Sächsische Jugendstiftung

What Sächsische Jugendstiftung does

The Sächsische Jugendstiftung is a legally capable non-profit foundation under private law (rechtsfähige Stiftung des Privatrechts), established on 7 July 1997 by resolution of the Saxon State Parliament (Sächsischer Landtag) and headquartered in Dresden, Germany. It operates statewide across the Free State of Saxony as both an operational and promotional foundation, delivering eight core programs targeting youth aged roughly 14–26: Spurensuche (youth historical research and remembrance culture), Lernen durch Engagement/LdE (service-learning coordination in schools), FSJ Politik (Federal Voluntary Service in Politics, ages 18–26), Jugend gestaltet Schule! (student participation in school development), DES! 2.0 (support for self-managed youth clubs), genialsozial (annual action day where students trade school for a workday and donate wages to social projects), Jugendarbeit stärken (capacity-building for youth work), and Novum (democracy education). Programs are delivered through workshops, summer camps, conferences, project days, and direct partnerships with schools, youth organizations, and municipal partners.

The foundation employs approximately 6 full-time and 8 part-time staff, supplemented by one FSJ participant, one intern, one mini-job employee, ~25 volunteers, and numerous freelance contractors. It holds a €3.5 million endowment (Grundstockvermögen) whose returns fund operations, is recognized as a Träger der freien Jugendhilfe under §75 SGB VIII, holds certified charitable status (gemeinnützig, confirmed by Finanzamt Dresden-Süd in February 2024 for 2020–2022), is a member of the Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft, and operates under the supervision of the Regierungspräsidium Dresden. Governance comprises a volunteer Supervisory Board (Beirat, 13 members) and Board of Directors (Vorstand, up to 5 members), both elected for five-year terms, with day-to-day operations led by a professional Managing Director (Geschäftsführerin).

All programs are provided free of charge to participants; the foundation operates as a grant-and-subsidy organization rather than a commercial enterprise. Revenue is derived from three principal streams: institutional funding from the Free State of Saxony (which contributed 27.66% of annual income in 2025 across multiple state ministries), endowment investment returns on the €3.5M capital base, and donations/Zustiftungen processed via the FundraisingBox platform (with state fund endowments accepted from €5,000 upwards). Additional ancillary support comes from corporate sponsorship (notably Finanzgruppe Sachsen as main sponsor of genialsozial) and project-specific grants. There is no proprietary technology product; the technology stack consists of standard third-party SaaS integrations (FundraisingBox for donations, eveeno for event registration, CleverReach and Rapidmail for newsletters, self-hosted Matomo for cookie-free analytics, Google reCaptcha for bot protection, YouTube/SoundCloud for media embedding, OpenStreetMap for mapping). The website maintains GDPR compliance and self-assessed WCAG 2.1 / BITV 2.0 Level AA accessibility.

Name

Sächsische Jugendstiftung

Legal name

Sächsische Jugendstiftung

Website

https://saechsische-jugendstiftung.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Sächsische Jugendstiftung is a non-profit youth foundation established in 1997 by the Saxon State Parliament, operating statewide across Saxony, Germany. It delivers eight free programs — including service learning, youth historical research, democratic education, and political voluntary service — to youth aged 14–26, schools, and youth organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Engagement and Civic Education

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (624110), Child and Youth Services (62411), Civic and Social Organizations (81341), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Leadership, Civic Education & Service-Learning Nonprofits (BPAGADAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

NGO/Nonprofit Education Programs & Service Delivery (EDADALAC), Volunteer Program Funding, Scholarships & Fundraising Support (EDAIAGAO)

Keywords

• Youth engagement programs
• Democracy education services
• Service learning coordination
• Youth welfare support
• Historical remembrance projects

Headquarters

HQ city

Dresden

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. State Funding (Freistaat Sachsen): The foundation receives significant funding from the Free State of Saxony, accounting for approximately 27.66% of annual income in 2025. This includes support from the Saxon State Parliament and various state ministries.
2. Donations and Contributions: The foundation accepts donations and Zustiftungen (additional endowments) to support its mission. Donors can contribute through the fundraising platform FundraisingBox. The foundation can receive state fund endowments from 5,000 euros upwards.
3. Endowment Income: The foundation's endowment (Grundstockvermögen) of 3.5 million euros generates income used to fulfill the foundation's purpose. The endowment must be preserved at nominal value.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Sächsische Jugendstiftung is a non-profit foundation that delivers youth engagement, democracy education, and youth work programs statewide across Saxony. It operates eight core programs: Spurensuche (youth historical research), Lernen durch Engagement / KLE (service-learning coordination for schools), FSJ Politik (federal voluntary service in politics for young people aged 18-26), Jugend gestaltet Schule! (student participation in school development), DES! 2.0 (support for self-managed youth clubs), genialsozial (annual action day where students donate wages to social projects), Jugendarbeit stärken (capacity building for youth work), and Novum (democracy education). All programs are provided free of charge to participants and are delivered through schools, youth organizations, and municipal partners.

