Children for a better World e.V.

What Children for a better World e.V. does

Children for a better World e.V. (CHILDREN) is a donation-funded, registered charitable association (eingetragener Verein, Vereinsregister Nr. 14680) founded in 1994 in Munich by Gabriele Quandt and Dr. Florian Langenscheidt. The organization operates four core programs targeting child poverty and youth civic engagement in Germany: ENTDECKER delivers daily meals and discovery activities through approximately 80 partner facilities in nearly 70 cities (5.7 million meals served cumulatively); JUGEND HILFT funds children and adolescents aged 6–21 to launch their own social, ecological, or political projects with grants of up to €2,500, an annual competition, and a Berlin engagement camp; KINDERBEIRÄTE convenes children's advisory boards that independently allocate funding for child welfare projects; and GENERATION GERMANY runs a democracy education program studied via a 4,000-respondent youth survey. Supplementary offerings include the Entdeckerstipendium (an annual exchange-year scholarship delivered with YFU), the CHILDREN Kinderkonzert at Munich's Prinzregententheater, the JOIN+HELP annual fundraising gala (€415,000 raised in 2024, an event record), and the Münchner Kammerorsteller partnership.

The underlying technology stack is intentionally lean and typical of German mid-sized nonprofits: Twingle GmbH powers the donation form on children.de with SEPA, PayPal, and credit card processing on German servers; CleverReach delivers three segmented newsletters (general, youth, educators) under GDPR double opt-in; Matomo provides in-form analytics; and the website itself runs on Squarespace. No public API, SDK, or developer-facing platform exists. Distribution is hybrid — direct via the donation portal and JOIN+HELP gala, and indirect via 80 partner facilities that act as on-the-ground delivery points for children in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods.

The business model is entirely donation-financed (spendenfinanziert). Revenue derives from individual online and bank-transfer donations, the annual JOIN+HELP gala targeting corporate and high-net-worth donors, recurring foundation grants (Commerzbank-Stiftung, KORFF STIFTUNG, Dr. Jürgen Rembold Stiftung, Kurt und Maria Dohle Stiftung, Zukunftsstiftung Ehrenamt Bayern), and corporate sponsorships (Bankhaus Donner & Reuschel as main sponsor, Messe Frankfurt, DAHLER Finest Real Estate, BioLotta/Hartkorn, +KNAUSS). Bankhaus Donner & Reuschel serves as both banking institution and main gala sponsor, with executives on the Kuratorium. The organization has no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no venture capital or private equity exposure. Governance is provided by a Vorstand chaired by Raphael Langenscheidt, Managing Directors Cornelius Nohl and Dr. Anna Rachlitz, a CHILDREN Stiftung led by Ulrike de Vries, and a Kuratorium including Caroline Link, Uta Pippig, and senior figures from Donner & Reuschel.

Name

Children for a better World e.V.

Legal name

Children for a better World e.V.

Website

https://children.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Children for a better World e.V. is a Munich-based, donation-funded nonprofit founded in 1994 that runs child poverty relief, youth project funding, children's advisory boards, and democracy education programs across Germany through 80 partner facilities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Child Welfare & Youth Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Community Food Services (624210)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Child Protection & Child Rights (BPAGABAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

School Feeding & Child Nutrition Programs (BPADAJAD), Youth Mental Health, Counseling & Wellbeing (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAK)

Keywords

• Child poverty alleviation
• Youth civic engagement
• Children's advisory boards
• Democracy education
• Donation-funded nonprofit

Headquarters

HQ city

Munich

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Children for a better World e.V. (CHILDREN) is a donation-funded charitable organization operating four integrated programs across Germany: ENTDECKER delivers daily nutritious meals and discovery activities to children in poverty through ~90 partner facilities in ~70 cities; JUGEND HILFT provides grants of up to €2,500 to children and youth aged 6–21 for self-initiated social, ecological, or political projects, accompanied by an annual competition and Berlin engagement camp; KINDERBEIRÄTE are children's advisory boards where young people independently decide on the allocation of project funding; and GENERATION GERMANY delivers democracy education programs to youth.

Product overview

Children for a better World e.V. (CHILDREN) operates as a portfolio of four interconnected programs addressing child poverty, youth civic engagement, children's democratic participation, and youth democracy education across Germany. The core programs are: CHILDREN ENTDECKER (poverty alleviation via daily meals and discovery activities through ~90 partner facilities in ~70 cities), CHILDREN JUGEND HILFT (a national funding and competition program for youth-led social, ecological, and political projects, with annual grants, mentorship, and a Berlin engagement camp), CHILDREN KINDERBEIRÄTE (children's advisory boards that independently allocate project funding), and GENERATION GERMANY (democracy education and encounter for young people, including an annual festival). Supplementary offerings include the CHILDREN Entdeckerstipendium (a full scholarship for a school year abroad via YFU), the CHILDREN Mittagstisch meal program, the CHILDREN JUGEND HILFT Wettbewerb (annual competition), the Engagement-Camp in Berlin, the Kompaktseminar (annual training weekend), the Mentor*innen-Ausbildung (mentor training), the JOIN+HELP Gala (annual flagship fundraising dinner with auctions), and the CHILDREN Kinderkonzert (annual classical concert for disadvantaged children). The organization is entirely donation-financed and operates from its Munich headquarters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CHILDREN ENTDECKER A poverty-alleviation program targeting children aged 6–18 in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods ('Brennpunkt-Stadtteile') across Germany. Works with approximately 90 partner facilities in nearly 70 cities to provide daily hot meals (CHILDREN Mittagstisch) and discovery activities that support the healthy development of children growing up in poverty.
• CHILDREN JUGEND HILFT A national funding and competition program for children and adolescents aged 6–21 who initiate their own social, ecological, or political projects. Offers grants of up to €2,500, an annual competition, mentorship, a compact seminar, and an annual multi-day engagement camp in Berlin for winning project teams.
• CHILDREN KINDERBEIRÄTE

