#3/25 The US Special

Dear Readers,

At the beginning of the year, all eyes are on the US. On January 20th, Donald Trump will once again become President. Already, companies are submitting to an anti-woke agenda. Will foundations do the same? Surely not Elon Musk's. But "when it gets dark, the stars shine brighter," as US-returnee Hans Schöpflin demonstrates with his highly political foundation.

Here's to a year in which private commitment will matter more than ever!

Felix

A number that sticks in your mind: €421M

Elon Musk spent over $250 million to get Trump elected. Meanwhile, for the third consecutive year, his foundation failed to spend at least five percent of its assets on charitable purposes as required by law to maintain its tax-exempt status.

It is short of $421 million dollars. But perhaps it is better if he doesn't spend the money. In any case, the funding provided to private schools at his companies' locations was not particularly oriented toward the common good.

The story is a good opportunity to shine a spotlight on what is actually a good rule: the payout requirement in the US means that US foundations do not sit on their money and invest it with greater risk tolerance than their German counterparts. Mission-related investments are also easier there than here. The Ford Foundation aims to invest one billion euros of its assets this way. But what will become of announcements like this in a completely changed US public sphere?

A person who inspires me: Hans Schöpflin But there is one, and of all places, in the otherwise rather apolitical German donor scene, and where did he learn his entrepreneurial and political approach to giving? In California! Hans Schöpflin's foundation gives long-term, without unnecessary restrictions, and in challenging subject areas. He does not shy away from supporting the development of organizations that act explicitly politically, even if they have to fear for their tax-exempt status following the 2019 "Attac ruling."

Hans Schöpflin views his philanthropy as a safeguard against society pulling apart; with both grants and impact investments, he strengthens watchdog organizations like foodwatch, which critically monitors the food industry, or the investigative journalists at Correctiv. And he also has his eye on the financial industry. "We are setting out to strike fear into the hearts of the financial lobby," Hans Schöpflin says about his funding of the citizens' movement Finanzwende, founded by former Green member of parliament Gerhard Schick. Where no

other foundation would go, Hans Schöpflin funds: all the more so.

An idea to ponder: Submission in the US corporate world

The upcoming inauguration of Donald Trump as US President is already casting its shadow. In recent months, more and more US companies have scaled back their commitments to sustainable investing (banks are leaving the Climate Coalition) and ended diversity programs (companies are ending DEI programs).

Now Mark Zuckerberg has also announced that he is dismantling independent fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram.

The years in which major US companies acted as a more or less progressive force on global stages are over. The question for me is: Will this self-censorship also affect foundations?

There are no signs of this yet, but there is also no "now more than ever" initiative or major commitments for programs that stand against this radical cultural shift.