While civil society and the diversity of its organisations are becoming increasingly important for the development of society world wide, the sector in Germany still suffers from a lack of theoretical groundwork and public awareness. Therefore, the mission of the Maecenata Institute is to promote knowledge and understanding of civil society and private philanthropy through academic research, documentation and information, and exchanges between academics, public leaders and professionals in the field.

The Maecenata Institute for Philanthropy and Civil Society at Humboldt University, Berlin, is one of about 5 academic research centres that focus specifically on philanthropy and civil society. Others include

• the Institute for Foundation and Nonprofit Law at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg (Director: Professor Dr. Birgit Weitemeyer);

• the Ernst Abbe Institute for Foundation Research at Jena University (Director: Professor Dr. Olaf Werner);

• the Nonprofit Management Centre at Muenster University (Director: Professor Dr. Annette Zimmer);

• the Centre for Social Innovation at Heidelberg University (Director: Professor Dr. Helmut Anheier).

While the centres directed by Birgit Weitemeyer and Olaf Werner focus on foundation and non-profit law, the other centres are concerned with the social science aspects of philanthropy and civil society research, with different backgrounds and outlooks. The MI probably has the most clearly historical and theoretical approach, while at the same time bridging to the practical issues in the field.

Besides these centres, a number of experienced individual researchers concentrate on philanthropy and civil society matters (notably Professor Dr. Adalbert Evers, Giessen, Professor Dr. Thomas Klie, Freiburg, Professor Dr. Thomas Olk, Halle, and others).

In addition, the Berlin Centre for Social Sciences (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fuer Sozialforschung) has ongoing research activities in philanthropy and civil society research (notably Dr. Eckhard Priller and Dr. Dieter Gosewinkel).

The Maecenata Institute (MI) was founded in 1997 in order to provide a new form and devise a new agenda for research activities already undertaken by Maecenata Management, a professional consultancy specializing in the not-for-profit sector. One task was to take over the database of German foundations developed there since 1989. It takes the legal form of a not-for-profit limited company, owned by 2 charitable foundations. Its affiliation to Humboldt University is by contract. Rupert Graf Strachwitz became its first director.

Rupert Graf Strachwitz M.A., a political scientist and historian by training, with ample personal experience in the governance of not-for-profit organisations in Germany and abroad, was the founder of Maecenata Management, of which he is still the managing director. In his professional career and through his many volunteer activities, he has committed himself to the concept of a strong civil society as a third arena of societal activity beside the market and the state. This concept was totally new in the German environment of political theory and practice in the 1990s and is even now only gradually being seen as a serious conceptual alternative to the theory of a strong and overruling state. Strachwitz was brought into the civil society research community through the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, to which he has contributed in various ways since 1990, and of which he chaired the German Advisory Council from 1995 to 2001. The MI defines its mission as providing the necessary research and policy advice to enable this paradigm shift to happen.

The MI focuses its activities entirely on

• philanthropy,
• civil society,
• the third sector,
• civic engagement, and
• related subjects.

It organizes its activities in projects that are either self-developed and executed or brought to the MI by other research institutions, public bodies, civil society organisations and others.

Major areas of attention include

• the relationship between civil society and other areas of citizen interaction;
• the relationship between civil society and government action;
• the relationship between the foundation community and civil society at large;
• the legal and fiscal framework for civil society organisations in general and foundations in particular;
• the interchange between theory and practice. The MI remains in close touch with Maecenata Management, where day-to-day practical issues are discussed and managed (Maecenata Management has over 50 small foundations under full management on a long-term basis.), as well as with Maecenata International, the German member of the Transnational Giving Europe network;
• the outreach from Germany to the wider European and international research agenda (the MI has always been internationally active and is keen to participate in international research projects.)

The MI pursues its aims through

• research,
• teaching,
• policy Advice, and
• public information.

Since 1997, the MI has accomplished more than 60 research projects, large and small, and has been responsible for approx. 300 publications.

Research projects (completed and in progress) include (i.a.):

• contributions related to foundation data for the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, directed by Lester Salamon and Helmut Anheier;

• the German report for the international project ‘Roles and Visions of Foundations in Europe’, directed by Helmut Anheier;

• the German report for the international project ‘Civicus Civil Society Index’, directed by Kumi Naidoo;

• the German report for the 4 country report on family foundations, directed by Cathy Pharoah;

• the preliminary report on Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark for the international project ‘Philanthropization through Privatization’, directed by Lester Salamon;

• contributions on Germany to the European project ‘Focus on Civil Society’, directed by Annette Zimmer;

• a contribution to the project ‘Fondations philanthropiques en Europe et aux Etats-Unis’, directed by Mattei Dogan, Kenneth Prewitt, and Stefan Toepler);

• the German report for the project ‘Associations and Foundations in Europe and China’, directed by Yuwen Li;

• an analysis of philanthropy in favour of arts and culture, commissioned by the Federal German Parliament;

• contributions to 2 working packages of the European CINEFOGO project, directed by Annette Zimmer and Adalbert Evers, and by Nicholas Deakin and Jeremy Kendall respectively;

• the German report for the international project ‘Policy towards the Third Sector’, directed by Benjamin Gidron;

• 5 projects on statistical evaluation of German foundation data, directed by staff members;

• 3 projects on the implications of interreligious dialogue and civil society, directed by staff members;

• 2 projects on civil society and churches, in cooperation with other institutions, directed by staff members;

• 4 projects on community foundations, including comparative approaches to community philanthropy in Italy and Russia;

• a number of research projects to do with foundations in Germany, directed by staff members;

• a project on urban planning and civil society, in cooperation with an urban planning chair at Berlin’s technical university, commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Works and Urban Planning, directed by staff members;

• a contribution to the first ever report on civic engagement in Germany, commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Family, Women, and Youth, directed by the Berlin Centre for Social Sciences (Eckhard Priller).

