Das neue Geben: „Sie sind ja eh nur Sozialarbeiterin“

In the small village of Sandesneben, located half an hour from Hamburg, unmarked white vans traverse the countryside. Onlookers might think of craftsmen, but inside, they provide support to women affected by violence, either at a supermarket or school parking lot. No one arrives at the village's community center unnoticed; the counseling comes to them.

Miriam Peters founded Land-Grazien in 2020, as the demand is overwhelming. The organization has grown rapidly. Half a year ago, Peters moved from the vans to an office to manage the money. There was work to be done: the organization's bank fees were higher than the interest earned. She inquired at two banks about an investment. The Sparkasse informed her: "You are just a social worker."

This statement is audacious, yet also a poor business decision. Private non-profit organizations (foundations, trusts, churches, and associations) held around 74 billion euros in cash and deposits with banks by the end of 2025. Forty-five billion of this amount was in savings accounts, available for daily use and virtually interest-free.

While banks in the eurozone charged businesses 0.6% interest on such deposits in July, they received 2.5% interest on the same money from the European Central Bank overnight. Reliable statistics on nonprofit organizations are lacking, but a survey of the Bcause donation platform found that nearly forty percent received no more than one percent interest on their contributions.

Similarly many do not even know this. Representative it is not, but it aligns with the Bundesbank's statistics. As customers, we calculate that the 1.9 percentage points difference on 45 billion euros amounts to roughly 850 million euros per year. All private individuals in Germany donated approximately 4.6 billion euros in 2025.

The interest we are missing is almost one fifth of all donations, or the annual budget of 2800 organizations like Land-Grazien. Why is so much money left unused in a sector that touches virtually every person in Germany? I can think of three explanations, but none absolves the banks. First, nonprofit organizations are legally required to spend donations within two years or establish complicated reserves.

A truly attractive investment is difficult, but fixed deposits and money market funds are possible. Secondly, most are small. More than half of the 657,000 organizations in Germany spend less than 10,000 euros per year. For them, the effort is not worth it. For the rest, it is. Thirdly, they are often not demanding or self-confident as customers.

Many clubs do not realize they have been wronged in time. But that is precisely where counseling is needed. Meanwhile, many banks market their charitable engagement. The first commitment Miriam Peters received was from a Sparkasse foundation: 2500 euros. (She could not spend it as she wanted, only on expenses.) The Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe donated approximately 136 million euros to social causes in 2025.

The amount of interest left on the table (even in other banks) is more than six times this sum. As fundraisers, Miriam Peters was welcomed, but as a customer, she was just a social worker. Banks are productive when they finance ideas that would not exist without them. For the economy, this is valuable. For organizations like Land-Grazien, they are wasting their money, letting it depreciate.

They may treat a donor well, but not a customer. Across the country, there are organizations with ideas to improve social work, whose problems are as invisible from the outside as what happens in the vans. Felix Oldenburg is an author (Der gefesselte Wohlstand, 2025) and CEO of the Stiftungs-Start-up Bcause, formerly leading the Federal Association of German Foundations and the Social Entrepreneur Network Ashoka.

Through companies, podcasts, and newsletters, he encourages everyone who can contribute more to join a new giving movement. First published: October 9, 2026, 04:00 AM.