SCHULBANK

What SCHULBANK does

SCHULBANK e.V. is a German registered non-profit association (eingetragener Verein), founded in 2013 and headquartered in Havixbeck, Germany, that operates a scholarship program for orphaned children — primarily AIDS orphans — in the southern highlands of Tanzania. The organization works through a solidarity-based financing model in which Tanzanian partner schools reduce fees, parents and relatives cover school-related costs, and external supporters (German individuals and families) close the remaining funding gap; on average, more than 50% of education costs are covered by local participation. SCHULBANK places recipients at a network of quality private and mission schools including St. Dominic Savio Schools (Tosamaganga), St. James Secondary School (Kilolo), Spring Valley Secondary School (Iringa), Star International Primary School, and Edgar Maranta School of Nursing, with the program spanning primary, secondary, and tertiary education stages.

Operations are run by a three-member volunteer board — founder Alexander Kösters (fundraising), Monika Pander (scholarship program), and Kevin Furchen — together with a small operational team including Program Coordinator Edgar Mgembe and the organization's first permanent mentor Elizabeth Lusingu in Tanzania, and Familienkoordinatorin Verena Kösters in Germany. The organization maintains offices in Havixbeck, Iringa (opened in 2017, replacing an earlier shipping-container setup), and Dodoma, where it partners with Safina Street Network to support street children.

Revenue is generated entirely through philanthropic channels: recurring Bildungspaten (education sponsor) contributions, one-time donations, and in-kind software sponsorships (notably Zapier and Podio). Donors are acquired through personal networks, word-of-mouth referrals, community presentations (USC Münster, Baumberger Grundschule, Rotary Iringa), and earned media coverage (Deutschlandfunk, WDR Lokalzeit, Radio Kiepenkerl), supported by a Mailchimp newsletter and an active blog authored primarily by the founder. The technology stack is intentionally lightweight — standard website, Mailchimp, Zapier, Podio, and SMS — and the organization deliberately maintains 'respectful distance' between sponsors and scholarship recipients to avoid dependency relationships.

Name

SCHULBANK

Legal name

SCHULBANK e.V.

Website

https://schulbank.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SCHULBANK e.V. is a German non-profit association that funds scholarships for orphaned children in Tanzania's southern highlands through a solidarity-based model pairing German donors with local partner schools, covering primary through tertiary education.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

College Access, Scholarships & Student Success Nonprofits (BPAGADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC), Need-Based Grants & Bursaries (EDAIAOAB)

Keywords

• Education scholarships
• Nonprofit education fund
• Orphaned children support
• School sponsorship program
• Tanzania education aid

Headquarters

HQ city

Havixbeck

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Bildungspate (Education Sponsor) Program: Recurring or one-time donations from sponsors who support orphaned children's education. Sponsors do not have direct contact with children but enable scholarships at partner schools in Tanzania.
2. One-time Donations: Single donations from supporters who want to contribute to education in Tanzania without ongoing commitment.
3. Software Sponsorship: Technology companies like Zapier and Podio provide free access to software tools for administrative processes, reducing operational costs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SCHULBANK e.V. is a registered German non-profit association (eingetragener Verein) that funds scholarships enabling orphaned children—primarily AIDS orphans—to attend quality private schools in the southern highlands of Tanzania. The organization operates a solidarity-based financing model in which Tanzanian schools reduce fees, parents and relatives cover school-related costs, and external donors/sponsors close the remaining financing gap. Donors can contribute via ongoing educational sponsorships (Bildungspatenschaften) or one-time donations, with the organization maintaining a respectful-distance approach (no direct sponsor-recipient contact).

