Every cent of your donation goes directly to aid projects for children. This is the central promise of BILD hilft e.V. „Ein Herz für Kinder”. To ensure this, the association is subject to strict rules. And: every year, all income and expenditure is audited by an auditor. Here you can read the most important questions and answers on the topics of auditing and the use of donations.
Who Audits the Association?
All income and expenses are recorded in our accounts, which are audited in detail annually by the Hamburg law firm Stiehler-Vietzen-Nolte-Burgmann, which specializes in non-profit law, in accordance with the principles of a medium-sized corporation. This report is submitted to the tax office for Hamburg-Nord (tax number 17/400/03832),which then certifies the association’s charitable status with a valid notice of exemption pursuant to sections 52 ff. of the German Tax Code (Abgabenordnung) – most recently on 14 March 2022.
Who Bears the Current Expenses?
The personnel and administrative costs incurred by „Ein Herz für Kinder” are covered by a large donation from Axel Springer Deutschland GmbH and interest income. This enables us to use every cent of your donation to our association to fund children’s aid projects or to pass it on to our project partners.
How High Are Current Expenses?
Personnel and administrative costs amounted to a total of EUR 1,245,852 in 2023, which corresponds to an administrative cost ratio of 4.24 % in relation to donations in 2023.
Who Pays the Board Members?
All five board members and the board of trustees work on a voluntary basis.
What Happens to the Donated Funds?
BILD hilft e.V. „Ein Herz für Kinder” uses a large proportion of the donations collected each year during the TV gala and beyond for projects in Germany. Other funds are used for international children’s aid projects, which are usually carried out independently by internationally active, renowned partner organizations. When applying for funding, the project partners are obliged in writing to disclose their cost and investment plans in detail and to provide regular progress reports detailing the success and impact of the project. The donations that are collected each year during the TV gala and beyond flow into the projects and cases supported by „Ein Herz für Kinder” within two years.
Who Decides on the Distribution?
Every day, „Ein Herz für Kinder” receives dozens of applications for funding from all over the world. Each individual application is subject to a review process, on the basis of which the association’s board decides how to distribute the donations.
The charter of BILD hilft e.V.
Transparency and Control
We are committed to handling the donations entrusted to us efficiently and transparently. With this in mind, BILD hilft e. V. has established various control and monitoring mechanisms, which manifest themselves in the form of guidelines, work instructions and compliance standards, among other things. For example, detailed audit checklists are used as standard to request meaningful receipts and proof of performance from the project sponsors and recipients of funds in order to ensure that the aid money is used as intended and that every cent of your donation reaches the supported aid projects for children.
In 2013, the association’s board members also adopted an anti-corruption guideline and introduced a whistleblower system that can be used to report breaches of rules of conduct, internal guidelines or legal provisions – anonymously if required.
The Anti-Corruption Officer Is:
Florian von Götz
Chief Compliance Officer
Axel Springer SE
Axel-Springer-Straße 65
10888 Berlin
Guidelines forcombatting corruption as a download
The Data Protection Officer Is:
Leopold Lewitscharoff
Betrieblicher Datenschutzbeauftragter
datenschutz@ehfk.de
Axel Springer SE
Axel-Springer-Straße 65
10888 Berlin
DZI-Spenden-Siegel
On October 14, 2024, BILD hilft e.V. „Ein Herz für Kinder” was awarded the Spenden-Siegel (donation seal) of the Deutsches Zentralinstitut für soziale Fragen (German Central Institute for Social Issues). The independent documentation and information center has been documenting information from the fields of social work and donations since it was founded in Berlin in 1893.
The DZI-Spenden-Siegel is one of the most important recognitions for German charitable organizations and is regarded as a seal of quality for reputable donation organizations. It is awarded by the DZI on voluntary application and after a successful audit and, in accordance with the guidelines, stands for verified transparency, effective management and control mechanisms, ethical fundraising and economical use of funds.
The award of the DZI-Spenden-Siegel to „Ein Herz für Kinder” confirms the great trust that donors place in us, that every cent reaches children in need.
Further information about the DZI and its activities can be found at www.dzi.de
Deutscher Spendenrat e.V.
BILD hilft e.V. has been a member of the Deutscher Spendenrat e.V. since June 16, 2016.
The Deutscher Spendenrat e.V. (German Donations Council) is the non-profit umbrella organization of charitable organizations that collect donations. Its member organizations, which provide help in a wide variety of areas of social life, have been working to strengthen transparency in the German donation system for over 30 years. The Deutscher Spendenrat has defined basic ethical values in the donations sector, which its members have committed to upholding through a declaration of commitment. The mandatory high standards include the greatest possible transparency, efficiency and sustainability in dealing with donations. In particular, its members undertake to disclose their structures, activities, projects and finances in an annual report. This is also intended to set an example against excessive administrative costs and unfair fundraising, not least to maintain and encourage people’s willingness to donate.
In July 2024, the Deutscher Spendenrat once again recognized us for our high quality standards and awarded BILD hilft e.V. „Ein Herz für Kinder” the prestigious donation certificate alongside 22 other member associations. This certificate is based on an audit procedure that is carried out every three years by independent auditing organizations.
To ensure transparency, you will find an allocation of income and expenses by area here (based on the divisional accounting of the Deutscher Spendenrat). BILD hilft e.V. assures in accordance with point 7 of the declaration of commitment to the Deutscher Spendenrat:
- Advertising that violates common decency and decent practices will be refrained from.
- We will not solicit members or donations with gifts, benefits, promises or the granting of other advantages that are not directly related to the purpose of the statutes or are disproportionately expensive.
- We refrain from selling, renting or exchanging member or donor addresses and do not offer/pay commissions in accordance with the principles of the Deutscher Spendenrat e.V. for the solicitation of donations.
In addition, the Hamburg law firm Stiehler-Vietzen-Nolte-Burgmann confirms: “Our audit has not led to any findings which, in our opinion, indicate a breach of the declaration of voluntary commitment of BILD hilft e.V.”. (Ulf Nolte, auditor)
Further information about the German Donations Council and its activities can be found at www.spendenrat.de.