German Foundation Day
In the pastAs part of the German Foundation Day 2025 in Wiesbaden, we participated in the community session: "Foundations Funding Together: The Media Forward Fund – A Collaborative Fund for Greater Media Diversity in the DACH Region."
How can foundations pool funding, expertise, and networks to support an entire ecosystem together? This was the question several foundations from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland asked themselves at the beginning of 2024, and in response, they collaboratively launched the Media Forward Fund. The fund is built on the idea that strengthening democracy requires strengthening media diversity. It pools resources from foundations, high-net-worth individuals, and impact investors, and has already raised ten million euros in funding. The first round of grants was awarded in late autumn 2024. In this session, the organizers shared their experiences, key success factors, and challenges encountered while setting up the fund.
Speakers
- Tim Göbel, Chief Executive Officer, Schöpflin Foundation
- Andrew Holland, Chief Executive Officer, Mercator Foundation Switzerland
- Simon Jacoby, Editor-in-Chief, Tsüri.ch
- Maribel Koeniger, Program Director for Journalism and Media, ERSTE Foundation
Moderator
This community session was part of the German Foundation Day 2025, that took place on May 21–22 at the RheinMain CongressCenter in Wiesbaden. Further information about the event is available on the official website.