Transparency in the non-profit sector is essential – and particularly important to us. We therefore make the following information available to the public in accordance with the recommendations of the Initiative for a Transparent Civil Society.
1. Name, registered office, address and year of establishment of our organization
Name: Schöpflin Foundation
Registered office: Franz-Ehret-Straße 7, 79541 Lörrach, Germany
Administrative office: Industriestraße 2, 79541 Lörrach, Germany
Contact person: Julia Rommel; julia.rommel@schoepflin-stiftung.de
Year of establishment: 2001
2. Full statutes as well as vision
We are committed to fostering critical awareness, a vibrant democracy, and a diverse society. Through our work, we seek to empower young people and help lay the groundwork for a better future.
3. Date of the most recent notice from the tax office confirming recognition as a tax-privileged (non-profit) organization
The most recent notice from the tax office (dated 16 October 2024) can be found here:
4. Names and positions of key decision-makers (e.g. executive management, board, and supervisory bodies)
The names and roles of our governing bodies can be found here:
5. Report on the activities of our organization
Activities of the Schöpflin Foundation and its independent subsidiaries in 2024:
The Schöpflin Foundation is an independent, non-profit foundation under German civil law based in Lörrach. It is committed to fostering critical awareness, a vibrant democracy, and a diverse society. In Lörrach, the foundation operates the cultural and debate space »Werkraum Schöpflin«, the »Schöpflin Schule« (Schöpflin School), and the socio-cultural meeting project FABRIC. It is also the supporting organization of the addiction prevention center »Villa Schöpflin« in Lörrach and »Publix – House for Journalism and the Public Sphere« in Berlin.
Werkraum Schöpflin – House of Unrest
In the second half of 2024, the Werkraum Schöpflin began a new thematic focus on »Power(lessness)«. As part of this series, eleven events took place in autumn 2024, including theatre, dance, music, readings, and public discussions with well-known guests. An additional fourteen events followed in the first half of 2025. The Werkraum’s holiday workshop program was expanded and further developed, making it the largest provider of such workshops in Lörrach.
Schöpflin Schule (Schöpflin School)
In September 2024, the school welcomed its fourth cohort with 27 additional children. The process for official state recognition was initiated in autumn and is expected to be completed by autumn 2025. The school continued to develop its educational formats, such as the »Große Zeigung« (public learning presentations), themed project weeks, and its connections with the local neighborhood. The teaching team also focused on advancing the digital documentation of students’ learning progress.
FABRIC – A Socio-Culural Space for Participation / Social Neighborhood Work
FABRIC's offerings on the future Schöpflin Campus site were actively used by Lörrach residents. In addition to weekly hands-on programming, larger events took place over the year, such as the »Flowmarkt«, the open-air summer series »Frischluftsommer«, and the »Winterzauber« winter fair. In 2024, new movement and fitness programs for older adults were also added.
Schöpflin Foundation – Grant Program
In 2024, the foundation piloted a new funding model in cooperation with the Kinnings Foundation: the Flow Fund for Eastern Germany, which is based on the principle of participatory grantmaking. This means that the foundation itself does not make the funding decisions – instead, committed young people from the five eastern federal states of Germany acted as »Flow Funders«, distributing funds to non-profits, organizations, and individuals. In the pilot year, nine Flow Funders awarded a total of €225,000 to initiatives that strengthen social cohesion in Eastern Germany. A second round is planned for 2025 following an evaluation.
Independent Subsidiaries:
Villa Schöpflin – Center for Addiction Prevention
In addition to its regular counseling and workshop offerings, Villa Schöpflin focused on two key areas in 2024. First, the team – on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Health – examined how the structures of the alcohol prevention program HaLT might be adapted for cannabis prevention. Second, the development of the new program »FREII«, aimed at combating online addiction, progressed significantly. A public launch is planned for autumn 2025.
Publix – House of Journalism and the Public Sphere
Publix officially began operations in May 2024. Around thirty media outlets, publishers, and non-profit organizations are now based in the building, alongside approximately 100 journalists and project managers in the co-working area. In September 2024, Publix hosted its formal opening ceremony with guests from politics, the media and business sectors and civil society, followed by an open house event attended by over 1,000 visitors. The programmatic part of Publix included several readings and discussion rounds until the end of the year, for example in the program series »Publix Thursdays«.
