What Effektiv Spenden does

Effektiv Spenden is a Berlin-registered nonprofit (UES – Gemeinnützige GmbH für effektives Spenden) that operates a fee-free donation platform curating and regranting funds to highly effective charities across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Czech Republic. Founded in 2019 by Anne Schulze and Sebastian Schwiecker (with Stefan Shaw as a co-founder), the organization serves individual donors, 10%-Pledgers, corporate donors, and high-net-worth advisory clients in the DACH region, with a stated user base of 35,000+ donors and 14,000+ newsletter subscribers. The platform aggregates evidence-based charity recommendations from international evaluators — GiveWell, Founders Pledge, Animal Charity Evaluators, Giving Green, Longview Philanthropy, and Power for Democracies — into five thematic funds (Armut bekämpfen, Klima schützen, Tierleid verringern, Zukunft bewahren/KI sicher gestalten, Demokratie verteidigen) that allocate pooled donations semi-annually to the most promising organizations based on these evaluators' recommendations.

The technology stack is a self-serve WordPress-based donation platform (effektiv-spenden.org) integrating SEPA, PayPal, and credit card processors (fees passed through to donors: €0.35 SEPA, 1.5%+€0.35 PayPal, 1.2%+€0.25 credit card in Germany), with Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Statsig for analytics and experimentation. Proprietary components include the 'Effektiv Spenden Charity Check' (a four-criteria framework evaluating evidence, evaluation culture, cost-effectiveness, and transparency for German charities), the Effektiv Spenden Depot (a Donor Advised Fund equivalent for Germany and Switzerland with no management fees), a wealth-percentile calculator (using World Bank PIP data), a donation tax-savings calculator, and donation vouchers. The organization uses A/B testing via Statsig and produces extensive German-language content (blog, podcast, YouTube, free Peter Singer book as lead magnet).

Revenue mechanics are dual-track: (1) the platform forwards 100% of donations to recommended charities and charges no processing fee, so all donor pass-through funds are GMV-like rather than revenue; (2) operational costs are funded separately by private donors and philanthropic supporters, who are explicitly distinguished from charity donors. Pricing is pay-as-you-go for donors; high-value donors access free personal advisory services delivered by senior team members including the founders, a Senior Advisor Philanthropy, and country managers. The go-to-market is hybrid: direct-to-consumer content marketing and SEO for individual donors, self-serve PLG for the donation flow, and sales-led advisory for enterprise and HNW donors. No equity funding rounds, acquisitions, or parent company structure are disclosed; the entity is independently operated with parallel gemeinnütziger Verein entities in Switzerland and Austria to facilitate local tax-deductible donations.

Name

Effektiv Spenden

Legal name

UES – Gemeinnützige GmbH für effektives Spenden

Website

https://effektiv-spenden.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Effektiv Spenden is a Berlin-based nonprofit donation platform that regrants 100% of donor funds to evidence-based, high-impact charities across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Czech Republic, serving 35,000+ individual, corporate, and high-net-worth DACH donors through five thematic funds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Donation Platform

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219)

akta.pro primary industry

Federated Giving Organizations (e.g., United Way-type) (BPAGAKAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Sponsors (BPAGAKAF), International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH), Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM), Philanthropy & Foundations Advisory (Donor-Advised Funds, Endowments) (FSAAABAH)

Keywords

• Charitable donation platform
• Effective altruism giving
• Donor advised fund
• Nonprofit regranting services
• Evidence-based philanthropy

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donation Processing Services: Effektiv Spenden processes donations from the public and passes 100% of donated funds through to recommended charities and thematic funds. The organization charges no processing fee — transaction costs from payment providers (SEPA, PayPal, credit card) are passed on to donors. The organization is separately funded by private donors who support its operational costs.
2. Institutional Funding / Private Philanthropy: The organization is funded by private philanthropists and supporters who donate specifically to support the platform's operations and development. This is distinct from the donations earmarked for charities. The organization states it operates completely independently from the donations it processes for charities.
3. Corporate Donation Services: Companies can donate through the platform, receive tax-deductible donation certificates (on company name), and access corporate donation vouchers and matching programs. Companies can receive consolidated annual donation certificates for all their corporate donations, which can be deducted as business expenses up to 10% of profits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Effektiv Spenden operates a fee-free, web-based donation platform that accepts donations from individuals and companies in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and Czech Republic, and regrants 100% of donated funds to rigorously evaluated, high-impact charitable organizations across five thematic areas: poverty reduction, climate protection, animal welfare, long-term future preservation (AI safety, biosecurity), and democracy defense. The platform curates recommended charities based on independent research from organizations such as GiveWell, Founders Pledge, Animal Charity Evaluators, Longview Philanthropy, Giving Green, and Power for Democracies, and offers multiple giving vehicles including thematic funds, a donor advised fund equivalent (Effektiv Spenden Depot), donation vouchers, charitable bequests, and the 10%-Pledge commitment program.

