Any natural person can establish a foundation or a fund to support a cause. Various legal structures are possible. You could, for example, stipulate in your will that a portion of your estate be used to set up a fund within the assets held by the Academic Society. Your bequest could be added to the general assets of the foundation or earmarked for a specific purpose such as supporting a defined group of researchers or a certain category of projects.

Foundations Under Civil Law

In Germany, a charitable foundation under civil law must have a charter approved by the competent authority of the federal state where the foundation has its seat. This could include a provision requiring that earnings of the foundation be transferred to the Academic Society for the furtherance of purposes defined in its charter. Further information on foundations and the legal forms they can take is available from the Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen.