The Maecenata Foundation is a member of the steering committee of the Initiative for a Transparent Civil Society.
The Maecenata Foundation signed the declaration of commitment issued by the Transparent Civil Society Initiative on 18 June 2010. The information to be published as part of this commitment is set out below.
1. Name, registered office, address and year of foundation of our organisation:
Contact: Ansgar Gessner, ag@maecenata.eu, T +49 30 283 879 10 01
Maecenata Foundation
Oberföhringer Straße 18
81679 Munich
Head Office:
Maecenata Foundation
Wallstraße 15a
10179 Berlin
The Maecenata Foundation is an independent, charitable foundation under civil law, based in Munich. It was established in 2010 and has brought all Maecenata activities under one roof since 2011.
2. Full articles of association or partnership agreement, as well as other key documents that provide information on the specific objectives we are pursuing and how these are to be achieved:
The Maecenata Foundation’s Articles of Association can be found here
3. Date of the most recent notice from the tax office regarding recognition as a tax-privileged (charitable) organisation:
The Maecenata Foundation’s current tax exemption notice for the years 2020 to 2023 was issued by the Munich tax office on 25 March 2025. You can find it here
4. Names and roles of key decision-makers:
The Maecenata Foundation is represented by the Executive Board. The composition of the Executive Board can be viewed here (Committees). The Executive Board is overseen by the Foundation Council, the composition of which can be viewed here (Committees).
5. Report on our organisation’s activities:
latest activity report
The Maecenata Foundation pursues its statutory objectives through four main programmes:
- Maecenata Institute
– further information - Transnational Giving
– further information - Tocqueville Forum
– further information - MENA Study Centre
– further information
6. Staff structure:
As at 31 December 2023, the following people were employed by the Foundation:
21 staff members in total (9 women, 12 men), of whom:
- – 5 volunteers serving on the foundation’s governing bodies
- – 1 full-time staff member serving on a governing body
- – 2 further volunteers
- – 2 full-time staff members
- – 7 further part-time staff members
- – 4 student staff members
You can find the Maecenata Foundation team here: Meet the team
7. Audited balance sheet and profit and loss account:
The Maecenata Foundation’s audited balance sheet and profit and loss account for 2023 can be found here
8. Corporate links with third parties:
The Maecenata Foundation is a foundation with legal capacity under civil law and is self-owned.
9. Names of legal entities whose annual donations account for more than ten per cent of total annual income:
In 2018, the Maecenata Foundation received a earmarked donation from Mr Alexander Otto amounting to 7.44 million euros. The donation was used to support Harvard University, USA.
Public list of associations registered with the Bundestag
The Maecenata Foundation is not a lobbying organisation. It does not represent any particular interests, but offers independent, academically based expertise on the topics of civil society, civic engagement, philanthropy and the foundation sector. Nevertheless, the Maecenata Foundation has been listed on the German Bundestag’s lobby register since 1998 and is issued with two parliamentary passes each year.