Stiftung Bürgermut

Stiftung Bürgermut is a nationwide non-profit foundation under German civil law (gemeinnützige Stiftung des bürgerlichen Rechts) headquartered in Berlin. It was founded in April 2007 by Elmar Pieroth, an entrepreneur, former Berlin senator for economic affairs and former CDU member of the Bundestag. The foundation describes itself as a platform and community that supports committed individuals and initiatives to become more effective, qualifying and connecting them and helping civil-society projects to grow. Its central goal is the transfer and scaling of exemplary, innovative civic engagement. The foundation is financed through endowments (Zustiftungen), grants and donations. It is led by executive board member Stephanie Kowitz-Harms. Its partners have included and include the Stiftung Mercator, Bertelsmann Stiftung, aqtivator, Crespo Foundation, betterplace lab, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Aktion Mensch, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Deutsche Stiftung für Engagement und Ehrenamt, Körber-Stiftung and WHU. Stiftung Bürgermut runs several programmes. openTransfer promotes knowledge transfer and exchange in the third sector and supports scaling of social projects; it has produced regional openTransfer CAMPs and an e-book, and includes sub-programmes such as openTransfer Zusammenhalt (for civil society in eastern Germany, enabled by Stiftung Mercator), openTransfer Patenschaften (since 2017, networking and qualification for refugee-support projects, later opened nationwide), openTransfer wohnen and openTransfer Klima. The Digital Social Summit is a digital conference for the third sector. D3 – so geht digital is an online magazine, learning platform and partner exchange for practitioners of digital transformation; it relaunched in early 2026 with a focus on artificial intelligence. The Skalierungswerkstatt: wachsen & wirken advises organisations funded by the Crespo Foundation, and the openTransfer Accelerator supported non-profit organisations with a 12-month scaling fellowship until 2025. The foundation is a member of several associations, including the Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen, Bundesverband Soziales Mentoring, Bundesnetzwerk Bürgerschaftliches Engagement, Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft and the Social Entrepreneurship Netzwerk Deutschland.

Stiftung Bürgermut was founded in April 2007 by Elmar Pieroth, an entrepreneur, former Berlin senator for economic affairs and former CDU member of the Bundestag. It was established as a nationwide non-profit foundation under German civil law (gemeinnützige Stiftung des bürgerlichen Rechts) with its seat in Berlin. The foundation's central purpose is the transfer of exemplary and innovative civic engagement, with a particular focus on enabling public-benefit organisations to scale their impact. Over the years the foundation built a portfolio of programmes. openTransfer became a core vehicle for promoting the scaling of social projects, bundling specialist knowledge and creating guidelines for transfer processes; in 2014 it produced the e-book Gutes einfach verbreiten. Regional openTransfer CAMPs, held several times a year in different locations, provide space for personal encounters and exchange. A sub-programme, openTransfer Zusammenhalt, creates exchange and learning opportunities specifically for civil society in eastern Germany, enabled by Stiftung Mercator. openTransfer Patenschaften has addressed networking, dissemination and qualification of projects for refugees in the eastern German federal states since 2017 through barcamps, online seminars, workshops, study trips and publications; in 2019 the target group was expanded and the offerings became available nationwide to all sponsorship, mentoring and tandem projects, supported by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs' programme "Menschen stärken Menschen". The programme D3 – so geht digital relaunched in early 2026 with a focus on artificial intelligence, aiming to qualify civil-society actors, bring them into exchange and stimulate mutual learning. The Skalierungswerkstatt: wachsen & wirken advises and qualifies organisations funded by the Crespo Foundation in their professionalisation and development. The sub-programme openTransfer Accelerator supported non-profit organisations until 2025 in growing in a structured way, spreading their impact locally, in other cities or digitally, and finding an individual scaling path; its core was a 12-month scaling fellowship. Further foundation programmes include openTransfer wohnen, openTransfer Klima and the Digital Social Summit. The foundation is financed through endowments, grants and donations. It is led by executive board member Stephanie Kowitz-Harms. Partners have included and include Stiftung Mercator, Bertelsmann Stiftung, aqtivator, Crespo Foundation, betterplace lab, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Aktion Mensch, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Deutsche Stiftung für Engagement und Ehrenamt, Körber-Stiftung and WHU. The foundation is a member of several associations, including Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen, Bundesverband Soziales Mentoring, Bundesnetzwerk Bürgerschaftliches Engagement, Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft and the Social Entrepreneurship Netzwerk Deutschland.

• 2026

  D3 – so geht digital relaunches with a focus on artificial intelligence.

• 2025

  openTransfer Accelerator concludes its support for non-profit organisations.

• 2019

  openTransfer Patenschaften target group expanded; offerings available nationwide.

• 2017

  openTransfer Patenschaften launched, addressing projects for refugees in eastern German states.

• 2014

  openTransfer produces the e-book Gutes einfach verbreiten.

• 2007

  Stiftung Bürgermut founded in April by Elmar Pieroth in Berlin.

A platform and community for civic engagement that qualifies, connects and scales civil-society organisations.

• openTransfer

  Programme promoting knowledge transfer and exchange in the third sector and supporting scaling of social projects; includes regional CAMPs and sub-programmes.

• Digital Social Summit

  Digital conference for the third sector where digital experts from non-profit organisations share knowledge, learn and debate.

• D3 – so geht digital

  Online magazine, learning platform and partner exchange for practitioners of digital transformation; relaunched in early 2026 with an AI focus.

• Skalierungswerkstatt: wachsen & wirken

  Advises and qualifies organisations funded by the Crespo Foundation in professionalisation and development.

• openTransfer Accelerator

  Supported non-profit organisations until 2025 with a 12-month scaling fellowship.

• openTransfer Zusammenhalt

  Sub-programme creating exchange and learning opportunities for civil society in eastern Germany, enabled by Stiftung Mercator.

• openTransfer Patenschaften

  Since 2017, networking, dissemination and qualification for refugee-support projects; nationwide since 2019.

• openTransfer wohnen

  Further foundation programme.

• openTransfer Klima

  Further foundation programme.

1. 1Stiftung Bürgermut official websitebuergermut.de
2. 2Stiftung Bürgermut – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
3. 3Stiftung Bürgermut – Wikidatawikidata.org