All results of the MI’s research are made available to the public. Publications include books, working papers (printed and electronic), contributions to books, journals, and general media, published in German, English, Chinese, Italian, French, and Polish.

Recently, the MI has reactivated a ‘Berlin Circle for Civil Society Research’. Membership is open to senior researchers interested and active in this field and residing or permanently working in Berlin (presently approx. 10 members).

The MI enjoys and encourages cooperation with other academic and other institutions world-wide on research projects, as well as on conferences and publications.

Teaching is a major aspect of the MI’s agenda:

• MI staff contribute to the general teaching programme of the Institute for Social Sciences at Humboldt University, Berlin.
• MI staff run a course on foundation management within the nonprofit management graduate programme at Muenster University.
• A special research college assembles senior students (predominantly pre-doc) from any German speaking university and any faculty, who are engaged in projects to do with philanthropy and civil society for regular seminars (4 p.a.) and individual coaching. To date, approx. 90 students have been or still are members of this college.
• MI staff have delivered courses, lectures and papers at numerous universities worldwide, including New York University, The Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Bologna University, the ENA, Paris, Bale University, Salzburg University, the Chinese Academy for Social Sciences, Beijing University, and many German academic and other training centres.
• Specialized courses on philanthropy and civil society have been staged (i.a.) for Italian arts managers (yearly), Croatian government officials and parliamentarians (2, funded by USAID), Japanese foundation executives (1), and German landscape planners (1).

Policy Advice is given irrespective of party political affiliation. Projects past and present include (i.a.):

• From 1998 to 2004, the MI cooperated with the Bertelsmann Foundation in directing a joint committee of experts and publishing recommendations for reforms of foundation and non-profit law. 21 smaller and 6 larger conferences were staged in this context alone.
• From 1999 to 2002, the director was a full member of the German parliamentary commission on the future of civic engagement.
• Staff members were called upon to present papers at hearings and conferences by invitation of the Chancery of the President of the Republic, the Federal Parliament, the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finances, and other government agencies.
• Staff members were called upon to present papers by invitation of parliaments and government agencies of the states of Berlin, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria, and Rhineland-Palatinate.
• Staff members have presented papers by invitation of the European Commission and the Economic and Social Council of the European Union.
• The director is a permanent advisory member of the working group of directors of umbrella organisations of civil society bodies in Germany.
• Members of the federal as well as of state parliaments, government officials and other public decision makers visit the MI regularly for background information, the exchange of views, and updates on current developments.
• The MI publishes analyses and assessments of policy initiatives on a regular basis;

Public information is deemed a highly important aspect of philanthropy and civil society research. The MI attempts to further this cause by

• the ongoing development and improvement of its database of German foundations including the publication of directories and statistics, the acceptance of specified research commissions, the continuous updating of information and ensuring its free availability on the internet (by way of this database, the MI has been a networking centre of the European Foundation Centre since 1997, succeeding Maecenata Management);
• the publication of numerous reports and working papers, many of which are available free of charge on the internet;
• the publication of a decisive handbook on foundations (Stiftungen in Theorie, Praxis und Recht, 2005);
• the development of a specialized library, open to the public. (Unfortunately, this library, the largest specialized library for this subject matter in Germany, could no longer be kept up for financial reasons, and was handed over to the Humboldt Viadrina School of Governance in 2007 on condition that it should remain open to the public and fully accessible to MI staff.)
• the publication of a journal (Maecenata Actuell 1998-2006, Maecenata Notizen 2007 - );
• numerous dialogues with individuals and delegations, including (i.a.) visitors from all over Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Croatia, Poland, Italy, Great Britain, Spain, Japan, China, the United States, and Ethiopia;
• press bulletins explaining the MI’s position on issues of general interest, published whenever necessary;
• an active web site (www.maecenata.eu), currently visited by approx. 65,000 users per month.

The MI currently employs 3 researchers and 2 junior scholars, plus 2 interns. The director devotes approx. 50% of his time to the MI as a volunteer. All administrative matters are outsourced to Maecenata Management. The work of the MI is aided significantly by approx. 7 fellows (all former full-time researchers), research partners, and a scientific council. 

Funding is a problem. The MI has never received any core funding from public sources. From 1997 to 2005, comparatively generous funding was provided by Atlantic Philanthropies, the Stiftung Mercator, the Karl-Konrad-und-Ria-Groeben-Stiftung, the Bertelsmann Foundation and others. Since 2006, the level of funding has decreased dramatically. Project funding has been obtained from public and private sources. The MI is subsidized by Maecenata Management.