Product overview

SCHULBANK e.V. is a non-profit educational organization (Bildungsfonds) operating a scholarship program for orphaned children in Tanzania's southern highlands region. The organization offers a unified charitable service centered on educational sponsorships and scholarships, combining direct financial support with partnership networks at quality Tanzanian schools. The core offering consists of the Stipendienprogramm (Scholarship Program), Bildungs patenschaften (Educational Sponsorships), and a Partnerschulen (Partner Schools) network. Supporters can contribute through one-time donations or ongoing educational sponsorships, with the organization maintaining respectful distance from individual sponsors while ensuring transparent fund allocation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Educational Sponsorship Program (Bildungspatenschaften) Ongoing financial sponsorship program where individual German supporters fund scholarships for orphaned children's education at partner schools in Tanzania. Sponsors do not have direct contact with recipients; the program is solidarity-based and operates with respectful distance.
• One-time Donations (Einmalige Spenden) Single donations from supporters who wish to contribute to educational scholarships for orphaned children in Tanzania without committing to ongoing sponsorship. Funds flow through the same solidarity-based scholarship allocation model.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50%+ of education costs covered by local participation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• St. Dominic Savio SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 April 2023Long-standing partnership renewed in 2023 with goal to halve school costs for orphaned children. SCHULBANK works with this secondary school in Tosamaganga to place scholarship recipients. The cooperation has been active since 2015.
• St. James Secondary School (Kilolo)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 January 2023SCHULBANK places orphaned children at this school in Kilolo. 12 scholarship recipients completed Form 4 national exams with excellent grades. The school has 40% of its places allocated to children in need per its charter.
• USC MünsterminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 26 June 2017University sports club in Münster where SCHULBANK was invited to present its work on March 12, 2024. Joanna Thewes facilitated the presentation.
• Spring Valley Secondary SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 October 2016Private girls' school in Iringa with excellent reputation and strong graduate results. SCHULBANK partners to place orphaned girls for quality secondary education.
• Jugendrotkreuz Westfalen-Lippe (German Red Cross Youth)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 February 2016DRK's youth organization coordinates 'weltwärts' voluntary service program. SCHULBANK is a partner organization hosting volunteers in Tanzania. Carolin Schulz coordinates the program. SCHULBANK offered its first volunteer position in Iringa starting autumn 2016.
• Safina Street Network (Dodoma)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 October 2015Organization supporting street children in Dodoma. SCHULBANK partnered in 2015 and supports children like Jospeter with kindergarten and education placement. Goal to expand support to more children.
• Podio (by Citrix)minorOthers · 25 January 2015Software company in Podio's sponsorship program provides free tools for IT and administrative processes.
• ZapierminorOthers · 30 August 2014Software company providing free access to Zapier services for workflow automation. Helps SCHULBANK connect various systems and automate administrative tasks.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Neven Subotic Stiftung: The Neven Subotic Stiftung is a German foundation that funds education and infrastructure projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania. It shares SCHULBANK's German origin, Africa focus, education-first approach, and lean operating model for a sub-Saharan beneficiary footprint.
• Andheri-Hilfe Bonn: Andheri-Hilfe Bonn is a German nonprofit supporting education and self-help initiatives for children in India, with a sponsorship/donation model targeting German donors. It is highly comparable to SCHULBANK in structure (small German association funding overseas children's education) though operating in a different beneficiary geography.
• Childaid Network: Childaid Network is a German nonprofit that funds education for underprivileged children in developing countries, with a focus on long-term, direct-impact programs. Its mission, donor base, and educational-scholarship model closely mirror SCHULBANK's German-funded scholarships for African children.
• SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit (SOS Children's Villages Germany): SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit is a German nonprofit that supports orphaned and abandoned children globally through family-based care and education, including in Africa. It is directly comparable to SCHULBANK in mission (orphaned children), funding model (German individual donors/sponsors), and educational focus, though at much larger scale.

Broad incumbents

• UNICEF Deutschland: UNICEF Deutschland is the German national committee of the UN children's agency, with substantial education and child-welfare programming in Tanzania. It is a much larger incumbent operating in the same mission space as SCHULBANK, attracting overlapping German donors seeking international education impact.
• Plan International Deutschland: Plan International Deutschland is the German arm of a large international children's-rights and education NGO with significant Africa programs and German individual-donor fundraising. It overlaps with SCHULBANK's mission and donor pool but operates at a much broader, multi-country scale with a wider programmatic portfolio.
• World Vision Deutschland: World Vision Deutschland is the German branch of a major international child-sponsorship NGO with extensive programs in Sub-Saharan Africa including Tanzania. It competes for the same German education-sponsor donor as SCHULBANK but offers a broader sponsorship-and-development portfolio rather than a focused scholarship-only niche.

Others

• Welthungerhilfe: Welthungerhilfe is a major German nonprofit fighting hunger and poverty in developing countries, including education-focused initiatives in East Africa. It serves the same German development-donor audience as SCHULBANK but with a broader poverty/hunger mandate rather than a scholarship-only focus.
• Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk: The Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk is a German children's-rights and welfare nonprofit focused on participation and improved living conditions for children in Germany. It is an adjacent German child-welfare organization rather than a direct education-scholarship competitor, but draws from the same German donor pool interested in child welfare.
• Brot für die Welt: Brot für die Welt is the German development and relief service of the Protestant churches in Germany, funding education and development projects in Africa and elsewhere. It is adjacent rather than directly competitive because it operates at scale through institutional partners rather than direct child sponsorships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/schulbankev
• Instagraminstagram.com/schulbankev
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/schulbank-e-v-

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 SCHULBANK