The Haniel Foundation is a member of the Association of German Foundations and the European Foundation Centre (EFC). It is committed to both the Guiding Principles of Good Practice for Foundations and the Recommendations for Charitable Corporate Foundations. The highest responsible supervisory authority is the Düsseldorf Regional Government.
Each year the Haniel Foundation prepares annual financial statements in accordance with the principles of the German Commercial Code for small-sized corporations. The accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audits the annual financial statements – so far without any objections.
In accordance with its articles of association, the Haniel Foundation concentrates on four key areas: scholarships, collaborations, events and regional development. Every five years it reviews its work and strategic outlook together with external specialists – and is also doing this in 2010.
Responsibly invested
The foundation assets grow primarily through external donations of the founding company and its shareholders. Since the Haniel Foundation was founded in 1988 they have grown to nine times their original size – from €5 million to €45 million. The capital is largely invested with the founding company on a fixed income basis. The Haniel Foundation is also a shareholder of the founding company and therefore receives a dividend. On top of this, it builds up reserves of €200,000 annually.
Between 1988 and the end of 2009 the Haniel Foundation supported almost 1,000 projects with some €16 million. The annual provision of funds has risen sharply in recent years and in 2009 came to €2 million. This means that the Haniel Foundation is now one of the largest educational foundations among some 17,000 private foundations in Germany.
