Christiane Biedermann, Bernadette Hellmann, and Dr. Stefan Nährlich of Stiftung Aktive Bürgerschaft compare and contrast German and American community foundations and give an overview of five key areas of their work.
‘The roles of community foundations have been associated with community leaders, grantmakers and vehicles for philanthropy. Many US community foundations have traditionally put a strong emphasis on their function as partner and service provider for donors. Some manage up to 1,800 different component funds.’
They write, ‘In Germany, community foundations, or Bürgerstiftungen, have developed very dynamically. Some Bürgerstiftungen strengthen civil society not only through their own work, but by convening different local stakeholders and by providing training and capacity building for local charities.’ Continue reading