Why does Wilderness International not have a DZI donation seal?

The Foundation Board and Executive Board decided in March 2015 that Wilderness International will not apply for the DZI donation seal, but will instead join the Transparent Civil Society Initiative. The decision is based, among other things, on the recommendations for action contained in the master's thesis of our long-time Foundation Board President Ellen Weiland on the topic of "Responsible Management in the Foundation Sector - Derivation of a Recommendation for Action Using the Example of Wilderness International".

Key points that speak against applying for the DZI donation seal:

• Misappropriation of donated funds for the cost of applying for certification.
• high workload and costs for a small foundation run like an NGO

"In addition to an investigation of how the trust relationship between the stakeholders and the foundation stands, the question of whether it is ethically correct to spend part of the collected donations on the costs of applying for the DZI donation seal had to be clarified. From the point of view of the foundation's management, this is tantamount to misappropriation, since the management has a very specific and correct responsibility to use the donated funds for the intended purpose, and should not incur costs for this in the form of time and resources for submitting the manifold documents that would be required for an application for the donation seal." - Ellen Weiland, Responsible Management in the Foundation Sector - Derivation of a Recommendation for Action Using the Example of Wilderness International.

In addition, there are also large, very well-known associations recognized as charities that do not have a DZI donation seal, such as BUND, WWF and Grüne Liga.