Product overview

Effektiv Spenden is a charitable giving platform that helps donors maximize the impact of their donations by recommending highly effective organizations based on research from organizations like GiveWell, Founders Pledge, and Animal Charity Evaluators. The platform offers a portfolio of donation funds (Spendenfonds) for different cause areas including poverty, climate, animal welfare, future preservation, and democracy defense. Beyond direct donations, the platform provides complementary tools (wealth calculator, tax calculator, charity rating system), a donation voucher product, a donor advised fund alternative (Effektiv Spenden Depot), a 10%-Pledge commitment program, educational resources including Peter Singer's free book, and personal advisory services. The organization operates branches in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Czech Republic.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Effektiv Spenden Depot: A donor advised fund equivalent that allows donors to park donations for later distribution while receiving immediate tax benefits
• Spendenfonds: Armut bekämpfen
• Spendenfonds: Klima schützen
• Spendenfonds: Tierleid verringern
• Spendenfonds: Zukunft bewahren
• Spendenfonds: KI sicher gestalten
• Spendenfonds: Demokratie verteidigen
• Effektive Testamentspende

Products and services

• Spendenfonds (Thematic Donation Funds) A portfolio of thematic donation funds that pool donor contributions and reallocate them semi-annually to the most rigorously evaluated charities across five high-impact cause areas (poverty, climate, animal welfare, future preservation, democracy). Donors give to a fund and the organization decides allocation based on independent evaluator recommendations.
• Spendengutschein (Donation Voucher) A gift voucher product that allows purchasers to gift a donation to a recipient, who then chooses which effective charitable organization or thematic fund to support. Available with freely chosen amounts (minimum €10), codes valid for 12 months. Corporate bulk voucher purchasing is available for employee gifting.
• Effektiv Spenden Depot (Donor Advised Fund) A tax-advantaged deferred giving vehicle that allows donors in Germany (up to 20% of annual income deductible) and Switzerland to make an immediate, tax-deductible donation and decide on the specific charitable organizations at a later date. No management fees; 100% of deposited funds are forwarded to charities. An Erb-Depot (estate depot) variant is available for inheritances (up to 100% of estate deductible).
• 10%-Pledge Program A public commitment program organized in partnership with Giving What We Can, in which individuals pledge to donate at least 10% of their income annually to highly effective charities for life. Over 10,000 pledgemakers globally; 800+ from the DACH region.
• Persönliche Spendenberatung (Personal Donation Advisory) A free, independent consultation service for high-net-worth donors and corporate donors planning large or strategic donations. Covers philanthropy strategy, family giving, testamentary giving, corporate matching programs, and use of the Effektiv Spenden Depot. Delivered by senior team members including the founders and senior advisors.
• Effektive Testamentspende (Charitable Bequest Service) A testamentary giving service allowing donors in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland to include charitable donations in their wills, with tax deductibility up to 100% of the estate and integration with the Erb-Depot for inheritance situations.
• Corporate Donation Services A service for companies in the DACH region to make tax-deductible corporate donations, run employee matching programs, distribute donation vouchers to employees, and receive consolidated annual donation certificates for accounting purposes.

Quantifiable outcome

• €1 spent on operations generates €30+ in donations to recommended charities (2021–2023)
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments4 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