Quantifiable outcome

• 34,000 children in poverty sustainably strengthened
• +6 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• YFU (Youth For Understanding)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHILDREN partners with YFU to deliver the Entdeckerstipendium (Explorer Scholarship), enabling disadvantaged youth aged 15-18 to undertake a free full-year exchange abroad. YFU handles program delivery, placement, and pre/post seminars while CHILDREN funds and selects scholarship recipients. Five scholarships are awarded annually.
• Messe Frankfurt GmbHmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners with CHILDREN to support the KiZ Gallus children's and youth facility located adjacent to the Messe Frankfurt exhibition grounds. Messe Frankfurt ensures that children and youth at KiZ Gallus receive a daily warm lunch, providing funding for meal programs at this location.
• Oliver WymanminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerStrategy consulting firm Oliver Wyman supported CHILDREN with a Pro-Bono consulting project. Partner Jens Torchalla is quoted expressing enthusiasm for CHILDREN's work on child poverty and equal opportunities.
• JFF – Institut für Medienpädagogik in Forschung und PraxismajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with CHILDREN on the JUGEND HILFT Camp to deliver a Kinder-medienworkshop (children's media workshop) where young participants produce their own image films and learn media literacy skills.
• +KNAUSSmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJan Knauss (Vorstand and Geschäftsführer of +KNAUSS) supports CHILDREN both privately and professionally to raise awareness for CHILDREN's programs and extraordinary engagement. +KNAUSS is a communications/PR agency.
• Twingle GmbHcoreTechnology or IntegrationProvides the technical donation platform (Spendenformular) used on CHILDREN's website for processing online donations. Donations are processed on servers in Germany under a data processing agreement.
• CleverReachcoreTechnology or IntegrationNewsletter platform used by CHILDREN to distribute three targeted newsletters (general, youth, educator) to supporters and program participants.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Welthungerhilfe: Major German nonprofit focused on hunger and nutrition, including school feeding programs internationally. Comparable to CHILDREN's Mittagstisch nutrition component, but at much larger international scale.
• Aktion Mensch: Large German social-purpose organization funding inclusion, education, and youth participation across disability and welfare causes. Comparable at the participation/civic-engagement level to CHILDREN's KINDERBEIRÄTE and GENERATION GERMANY programs.
• UNICEF Germany: German committee of a global child-rights organization running domestic education and child-welfare programs alongside fundraising. Comparable to CHILDREN as a donation-funded child welfare NGO, but with broader international scope and scale.

Direct peers

• Save the Children Deutschland: German arm of a major international child-rights organization running domestic programs (education, poverty alleviation, child protection) alongside advocacy. Comparable to CHILDREN as a donation-financed child welfare nonprofit active in Germany.
• Kindernothilfe: German nonprofit focused on child sponsorship and self-help project funding, with both domestic and international programs. Comparable to CHILDREN's JUGEND HILFT model of funding child/youth-led projects and its donation-financed structure.
• Sterntaler (Sterntaler Kinderhilfswerk): Smaller German children's aid foundation providing direct support to disadvantaged families and children with health/social needs. Comparable to CHILDREN as a donation-financed child welfare nonprofit in Germany.
• SOS Kinderdörfer (SOS Children's Villages Germany): One of Germany's largest child-welfare nonprofits, operating residential care, education, and family-strengthening programs for children in difficult circumstances. Directly comparable to CHILDREN's mission of supporting disadvantaged children in Germany.
• Deutsche Kinderhilfe: German children's rights nonprofit focused on child welfare advocacy, education access, and family support, donation-funded. Comparable to CHILDREN's child-rights and welfare mandate within Germany.
• Die Arche (Arche Kinderstiftung): German Christian children's aid foundation providing meals, after-school care, and family support in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Directly comparable to CHILDREN's Mittagstisch/ENTDECKER model of daily meals plus enrichment in Brennpunkt-Stadtteile.

Others

• Bertelsmann Stiftung (Children & Youth Programs): Large German foundation funding education, civic participation, and youth engagement initiatives including participatory research. Comparable as a funder and program-design peer for CHILDREN's civic-education and participation programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/children.profilseite
• Instagraminstagram.com/childrenforabetterworld
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/children-for-a-better-world-e-v-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

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 Children for a better World e.V.