Whether it’s your finances or your everyday spending: pitfalls lurk everywhere. The Deutsche Stiftung Verbraucherschutz (German Consumer Protection Foundation) funds projects that teach basic everyday skills, above all to younger people – with support from quirion, too. Acting Managing Director Luise Will explains why this matters.
The Deutsche Stiftung Verbraucherschutz champions greater education in various areas of everyday consumer life. What exactly is the goal?
We fund projects that teach knowledge – above all to younger people – on how to handle topics such as nutrition, finances, sustainability and the media. In this context, we also see ourselves as a platform for exchange between different players – whether from wider society, from consumer protection, from business, from politics or from academia. As we did recently, for example, at our dialogue forum “Good finfluencers? Bad finfluencers?”. School pupils were there, as was the then Federal Finance Minister and numerous representatives of various institutions and companies. We were delighted that Martin Daut, CEO of quirion, was also on the panel. Because dialogue in a large group between the different stakeholders often falls by the wayside.
What was the outcome of the discussion?
With finfluencers there is – as everywhere – light and shade. What matters is creating a critical awareness so you can tell the good ones from the bad. Part of the forum was also our funded project “Faktencheck Finanzen” (Fact-Check Finances). The project lead is Marian Kulig from the Verbraucherzentrale NRW (North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Advice Centre). In his talk he summed up the problem beautifully: there’s nothing wrong with dreaming of financial success. But you shouldn’t forget that many people are thinking more about other people’s money than about their dreams. “Faktencheck Finanzen” keeps drawing attention to this, in short clips on TikTok and YouTube. So exactly where young people are active.
Are the funded projects exclusively about children and young people?
Primarily, but not exclusively. When it comes to financial education in particular, older people are considered too rarely. That’s why, in the summer, we supported the conference “Financial literacy in old age – knowledge is worth money!” It revolved above all around the question of what financial education for older people has to look like. The answer is a complex one. But one thing is clear: many older people are inadequately prepared for key financial challenges.
The Stiftung Verbraucherschutz has now existed for 15 years. Which milestones stand out?
The “Consumer Schools” (Verbraucherschulen) are certainly among the great beacons. The project was developed in 2015. We took part in funding it for many years in order to get this innovative project off the ground. The aim is to integrate consumer topics into everyday school life across the various subjects – and to bring teachers together to do so. More than 500 schools are now part of the network. The project is written into the coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and the SPD, so that it can be continued over the long term. As a former funder, you could hardly wish for more.
Our “Federal Consumer Protection Award” has also become well established. We honour people and organisations that stand up for the rights and interests of consumers. Last year the award went to AlgorithmWatch. The non-profit organisation works to ensure that algorithms and artificial intelligence strengthen justice, democracy, human rights and sustainability rather than weakening them.
So where does the money for the funding and the foundation’s work come from?
We finance ourselves mainly through donations from companies. That is why we are very grateful that quirion has now been supporting us for several years. We are firmly convinced that the projects we fund pay off for society. But the results of our work only become apparent over the long term. And our topics are not as emotionally charged as some others. That makes fundraising a constant challenge.
If you could personally choose projects, in what direction would you like to get involved even more?
Projects that give young people the know-how to handle digital media or artificial intelligence are especially close to my heart. I still see enormous need there. Though it all comes down to the right approach: educating, but without wagging a finger. That’s the standard we always try to live up to, really.
Find out more about the Deutsche Stiftung Verbraucherschutz here.