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GiveWellcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGiveWell is the primary research partner underpinning Effektiv Spenden's poverty reduction recommendations. GiveWell invests over 70,000 hours annually in evaluating charities, identifying 'Top Charities' based on rigorous cost-effectiveness analysis. Effektiv Spenden directly adopts GiveWell's top charity recommendations (Against Malaria Foundation, Helen Keller Intl, Malaria Consortium, New Incentives, Deworm the World, GiveDirectly) and the 'All Grants Fund' as its 'Armut bekämpfen' fund model. GiveWell's methodology, including its $5,000 per life saved estimate, is cited throughout Effektiv Spenden's content.
• Founders PledgecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounders Pledge is a key research partner for climate protection and global catastrophic risk recommendations. Their 'Climate Fund' serves as the model for Effektiv Spenden's 'Klima schützen' fund. Founders Pledge's research showing 15–30x greater emissions reduction per euro compared to CO2 offsets underpins the climate recommendations. Effektiv Spenden has also collaborated with the Founders Pledge Global Catastrophic Risks Fund for the 'Zukunft bewahren' fund.
• Giving What We Can (GWWC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGiving What We Can is the international partner for the 10%-Pledge program. GWWC provides the pledge platform and methodology, while Effektiv Spenden promotes and facilitates the pledge in the DACH region. GWWC also developed the wealth calculator (implemented on Effektiv Spenden's website with Our World in Data). GWWC has recognized Effektiv Spenden as a 'Top-rated charity'. The two organizations are independent but aligned in mission.
• Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnimal Charity Evaluators provides the research framework for the 'Tierleid verringern' fund recommendations. The fund is specifically oriented at Animal Charity Evaluators' EA Animal Welfare Fund recommendations. ACE's evaluations identify The Humane League and Sinergia Animal as top-recommended animal welfare charities, which are featured on Effektiv Spenden's platform.
• Giving GreenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGiving Green provides evaluations for climate protection organizations. Their research informed Effektiv Spenden's recommendation of the Good Food Institute (GFI) in the climate category (moved from animal welfare based on Giving Green's evaluation focusing on climate mitigation impact).
• Longview PhilanthropycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongview Philanthropy is the key research partner for both the 'Zukunft bewahren' and 'KI sicher gestalten' thematic funds. Half-yearly grant decisions for these funds are made jointly by Effektiv Spenden and Longview, based on Longview's Emerging Challenges Fund framework. Longview's recommendations cover AI safety organizations, biosecurity, nuclear risk, and pandemic prevention. Past grantees include METR, CeSIA, Geneva Graduate Institute, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Safe AI Forum, Blueprint Biosecurity, and RAND.
• Power for DemocraciescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPower for Democracies is the primary research partner and evaluator for the 'Demokratie verteidigen' fund. Founded in 2024, the organization published its first recommendations in November 2025 (Turkey, Argentina, Italy, USA) and April 2026 (Indonesia). Effektiv Spenden grants funds based on Power for Democracies' research. Stephan Schwahlen, Senior Advisor at Effektiv Spenden, is also a non-operational co-founder of Power for Democracies. Up to 20% of fund capital may be used to support Power for Democracies directly.
• Common Good Fund Germany (CGFG)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCGFG is the recipient organization for democracy fund donations in Germany. As a grant-making organization specializing in international funding, CGFG receives donations from Effektiv Spenden's 'Demokratie verteidigen' fund and distributes them according to Power for Democracies' recommendations. CGFG may use up to 4% of funds (currently 2.5%) for operational costs.
• J-PAL (Poverty Action Lab, MIT)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJ-PAL is a research institute at MIT that conducts randomized controlled trials on development interventions. Their research — including the landmark deworming studies cited by Effektiv Spenden — provides the academic evidence base for cost-effectiveness claims. J-PAL's work informed the Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to Duflo, Banerjee, and Kremer in 2019, which is referenced as scientific validation of the effective giving approach.
• Our World in DataminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOur World in Data provides data for the 'Wie reich bin ich?' (wealth calculator) tool, sourced from the World Bank's Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP). The tool uses PPP-adjusted income data to show users their global income percentile. This data partnership enables the organization's educational mission about global inequality.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• GiveWell: US-based charity evaluator that underpins Effektiv Spenden's poverty recommendations with 70,000+ hours of annual research. Both organizations exist to direct donor capital to the most cost-effective charities and share an identical evidence-based philosophy; Effektiv Spenden is effectively GiveWell's DACH-region donation conduit.
• Giving What We Can: UK-headquartered effective-altruism giving organization that co-developed the 10%-Pledge and the wealth calculator used by Effektiv Spenden. It is both a research partner (cited Endorsement) and a closely aligned peer promoting evidence-based giving through public commitment and donor education.
• Founders Pledge: Global EA-aligned platform that evaluates charities and pools donor contributions into thematic funds (Climate, Global Catastrophic Risks). Founders Pledge's Climate Fund is the direct model for Effektiv Spenden's Klima schützen fund, and the two organizations share the 'Giving Multiplier' identity.
• EA Funds: Managed regranting funds (previously 'EA Funds') operated within the Effective Altruism ecosystem that pool donor capital and regrant semi-annually to vetted recipients. The pooled-fund, semi-annual-reallocation model used by Effektiv Spenden's Spendenfonds is structurally identical to EA Funds' approach.
• Animal Charity Evaluators: EA-aligned charity evaluator focused on animal welfare that informs Effektiv Spenden's Tierleid verringern fund. Both organizations evaluate charities on cost-effectiveness criteria and recommend the same top organizations (Humane League, Sinergia Animal).
• Longview Philanthropy: EA-aligned research organization whose Emerging Challenges Fund directly informs Effektiv Spenden's Zukunft bewahren and KI sicher gestalten funds. Jointly makes grant decisions and is both a research partner and a thematic peer operating in the same future-risk regranting space.

Broad incumbents

• betterplace.org: Germany's largest online donation platform, operating as a tax-deductible intermediary for hundreds of NGOs. Unlike Effektiv Spenden, betterplace does not curate or rank charities on evidence but provides a broad marketplace, making it the established incumbent against which Effektiv Spenden differentiates on rigor.
• Charity Navigator: Largest US charity rating platform, evaluating NGOs on financial efficiency and governance. Both organizations provide donor-facing evaluations, but Charity Navigator uses financial/operational metrics rather than cost-effectiveness analyses, making it a thematic rather than direct competitor.
• Open Philanthropy: Major EA-aligned grantmaking organization that funds the underlying research (GiveWell, ACE, Longview) on which Effektiv Spenden relies. Operates at vastly greater scale as a regrantor and is an ecosystem peer rather than a direct donation-platform competitor.

Emerging players

• Every.org: US-based, fee-free donation platform that routes gifts to any US-registered 501(c)(3). Shares Effektiv Spenden's no-fee philosophy and digital-first donor experience but operates in the US tax regime and lacks the curated, evidence-based recommendation layer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCxBUAOohas5xnuSFCdLjnSA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/effektiv-spenden-org
• Xx.com/EffektivSpenden

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Effektiv Spenden