The Foundation
The Dewender‑Stiftung was established in 2012 by Norbert Dewender as a legally independent civil-law foundation in Wachtendonk and is a member of the German Association of Foundations. At the time of its establishment, it was endowed with initial capital of EUR 50,000. Its purpose is to support young people and to strengthen education, cultural participation, sport and civic engagement in the region.
The Dewender Foundation does not operate an open application process. Funding projects are selected independently by the Board. Unsolicited funding requests are therefore generally not considered.
The foundation is led by a sole voluntary board member. It is subject to supervision by the Düsseldorf District Government, which monitors the lawful, secure, and sustainable fulfilment of the foundation’s purpose. It is listed in the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of the Interior’s foundation register.
The Dewender-Stiftung sees itself as an expression of independent, self-funded and long-term commitment. As a comparatively small foundation, we emphasize personal responsibility, efficient decision-making, and targeted support for local and regional initiatives.
The foundation is rooted in the region: the municipality of Wachtendonk lists the Dewender Foundation on its website under Leben & Soziales > Partner & Vereine > Stiftungen.
The foundation is a member of the Association of German Foundations.
Transparency is a core principle of the foundation’s work. Key figures, statutes, official notices, and annual reports are publicly accessible.
The Dewender Foundation operates entirely on a voluntary basis and without its own office. The vast majority of available funds goes directly toward fulfilling its charitable funding purposes.
Administrative costs arise only to the extent necessary for proper, legally compliant, and transparent foundation work, for example general administrative and safeguarding costs of the foundation.
The color composition of the logo pays tribute to the iconic color code created by Peter Saville, best known from the artwork of New Order’s 1983 12-inch single 'Blue Monday'.
In this context, the sequence of colors forms a coded representation of the name “DEWENDER STIFTUNG”.
The combination of structure and color also represents diversity, continuity, and development – key elements of the foundation’s identity.