Bewegungsstiftung

The Bewegungsstiftung is a nationwide German community foundation (Gemeinschaftsstiftung) headquartered in Verden (Aller). Its stated purpose is to identify and combat the causes of social, political and economic problems. The foundation works from the premise that social grievances are often first addressed through social movements that articulate public protest, and it therefore supports political actions and protest campaigns of social movements in Germany and abroad with grants and advice. Among the movements it supports are the peace movement, the environmental movement and the anti-racist movement. The Bewegungsstiftung is a signatory of the Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft (Transparency Initiative for Civil Society). The foundation was launched in 2002 by nine founding donors with an endowment of 250,000 euros. Its initiators were Christoph Bautz, Gerald Neubauer and Felix Kolb. By 2012 it had 130 donors and endowment capital of five million euros; in 2017 a long-standing donor made an extraordinary transfer of one million euros, raising the endowment to over seven million euros. It now has more than 200 donors. As of 2020, it had funded more than 100 campaigns and organizations with a total of more than five million euros. In June 2003 the Stiftung bridge was founded under the Bewegungsstiftung's umbrella to promote civil rights in the digital society; it was dissolved on 1 January 2020. Grant decisions are made several times a year and are taken collectively. Funding requires that the supported people, projects or institutions work in a non-violent, ecologically compatible, egalitarian, transparent, democratic and fair manner. To ensure effective use of funds, the foundation develops criteria for evaluating project work. It supports individual political actions, medium- to long-term campaigns, and — through its basic funding — the building and development of organizations over several years. Funded projects have included Attac, .ausgestrahlt, Lobbycontrol, Women in Exile & Friends, the NoLager network, Urgewald and the Seebrücke alliance. The foundation supports social movements on two levels: financially, because resources are needed to plan, organize and carry out projects, actions and campaigns, and many movements lack sufficient resources; and through accompaniment and advice during the funding period. It also offers specialist seminars on topics such as fundraising, press work and conflict resolution. In 2019 it held a strategy conference in Berlin with around 200 participants. For people who engage so intensively in political or social projects that they cannot earn their full living, there is a special instrument: as so-called Bewegungsarbeiter (movement workers) they seek sponsors who provide financial support coordinated by the foundation. Cécile Lecomte, Bruno Watara, Sven Giegold and Jutta Sundermann belong or belonged to this group, which consists of up to ten people. Unlike charitable foundations, the Bewegungsstiftung seeks to fund change rather than charity and therefore describes itself as a "Wandelstiftung" (transformation foundation). Since 1 January 2008 the Bewegungsstiftung has been an independent foundation with a democratic basic structure that gives donors, funded projects and movement workers a say. Its highest decision-making body is the five-person Stiftungsrat (foundation council), which decides in particular on funding. It consists of one elected representative each from the donors' advisory board and the assembly of funded projects, plus three appointed persons with special experience in or knowledge of social movements. The donors' advisory board and the assembly of funded projects advise the council. There is also an investment committee dealing with money investment, asset management and investment criteria.

The Bewegungsstiftung was launched in 2002 by nine founding donors and endowed with 250,000 euros of foundation capital. The initiators were Christoph Bautz, Gerald Neubauer and Felix Kolb. The foundation was established on the premise that social grievances are often first addressed through social movements that articulate public protest, and it set out to support political actions and protest campaigns of social movements in Germany and abroad with grants and advice. In June 2003, the Stiftung bridge was founded under the umbrella of the Bewegungsstiftung to promote civil rights in the digital society. It was dissolved on 1 January 2020. By 2012 the foundation had 130 donors and its capital had grown to five million euros. In 2017 a long-standing donor made an extraordinary transfer of one million euros, raising the foundation capital to over seven million euros. The foundation now has more than 200 donors. As of 2020, it had funded more than 100 campaigns and organizations with a total of more than five million euros. Since 1 January 2008 the Bewegungsstiftung has been an independent foundation with a democratic basic structure that gives donors, funded projects and movement workers a say. Its highest decision-making body is the five-person Stiftungsrat (foundation council), which decides in particular on funding. It is composed of one elected representative each from the donors' advisory board and the assembly of funded projects, plus three appointed persons with special experience in or knowledge of social movements. The donors' advisory board and the assembly of funded projects advise the council. There is also an investment committee dealing with money investment, asset management and investment criteria. Once a year, donors, representatives of funded projects, movement workers and foundation staff meet for a two-and-a-half-day strategy workshop to discuss the foundation's further development. In 2019 the foundation held a strategy conference in Berlin with around 200 participants. The foundation is a signatory of the Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft. It invests its capital entirely according to self-imposed ethical and ecological criteria, for example with Ethikbank, GLS-Bank and Umweltbank, in renewable energies, and in alternative housing and economic projects, achieving a return of just under three percent and publishing its investment criteria and all investments online.

• 2020

  Stiftung bridge dissolved on 1 January; as of 2020, more than 100 campaigns and organizations had been funded with over five million euros in total.

• 2019

  Held a strategy conference in Berlin with around 200 participants.

• 2017

  A long-standing donor made an extraordinary transfer of one million euros, raising foundation capital to over seven million euros.

• 2012

  130 donors; capital had grown to five million euros.

• 2008

  On 1 January, the Bewegungsstiftung became an independent foundation with a democratic basic structure.

• 2003

  Stiftung bridge founded under the Bewegungsstiftung umbrella to promote civil rights in the digital society.

• 2002

  Founded by nine founding donors with 250,000 euros of foundation capital; initiators were Christoph Bautz, Gerald Neubauer and Felix Kolb.

A "Wandelstiftung" (transformation foundation) that funds change rather than charity, supporting non-violent, democratic, ecologically compatible social movements.

• Project and campaign grants

  Grants decided several times a year through collective decision-making, supporting individual political actions and medium- to long-term campaigns.

• Basic funding

  Multi-year support for the building and development of movement organizations.

• Advice and accompaniment

  Funded projects are accompanied and advised by the foundation during the funding period.

• Specialist seminars

  Seminars on topics such as fundraising, press work and conflict resolution.

• Bewegungsarbeiter program

  A special funding instrument for people who engage so intensively in political or social projects that they cannot earn their full living; they seek sponsors who provide foundation-coordinated financial support. The group consists of up to ten people.

1. 1Bewegungsstiftung - Wir fördern Protestbewegungsstiftung.de
2. 2Idee: Bewegungsstiftungbewegungsstiftung.de
3. 3Presse: Bewegungsstiftungbewegungsstiftung.de
4. 4Geldanlage: Bewegungsstiftungbewegungsstiftung.de
5. 5Bewegungsstiftungwikidata.org
6. 6Bewegungsstiftungde.wikipedia.org