Financial Transparency

We are a nonpartisan, non-profit organisation and not affiliated with any public or private institution. We have intentionally diversified our portfolio of funders to help us ensure we can work in line with our values - we are independent – critical – and promote the open sharing of expertise.

We are a registered association (eingetragener Verein – e.V.) with recognized charitable status according to German tax and fiscal law and are therefore tax-exempt.

Most of our funding comes from grants and voluntary contributions from charitable foundations as well as public sector institutions, which fund individual programmes or projects as well as our core and organisational development.    

Where our funding comes from

* This overview shows interface e.V.'s revenue (all amounts are rounded) by type of source of funding. Therefore, it is not identical with the Revenue Overview in our financial end of year statement ('Jahresabschluss'). Not listed in this overview of sources are unused, unrestricted funds subject to revenue referral as of Dec 31, 2022 (546k) and Dec 31,2023 (-805k) which have been correctly accounted for but, by definition, cannot be broken down into source of funding per fiscal year.

** Revenue from sublease, health insurance cost recovery, misc. other revenue

Note on corporate funding

We do not fund individual projects through corporate funds. Furthermore, we limit the amount we accept as individual donations from companies to five percent of our total budget. Generally, we do not accept any form of financial support from companies directly affected by our work. 

Our most important resource are the inquisitive and creative minds of our experts. Staff costs, therefore, make up 75 percent of our annual spending.

Expenses by cost category

Expenses by activity area

Spending by Programme*

*We have renamed some of our programmes. The overview above shows fund allocation based on the new name of the programme. Previous names of programmes and project are not reflected.   

A total of 33 funders from the non-profit, public and corporate sector supported our work in 2023. Our five largest funders in 2023 were The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Cybersecurity Policy and Core), Luminate (Core and Organisational development), the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (Digital Public Sphere and Platform Regulation), Mercator Foundation (Global Chips Dynamics, Digital Public Sphere, Data Science Unit), and Open Philanthropy (Data Science Unit, Global Chips Dynamics, Core).

The list below provides an overview of our funders in the financial year 2023, detailing the programme supported, the restriction status, and the amount of funding received.

For a list of who funds our work in the current year, please see here.

This overview is based on our audited financial statements for the year 2023. We usually complete our annual audit in the 2nd quarter of the following year. 

We have renamed some of our programmes. For greater clarity, grants and donations are listed based the current name of the programme they fund and do not reflect the previous names of programmes and projects.

interface – Technology analysis and policy ideas for Europe e.V. is exempt from paying corporate income tax. In line with our bylaws we a) promote science and research by generating ideas and delevoping solutions addressing crucial societal challenges, b) promote democracy, c) promote civic engagement and political education.  

Our tax-exempt status was confirmed, most recently, by the notice of exemption dated 06.06.2024 for the last fiscal year 2022, issued by the Tax Office for Corporations I Berlin (Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin) in accordance with §5 Para.1 No.9 of the Corporation Tax Act. 

Our organization upholds a strict policy of editorial independence. This means our funders have no influence over the topics we choose, the methodologies our experts use, the proposals they develop, or the positions they advocate in public debates. Financial contributions do not equate to content control or any form of influence. 

Independence from political and business interests is a cornerstone of our work. Our ability to generate innovative ideas hinges on the support of leading experts from diverse fields, including academia, politics, civil society, and business. We maintain this support by ensuring our environment is one where no single viewpoint prevails, allowing us to address problems from multiple perspectives without external pressures. 

We identify new issue areas we want to focus on through our projects and collaboration with experts across various sectors, including academia, business, civil society and government.