What Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie does

Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie (GWÖ), founded in 2010 in Vienna, is a non-profit association promoting an ethical economic model built on six values: human dignity, ecological responsibility, solidarity, social justice, democratic co-determination, and transparency. It provides a structured methodology — the Gemeinwohl-Matrix, Gemeinwohl-Bilanz, Gemeinwohl-Produkt, and Gemeinwohl-Berichte — that organizations use to assess, document, and report ethical and social performance, complemented by the externally verifiable ECOnGOOD-Label certification. The framework is delivered to companies, startups, municipalities, educational institutions, and individuals via certified consultants (Berater*innen), regional groups, workshops, and a structured learning path for new consultants.

The organization is not a technology company; its assets are the framework, the community ecosystem, and the accumulated assessment data from 1,000+ audited organizations. It is member-funded through annual memberships (~4,500 members), voluntary donations (including a reported 500,000 euro inheritance gift in June 2026), consulting and workshop fees, and certified-consultant training. Go-to-market is community-led: a decentralized network of 170+ regional groups across 35 countries, affiliated national chapters in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Argentina, and Chile, and UN-level policy engagement drive adoption and visibility rather than traditional sales motion. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, with prospective members and clients directed to direct contact.

Name

Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie

Legal name

Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie Deutschland

Website

https://germany.ecogood.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie is a Vienna-founded non-profit that provides ethical-business assessment frameworks, certification, and consulting to companies, municipalities, educational institutions, and individuals across 35 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainability and ethical business consulting

NAICS

Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Ethics, Integrity & Whistleblowing Program Advisory (BPAHAFAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

EHS Management Systems & ISO Consulting (ISO 14001/45001) (BPAHAJAF)

Keywords

• Common good economy
• Sustainability reporting
• Ethical business framework
• Values-based consulting
• Stakeholder engagement

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: Annual membership fees for supporters and members who join the Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie movement. Members receive access to resources, community participation, and network benefits.
2. Donations: Voluntary donations from supporters and beneficiaries of the movement. Recent news mentions a 500,000 euro inheritance donation received in June 2026.
3. Consulting and workshops: Revenue from certified consultants, workshops, and educational offerings for companies and organizations implementing the Gemeinwohl-Bilanz (Common Good Balance Sheet).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie provides an ethical economic model and standardized assessment framework, anchored by the Gemeinwohl-Matrix and Gemeinwohl-Bilanz (Common Good Balance Sheet), that organizations use to measure, document, and report ethical and social performance. The portfolio is rounded out by the ECOnGOOD-Label certification, product-level and reporting tools, UN SDG alignment, fee-based workshops, and a structured consultant certification program. Revenue comes from annual memberships, donations, and consulting/workshop services delivered via a certified Berater*innen network.

Product overview

Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie (GWÖ) is an innovative sustainable economic model based on ethical values including human dignity, ecological responsibility, solidarity, social justice, democratic co-determination, and transparency. The organization offers an integrated suite of tools centered around the Gemeinwohl-Matrix as the primary strategic planning framework, complemented by the Gemeinwohl-Bilanz for comprehensive sustainability reporting, Gemeinwohl-Produkt for product-level ethical assessment, and Gemeinwohl-Berichte for standardized reporting. The ECOnGOOD-Label provides certification for compliant organizations. Educational offerings include workshops, training programs, and a structured learning path for becoming certified consultants. The framework also integrates UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) alignment. GWÖ connects a worldwide movement of approximately 11,000 supporters, 4,500 members, over 1,000 assessed organizations across 35 countries, operating through more than 170 regional groups since its founding in Vienna in 2010.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ECOnGOOD-Label: A certification label for companies and organizations that meet the Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie standards for ethical and sustainable business practices.

