare, and arts and culture) that make up the vast majority of foundations, but each entail different institutional patterns and dynamics in terms of roles and positioning. The panel presents initial results and offers insights along the fields of education, science and research, and social welfare:
(a) What are the societal roles of foundations?
(b) What is the positioning of foundations relative to state, market, and civil society?
(c) What are the contributions of foundations to society?

Sub Unit

• Philanthropy and Foundations

Chair

• Helmut Anheier, Hertie School of Govenance

Discussant

• Stefan Toepler

Individual Presentations

• Foundations in School Education: Between Relief and Emancipation - Clemens Striebing, Centre of Social Investment at the University of Heidelberg

• The Role of German Foundations in Higher Education - Janina Mangold, Hertie School of Governance

• The Role of German Foundations in the Social Service Sector - Sarah Förster, Hertie School of Governance

Session Organizer

• Janina Mangold, Hertie School of Governance