6. Staff structure: Number of regular employees, freelancers, marginally employed staff, federal volunteers; information on volunteers
| As of 01 May 2025 | Number of |
|---|---|
| Regular employees | 63 |
| Federal volunteers (Bundesfreiwilligendienstleistende) | 4 |
| Interns/student assistants | 2 |
| Marginally employed staff (mini-jobs) | 17 |
| Freelancers/contract workers: | 20 |
| Volunteers | 2 |
7. Sources of funding
Information on sources of funding can be found here:
8. Use of funds
Information on the use of funds can be viewed here:
9. Legal affiliations with third parties, e.g. parent or subsidiary companies, supporting associations, outsourced commercial enterprises, partner organizations
10. Names of legal entities whose annual contributions account for more than ten percent of our total annual income.
There are no other legal entities whose contributions exceed ten percent of our total annual income.
The majority of the foundation's annual funds provided for the fulfillment of its purpose comes from Hans Schöpflin's "Family Office". His assets are invested there in a diversified manner. The foundation's units - such as the Schöpflin School or Villa Schöpflin - receive additional funding from the public sector. In order to create transparency of the source of funds, Hans Schöpflin has answered the following questions about his investment decisions.
(Information on the Schöpflin mail-order company can be found here.)
1. When selecting investments, are there explicit criteria in which sectors or business areas should not be invested?
Hans Schöpflin: We invest in people. In our view, quality people are the primary determinant of investment outcomes. We partner with management teams and Boards possessing the desired skills, talent, ethics and drive to achieve uncommon investment results.
We search for areas offering outsized capital growth potential, primarily in two industry sectors:
(i) healthcare (specifically, oncology, therapeuric drug development – diseases of the eye, liver, skin; and various medical devices addressing incontinence, the heart, and knee replacement); and
(ii) information technologies (namely, cyber-security and fintech).
These two broad sectors comprise the majority of my portfolio AUM (Assets Under Management). The remainder of AUM is represented by diversified global funds and US real estate (principally, multi-family apartments and land).
My personal interests, reflected in how I invest, are focused upon the health, well-being, and productivity of humanity.
Our investment acumen is strengthened by collaboration with a strong independent expert network and an internal state of constant learning. We hold, monitor, study, and report upon positions for the long term. I have three distinct advantages over other investors: I can afford to take some risk, I seek certain ingredients to enhance the probability of success, I am sufficiently patient to allow quality management teams execute their plans.
I can tell without reservation that we do not invest into companies or funds with known strategies focused upon:
However, nor am I like a pension fund with the individual financial heft able to impart investment restrictions on fund managers.
2. Is business policy influenced by companies in which shares are held in the sense of ESG topics (environment / social / governance)? If so, are there explicit targets for this, commitment goals?
Many of our fund managers in the US and UK have already adopted ESG principles of their own, consistent with the principles one would expect.
We have not set explicit ESG policy targets by design. My stance to this question has been learned from experience. I have found that ESG or socially-responsible investing (SRI) means so many different things to different people – this creates confusion and muddles investment strategy. A successful SRI policy using targets is quite difficult to define and execute in practice. Additionally, the emphasis given to SRI metrics can run contrary to sound investing. We have found SRI managers making investments they shouldn’t. This brings us back to my first tenet of investing – invests in quality people. Instead of trying to force specific levels of investment that may not be capital efficient, I have sought to build a portfolio that meets sound investment criteria in a responsible manner.
3. What publicly available reporting on investment management is available?
The details of my investments aren't public. In the spirit of transparency, I would like to share how my wealth came about. I have had some extraordinary investment success over the years:
I have spent years building up and around these and other stocks as the companies matured, diversifying into global funds and US multi-family real estate, but the concentrated venture investments I made decades ago created the wealth I have today.
We are a member of the Alliance "Legal Certainty for Political Advocacy", because the prevailing uncertainty in non-profit law affects and threatens the important work of many of our grantees. The alliance brings together organizations that advocate for the protection of non-profit status for NGOs that contribute to political decision-making.
We are a member of the Association of German Foundations and participate in the Forum of Grantmaking Foundations (Forum Förderstiftungen), the Expert Group on Quality Journalism (Expertenkreis Qualitätsjournalismus) and the Expert Group on Education (Arbeitskreis Bildung).
We are a member of the EDGE Funders Alliance because it brings together a community of progressive, forward-thinking foundations that are critically engaged with issues of power, sustainability, and social impact. Sharing ideas at the European level is also always very stimulating for our work.
We are a member of Philea (Philanthropy Europe Association), an organization based in Brussels that represents around 10,000 foundations, all national foundation associations in Europe as well as philanthropic organizations and networks. Philea's aim is to make philanthropy more visible and more heard throughout Europe.
We are a member of Swiss Foundations, the most important association of grantmaking foundations in Switzerland. As a foundation headquartered in the border triangle of Germany, France and Switzerland, it is of great importance to us to network and exchange ideas with our neighbors.
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