Products and services

• Gemeinwohl-Matrix A strategic planning and assessment tool that helps organizations evaluate and improve their performance across ethical values including human dignity, ecological responsibility, solidarity, social justice, democratic co-determination, and transparency.
• Gemeinwohl-Bilanz (Common Good Balance Sheet) A comprehensive sustainability reporting framework that enables organizations to measure, document, and communicate their ethical and social performance using a standardized balance sheet methodology.
• Gemeinwohl-Produkt A product-level assessment tool that extends the Gemeinwohl evaluation framework to individual products, enabling organizations to evaluate the ethical impact of specific goods and services.
• Gemeinwohl-Berichte A reporting tool that enables organizations to generate and publish standardized reports documenting their Gemeinwohl-Bilanz assessment results and ethical performance metrics.
• SDGs (UN Sustainable Development Goals integration) Integration of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the Gemeinwohl framework, enabling organizations to map and align their ethical metrics with global sustainability objectives.
• ECOnGOOD-Label A certification label awarded to organizations that have completed the Gemeinwohl-Bilanz assessment and meet the defined ethical standards, providing external recognition of sustainable business practices.
• Workshops | Bildungsangebote Educational workshops and training programs that teach organizations and individuals how to implement the Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie framework, conduct assessments, and prepare for certification.
• Lernweg Berater*innen (Consultant Learning Path) A structured learning path and certification program for becoming an authorized Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie consultant, providing the methodology and skills to guide organizations through the assessment process.
• Berater*innen-Netzwerk A network of certified consultants and advisors who provide professional guidance to organizations seeking to implement the Gemeinwohl framework and complete their ethical assessments.

Quantifiable outcome

• The movement has grown to 11,000 supporters in 35 countries since its founding in Vienna in 2010

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• B Lab (B Corporation): B Lab operates the global B Corp certification, which evaluates companies on social and environmental performance using a points-based assessment. It is the most directly comparable organization to GWÖ in terms of values-based business certification, with a comparable consulting/community ecosystem but much larger global scale and commercial monetization.
• Fair Trade International: Fair Trade International runs a globally recognized ethical certification system with a consumer-facing label. Like GWÖ's ECOnGOOD-Label, it provides a trust mark that certified producers can use in marketing, but it focuses specifically on supply-chain ethics and trade rather than holistic corporate ethics.
• Economy for the Common Good (International Federation): This is the international umbrella organization of which Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie Deutschland is a national chapter. It is the same movement at the international level, with affiliated chapters in Austria, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Argentina, and Chile, sharing the same framework and tools.
• Social Accountability International (SA8000): SAI operates the SA8000 standard for social accountability certification of workplaces. It is a direct peer in the values-based business certification space, sharing GWÖ's auditor network model but focused on worker rights rather than the broader ethical-business framework GWÖ uses.

Emerging players

• Sedex: Sedex operates a global platform for ethical trade and supply chain sustainability data. It overlaps with GWÖ in the ethical-business assessment space but focuses specifically on supply chains and uses a SaaS platform approach rather than a values-movement model.
• Impact Hub: Impact Hub operates a global network of coworking and incubation spaces for impact-driven entrepreneurs. It overlaps with GWÖ in serving values-aligned start-ups and SMEs and has comparable geographic reach, though it focuses on incubation rather than ethical-business assessment.
• Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi): SBTi helps companies set science-based emissions reduction targets. It is an emerging player in the corporate climate/ethics framework space, sharing GWÖ's mission of transforming business practice but with a much narrower (climate-only) scope and stronger institutional backing.

Broad incumbents

• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): GRI provides the most widely used global sustainability reporting standards. It is a broader incumbent in the sustainability reporting space where GWÖ's Gemeinwohl-Bilanz also operates, but with significantly greater regulatory adoption (e.g., referenced in EU CSRD) and institutional reach.
• EcoVadis: EcoVadis is a SaaS-enabled sustainability ratings platform used by large enterprises to assess supplier ESG performance. It competes with GWÖ for corporate sustainability budgets but operates at vastly greater scale with a technology-first approach GWÖ does not have.

Others

• ISEAL Alliance: ISEAL is the global membership association for credible sustainability standards. It does not run a competing standard itself but sets the meta-standards and Codes of Good Practice that bodies like GWÖ, Fair Trade, and FSC must follow to be recognized as legitimate sustainability certification systems.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie