Flow Fund for Eastern Germany

The Flow Fund is a fund endowed with 225,000 euros designed to strengthen democratic participation and social cohesion in the federal states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Saxony. The conception, financing, and implementation of the fund have been carried out in cooperation with the »Kinnings Foundation«. Additionally, the organization »Effektiv Spenden« supports the project with 35,000 euros.

With the Flow Fund, we focus on empowerment and strengthening local actors. Building trustful relationships is a core element of our funding methodology. Instead of the usual central allocation of funds by the foundation, we have placed responsibility directly in the hands of local change-makers: The Flow Fund is allocated by nine people from the Kinnings Foundation's »Kinnings Academy« program, a program for young leaders in eastern Germany. They are called Flow Funders, live in the above-mentioned federal states and are active in civil society and business there. Each Flow Funder receives 25,000 euros in donations, which he or she can award, as well as a fee for his or her work of 5,000 euros. 

The flow funders themselves develop the selection criteria for awarding the funds. They are supported by an accompanying program that provides space for mutual advice and reflection. The foundations contribute their expertise to help critically develop a funding strategy and moderate the reflection process. Additionally, they support the Flow Funders' knowledge development by providing expert input from external speakers.

With this approach, we aim to

• Allocate funding in the eastern German states as effectively as possible to strengthen democracy, participation, and social cohesion.
• Gain experience with an approach in which committed people make the decisions locally,
• Build trustful relationships with engaged individuals in eastern Germany and learn from these experiences for our future work.
• Empower young changemakers through the formative experience of distributing funds.
• Share our insights with other donor organizations to inspire and encourage participatory giving

The pilot project ran from July to November 2024. The accompanying evaluation is being carried out by »Neuland21«. The flow funders are advised by Paula Grünwald (Interalia), Clara Bräuer (Ashoka), Michael Seberich (Wider Sense), Rayd Abu-Ayyash (Value for Good) and Felix Dresewski (Kurt und Maria Dohle Stiftung).

Starting in early 2025, we will publicly share our experiences with this new participatory funding model and prepare for a second round. If you are interested in the evaluation results, please send an email to foerderstiftung@schoepflin-stiftung.de with the subject line »Interest in Flow Fund Evaluation«, and we will provide you with the results.

The project is inspired by an initiative of the Pantha Rhea Foundation, an American sister organization of the Schöpflin Foundation. 

Organizations directly supported by the Schöpflin Foundation

 1. NURA Leipzig e.V.
 2. Heizhaus gGmbH
 3. Bürgerinitiative »Leben am Reitbahnweg« e.V. - Suppenküche
 4. Alternativer Mädchen*Treff Schwerin e.V.
 5. Jugendclub BlueBox, Diakoniezentrum Borwinheim, Diakonie Mecklenburgische Seenplatte gGmbH
 6. Jugendclub Kritzmow, DRK Kreisverband Bad Doberan e.V.
 7. Feuerwehrverein Altentreptow e.V.
 8. Stadt Land Oder
 9. DemokratieBündnis Rutenberg e.V.
10. Glashaus Prenzlau e.V.
11. Jugendinitiative Luckenwalde Wilde 13
12. Ev. luth. Kirche Teterow
13. Zepelin Stiftung Appelhagen
14. »Flüchtlingscafé« der Evangelisch-Freikirchlichen Gemeinde Teterow
15. Projekthof Karnitz e.V.
16. Erziehungs- und Familienberatung »DAS DACH«, FINK e.V.
17. Passage13, Kulturbühne Neustadt e.V.
18. Kloster Posa e.V.
19. Queer*Spaces - Lambda MDL e.V.
20. SZENE Salzwedel, KulturNische e.V.
21. Stadtrauminitiative Weißenfels
22. Move e.V.
23. Kulturhaus Häselburg e.V.
24. Radiologie e.V.
25. Como Vento, Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V.
26. Initiative Trialog, Altenburg
27. Vielfältig Schmölln/ Interkulturelles Straßenfest Schmölln
28. AlbergoDiffuso

Collectives/Individuals (administrative processing via Fiscal Host interalia gGmbH)

29. truecolours
30. LIAA Kollektiv
31. Alternatives Jugendprojekt 1260 e.V., Horte & Club Strausberg 
32. Migranto 
33. AsylHub
34. FemRise
35. DRAN
36. MigraFaces
37. Interkultureller Lesekreis
38. Know your Rights