by Siri Hummel, Laura Pfirter and Julian Kleeberg
Feminist and gender equality organisations make an important contribution to gender equality in Germany. However, until now there has been very little systematic data available on their financial situation – unlike in France or the United Kingdom, for example, where the funding of this sector has already been examined in greater detail.
The first part of a new series of studies addresses this gap: ‘Taking Stock: The Funding of Feminist and Gender-Equality-Oriented Civil Society’ systematically maps, for the first time, which organisations are active in this field in Germany and examines their resource base.
The study draws on three sources: a mapping exercise based on the Register of Grant Recipients (ZER), a survey of informal actors, and a special analysis of the ZiviZ Survey, a nationwide survey of organised civil society.
The ZER’s analysis shows that 0.6 per cent of the listed civil society organisations pursue the tax-privileged purpose of ‘promoting equality between women and men’. A supplementary keyword search identifies further relevant organisations, bringing the proportion up to 1.2 per cent. In the ZiviZ Survey, 0.7 per cent of the approximately 12,800 organisations surveyed state that they have women and girls as their sole target group.
The study puts these figures into context: the list of purposes set out in the German Fiscal Code therefore provides only a limited picture of the field, as numerous organisations for which gender equality is a key focus of their work are formally classified under other purposes such as youth welfare, education, or the arts and culture.
With regard to the financial situation, the study notes that the organisations examined have comparatively small budgets and, compared with other areas of civil society activity, a lower degree of diversification in their sources of funding. Formally organised actors are funded primarily through membership fees and private donations, whilst informal actors are funded predominantly through donations from private individuals and companies; public funding plays a comparatively minor role in both cases.
The authors note that growing legal and rhetorical commitments to gender equality have not yet been reflected in corresponding levels of funding, and call for an improved data base on this subject. Further instalments in the study series will follow.
This study is a joint project between the Maecenata Foundation, FAIR SHARE of Women Leaders e.V., filia.die frauenstiftung and Karin Heisecke (Änderwerk).