The new giving: "You're just a social worker anyway"
There are almost 45 billion euros in the accounts of charitable organizations, earning hardly any interest. The banks occasionally make donations to the sector, but rarely take it seriously as a customer.
In Germany, unmarked white vans travel through villages offering counselling services to women affected by violence. The organisation Land-Grazien, founded by Miriam Peters in 2020, has grown rapidly due to high demand. However, as a non-profit organisation, it struggles to get a good interest rate on its deposits from banks. An estimated 45 billion euros of non-profit organisations' funds are held in low-interest or non-interest bearing accounts, resulting in a potential loss of around 850 million euros per year.
This is comparable to nearly a fifth of all donations received by private individuals in Germany in 2025.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- The new giving: "You're just a social worker anyway" handelsblatt.com
