Transparency and compliance
Building trust through openness and clarity
Binding rules and principles
- Our Code of Conduct on dealing with corruption requires that employees fulfil their duties diligently and in conformance with the law, points out typical conflict situations and explains the consequences of corrupt behaviour.
- Our Procurement Guidelines specify principles, procedures and prerequisites for the award of all contracts.
- Our Travel Expense Regulations set forth the rules according to which travel expenses are reimbursed to the employees and members of the Supervisory Board, Board of Executives and Advisory Board.
- Our Investment Guideline specifies the principles by which Menschen für Menschen invests in the financial market.
- Our Guideline to Raising Awareness and Public Relations defines the content and instruments of public relations work as well as the rules of cooperation with outside companies, service providers, agencies and embassies
External audits
Internal audits
All expenditures of the Foundation are checked by several instances before they are approved. Besides the project managers, the Country Representative, Head of Administration, Director of Programme Operations and Director of Programme Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation and the Executive Board also pay regular visits to the project areas to monitor the proper use of funds.
In addition, our controlling employees make site inspections. In particular, they check the cash boxes, stocks and fuel consumption. They also review progress at the building sites. The department heads in the project areas report to the project managers and they in turn submit quarterly reports to the country representatives and Ethiopian authorities. These regularly inspect the contents of the reports to ensure conformity with the work completed.
Every year we have our accounting inspected by independent auditors. The audit report is submitted to the Executive Board, Supervisory Board and Board of Trustees. Once again we received an unqualified audit certificate for the Annual Financial Statements 2025.
In addition, external auditors carry out monthly checks of expenditure in Ethiopia against the receipts, making random checks compared to the work completed. They report their findings directly to the Executive Board. In addition, the Government of Upper Bavaria regularly audits our annual financial statements to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Bavarian Foundation Act.
Compliance
In addition, the Board of Trustees has appointed lawyer Dr. Nils Dreier as Compliance Officer. If you have any questions or comments on the subject of compliance, you can contact him at compliance@menschenfuermenschen.org.
Annual reports
Further proof of transparency
In the following you will find all details of control and transparency of the Menschen für Menschen Foundation Germany required within the framework of the initiative.
1. Name, head office, address and year of founding
Menschen für Menschen Foundation, Germany
Brienner Straße 46, 80333 München
Founding year: 1981
2. Complete constitution and goals of the Menschen für Menschen Foundation
The constitution of the organization can be found as a PDF for downloading below.
3. Details of tax benefits
Because it supports public health care, the idea of understanding among nations and development aid, following the last received notice of exemption from the Munich Tax Office for Corporations, Tax No. 143/235/72144, of 5th June 2024, the Foundation is exempted from corporation tax pursuant to Article 5 para. 1 No. 9 German Corporate Tax Act, and from business tax pursuant to Article 3 No. 6 Trade Tax Act.
4. Name and function of key decision-makers
Executive Board:
Dr Sebastian Brandis (spokesman, full-time)
Benjamin Freiberg (full-time)
Supervisory Board:
Dr. Ingrid Sollerer (chairwoman),
Dr Annette Bhagwati (vice-chairwoman),
Haile Gebrselassie, Peter Schwarzenbauer, Prof. Dr. Matthias Siebeck and Ludmilla Reina.
All members of the Supervisory Board serve in an honorary capacity.
5. Activity report
Annual reports of past years can be found as a PDF download above.
5. Personnel structure
The headquarters of the German Foundation are located in Munich, where around 25 employees work in the Executive Office, Donor Relations, Finance & Accounting, Fundraising & Communications, IT, Key Accounts & Partners, Project Management Ethiopia, Purchasing & Logistics and Youth & Education. In addition, about 100 volunteers support the activities of Menschen für Menschen. This is the only way to achieve maximum aid for the people in Ethiopia with minimum expenses for administration and fundraising.
6. Details of the source of funding: see below: Financial Report 2025
7. Details of the use of donations: see below: Financial Report 2025
8. Affiliation to third parties
The Menschen für Menschen Foundation in Germany is closely affiliated to its sister organization Menschen für Menschen – Society for the Provision of Relief – Austria, and Menschen für Menschen VoG – Belgium. The Menschen für Menschen office in Addis Ababa is a branch of the German Foundation.
9. Names of legal persons whose annual payments exceed 10% of their total annual budget
There have been no single donations exceeding 10% of total annual revenue.
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