Product overview

The Sächsische Jugendstiftung operates as a foundation supporting youth engagement, democracy education, and youth work across Saxony. The organization offers multiple interconnected programs: Spurensuche enables youth historical research and remembrance culture projects; Lernen durch Engagement (LdE) provides service-learning coordination; FSJ Politik offers voluntary service in politics; Jugend gestaltet Schule! supports student participation in schools; DES! 2.0 strengthens self-managed youth clubs; genialsozial organizes action days where students work and donate wages to social projects; Jugendarbeit stärken builds youth work capacity; and Novum focuses on democracy education. The foundation also facilitates networking events, summer camps, and provides financial support through project funding.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Spurensuche Youth history project program that supports teams in researching regional history, particularly focusing on remembrance culture, Jewish life, and Nazi era history in Saxony. Träger (carrier organizations) include Kirchgemeinde St. Wenceslai Wurzen, KINDERLAND-Sachsen e.V., Diakonisches Werk Meißen gGmbH, and Jugend- und Kulturzentrum Alte Brauerei Annaberg e.V.
• Lernen durch Engagement (LdE) Service-learning coordination office (Koordinierungsstelle Lernen durch Engagement / KLE) that supports schools in implementing experiential learning programs connected to real community needs and social engagement. Operates through a Landesnetzwerktreffen LdE conference and provides coordination across Saxony.
• FSJ Politik Federal Voluntary Service in Politics program for young people aged 18-26 to gain experience in political education and engagement placements across Saxony.
• Jugend gestaltet Schule! Program enabling students to actively shape their school environment and participate in school development decisions, implemented through project-based learning.
• DES! 2.0 Program supporting self-managed youth clubs (demokratisch, engagiert, selbstverwaltet – democratic, engaged, self-managed) with practical modules, summer camps, and networking opportunities across Saxony.
• genialsozial Action day program where students trade school for a workday, donating their wages to support social projects in Saxony and globally. Implementation partner is Entwicklungspolitisches Netzwerk Sachsen e.V. (ENS); main sponsor is Finanzgruppe Sachsen.
• Jugendarbeit stärken Program providing support and resources to strengthen youth work across Saxony through networking, capacity building, and professional development for youth workers.
• Novum Democracy education program focused on youth participation and engagement in democratic processes.

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Partnerships

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

• Freistaat Sachsen (Free State of Saxony)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1997The foundation was established by the Saxon State Parliament and maintains ongoing partnerships with various state ministries. The Free State of Saxony provides approximately 27.66% of annual funding. Key partners include the Saxon State Chancellery, Saxon Ministry of Culture, and Saxon Ministry of Social Affairs.
• Entwicklungspolitisches Netzwerk Sachsen e.V. (ENS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerENS is a key partner for the genius social program, providing substantive support for global project selection and development education. The organizations co-organize the annual genius social summer camp and ENS supports the application process for global project funding.
• Sächsische Landjugend e.V.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization for the DES! 2.0 program supporting self-managed youth clubs. Collaborates on program implementation, summer camps, and youth engagement initiatives.
• djo Deutsche Jugend in EuropamajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProvides the venue for the summer camp of self-managed youth clubs at the djo youth education center 'Spukschloss Bahratal'. The foundation collaborates with djo on youth engagement events.
• Landesjugendhilfeausschuss SachsencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSends representatives to the foundation's advisory board (Beirat) and collaborates on youth welfare issues. Represents youth welfare organizations and local youth welfare carriers.
• Landesschülerrat SachsenmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSends representatives to the foundation's advisory board. Collaborates on school-related programs and youth engagement initiatives.
• Kommunale Spitzenverbände SachsenmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRepresentatives of local youth welfare providers participate in the advisory board. Facilitate connections with municipalities across Saxony.
• Landesschülerrat SachsenminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner organization for the genius social program, supporting promotion and implementation in schools.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung (DKJS): Germany's national youth foundation running service-learning, democratic participation, and youth-engagement programs analogous to Spurensuche, LdE, and FSJ Politik. Closest structural peer because it operates the same nonprofit foundation model delivering free civic-education programs to schools and youth organizations at scale.
• Thüringer Jugendstiftung: State-level youth foundation in Thuringia operating programs in democratic education, remembrance culture, and service learning. Near-identical institutional design to the Sächsische Jugendstiftung, making it a direct comparator on funding mix, scale, and program portfolio.
• Bayerische Jugendstiftung: Bavaria's state youth foundation delivering youth-engagement and participation programs. Same state-foundation model in a larger Länder, providing a useful scale benchmark for evaluating the Sächsische Jugendstiftung's program reach and per-capita impact.
• Stiftung Demokratie Sachsen: Saxon foundation specifically focused on democratic education and civic participation. Direct peer because it competes for the same state funding, the same school and youth-club audiences, and pursues overlapping themes with the Novum and FSJ Politik programs.

Emerging players

• Stiftung Bildung: National foundation focused on education funding and youth participation in learning settings. Comparable in target audience (schools and youth) and funding mechanism, with smaller scale and narrower geographic focus than the Saxon foundation.

Broad incumbents

• Bertelsmann Stiftung: One of Germany's largest foundations with major programs in education, civic participation, and social cohesion. Comparable at the level of operating model and civic-education focus, though vastly larger in capital base and scope than the Saxon foundation.
• Aktion Mensch: Germany's largest social lottery funding inclusion, education, and youth-engagement projects. Comparable because it provides significant grant funding that complements or substitutes for the foundation's project-financing role, and supports similar target populations.
• Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (bpb): Federal agency for civic education funding programs, materials, and events nationwide. Comparable because it funds and shapes the civic-education ecosystem in which the foundation operates, including via Heike Nothnagel's role at the Saxon state center.
• Deutsche Stiftung für Engagement und Ehrenamt (DSEE): National foundation supporting voluntary engagement and civic participation across Germany. Direct functional overlap with the foundation's engagement-promoting programs (DES! 2.0, Jugendarbeit stärken) and a potential alternative funding or partner channel.

Regional players

• Landesstiftung Baden-Württemberg: Large state foundation in Baden-Württemberg supporting education, youth, and civic engagement. Comparable in institutional design (state-chartered foundation) and program mix, but in a different geography with materially larger capital base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCoLdNZiqpkIf7wOiSxDNnsw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/s%C3%A4chsische-jugendstiftung
• Instagraminstagram.com/sjs_dresden

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Sächsische Jugendstiftung