A foundation is a legally autonomous endowment that permanently serves a purpose defined by its founder. The most common German forms are the legally capable civil-law foundation, the trust foundation under fiduciary law and the church foundation. Foundation purposes span education and research, social affairs, culture, environment and religious causes.
Germany has about 25,000 legally capable foundations with combined assets exceeding 100 billion euros. They fund projects, award scholarships, run their own institutions or take part in campaigns. Larger foundations such as Bertelsmann, Bosch, Mercator, Körber or Hertie are independent employers with substantial programme teams.
For employees, foundations are attractive: meaningful work, good conditions, often close to collective agreements, high personal responsibility. Careers range from programme managers to fundraising, communications and managing director roles in smaller foundations.
Lunigi lists curated foundation roles with clear programme and value orientation – an interesting career space for career changers.