Frequently Asked Questions

The One Foundation is a charitable organisation dedicated to promoting social and societal equality of opportunity. Our funding projects primarily support young people who are economically and socially disadvantaged, opening up new perspectives for them. In particular, we support integration. of people seeking asylum into society, as well as education and training in schools and workplaces. In addition,

The One Foundation also promotes the education of people with above-average talent (the promotion of excellence). Our thematic focus is on inclusion, promoting democracy, and preventing school dropouts. Thus, the purpose of our foundation is to lay a solid foundation for a self-determined life.

In line with the principle of ‘helping people to help themselves’, we want to support organisations and projects that treat their target group with respect and involve them in the development of projects, with the aim of sustainably improving the situation for the people receiving funding. For that reason, we never work with organisations that display a fundamentally racist or neo-colonialist attitude.

The One Foundation solely supports organisations with legal capacity that

•    are recognised by the Tax Office as charitable or benevolent,

•    hold a valid exemption notice,

•    and are authorised to issue donation receipts.

The organisations must have their registered office in Germany and their activities must align with the One Foundation’s funding guidelines.

The fundamental values that shape the collaboration between the One Foundation and the projects we support are a sense of partnership, transparency and openness.

We seek trusting communication with a specific contact person, who should always feel able to contact us, too. We believe that everything can be solved via joint dialogue.

We assume that our project partners will use the resources given to them responsibly. No prior consultation is needed for minor tweaks that will not affect the outcome of the project. If it is likely that the project will undergo significant changes, however, we would like to be consulted. Project funding is conditional upon the willingness to provide brief project updates on demand during the term of the project (approx. once a year) and to provide a detailed report on the project’s outcome when it comes to a close.

In addition, we require images and quotes from participants to document the project’s progress and for our PR work. It goes without saying that all privacy rights will be respected and material anonymised, if required. 

Impactful projects focus on a societal problem that they want to help solve. The activities undertaken as part of a project are designed to spark a positive, sustainable change for the target group.

Projects are selected on the basis of a funding application. We use the application to determine whether the project aligns with the One Foundation’s values and impact goals. The application form includes our evaluation sheet detailing the criteria we use to assess applications.

 We decide which projects to select during a board meeting. It can happen that a project that is eligible for funding in principle is not granted any. This can be the case, for instance, if the money available has already been awarded to other projects. There is no legal entitlement to funding.

During the board meeting, the board and management make their decisions on project applications and funding allocations based on the project goals, information on the target group, impact measurement indicators and financial planning. 

The checklist helps to determine whether potential funding from the One Foundation is possible before the project application is completed by the respective project partner. For 2026, please submit a two-page project outline in advance. We will then decide whether it is worthwhile submitting a funding application. You can find a sample funding application on our homepage under 'Organisational Information'.

Project applications can be submitted annually from 1 to 31 March and from 1 to 30 September.

The project application will then be reviewed by the One Foundation. If the project is shortlisted, it will be presented at the board meeting.

The One Foundation's board and management team will make the final decision on funding. We will notify potential project partners or applicants in writing to inform them whether their application for funding has been approved or rejected. Unfortunately, we cannot fund all the project requests we receive.

There is no legal entitlement to funding.

Project applications can be submitted from 1 to 31 March 2026 and 1 to 30 September 2026. 

Funding applications are normally approved or rejected within eight to ten weeks of the application deadline/board meeting.

During the board meeting, the board and management consider the

•    project goals,

•    information on the target group,

•    impact measurement indicators,

and financial planning to make a decision on project applications and on allocating funding.  

It’s worth checking out our funding guidelines before first getting in touch. To clarify whether your project is eligible for funding, we encourage you to send us a two-page project outline to foerderung@one-foundation.de. This will save you the effort of making a formal funding application unnecessarily.

We do not stipulate a minimum or maximum amount of funding. However, the funding allocated to the project needs to be plausible and appropriate in relation to the project in question and its duration. An overview of the amount of funding granted to previous projects can be found in the Appendix to our Foundation Report.

Generally, the One Foundation funds projects for 12 to 24 months.