Engagement Dock - Advisory Center for Initiatives and Associations

The Engagement Dock of the BürgerStiftung Hamburg offers small and medium-sized non-profit initiatives and associations in Hamburg continuous, ideal support through individual consulting, further training, and networking. The focus is on empowering self-help: the team assists with researching and applying for funding from public and private sources, as well as with administrative matters and cooperation between full-time and volunteer staff. Based on over 20 years of experience, it imparts practical knowledge about application procedures and supports the preparation of expenditure reports. Additionally, the Engagement Dock enables participation in workshops on administration, fundraising acquisition, and volunteer management, and regularly offers events to promote exchange among those engaged.

Funding is provided exclusively to non-profit organizations engaged in voluntary work based in Hamburg, which have little or no experience in fundraising and do not have a full-time fundraising structure. The goal is to strengthen independence in resource acquisition and promote equitable participation. A special component is the tandem partnership: young initiatives can plan and implement projects together with established organizations and apply for funding of up to 10,000 euros from the Social Authority. Integration is ongoing, and informal registration allows for uncomplicated access. In this way, the Engagement Dock makes an important contribution to the goals of Hamburg’s engagement strategy and supports the sustainable establishment of non-profit projects in the fields of education, health, environment, culture, social affairs, and research.