The Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Jakob Schmidt & Sons. It runs the founder's long-standing humanitarian commitments — in dignity and protection, in microfinance and women's economic empowerment, and in the patronage of arts, music, mentorship and education — and it convenes humanitarian capital for causes the founder personally supports.
The Foundation runs four standing initiatives. The first — the Dignity Initiative — is its principal cause and the founder's longest-standing personal commitment. The others run alongside it, conducted with the same discipline and the same patience.
The Foundation's principal campaign — women's rights and protection, ending human trafficking, ending sexual exploitation, and protecting women and children from abuse. A standing platform for advocacy, funding, and partnership with the leading organisations working in the field.
Capital, technical assistance, and partnership with microfinance institutions and women-led enterprise programmes — with particular focus on Central Asia, the Caspian, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Private patronage of musicians, visual artists, and institutions across Germany, Russia, and Central Asia. Mentorship programmes for early-career founders, executives and operators — conducted personally by the founder, by referral only.
The Foundation convenes humanitarian capital for causes the founder personally supports — emergency response, post-conflict reconstruction, refugee protection. Fundraising is conducted privately, with named principal donors and structured giving instruments.
The Foundation does not seek to be the largest or the most visible philanthropic vehicle of its kind. It is operated with the same standards the house applies to commercial mandates — small team, senior partner in the room, no fluff. Programmes are chosen with care, measured with discipline, and supported for the long horizon. Partners are vetted; capital is concentrated; results are reported privately to donors and published in summary form when partners agree.
The professional counterpart of this work — paid Social Impact & Humanitarian Advisory for foundations, family offices, multilaterals and corporates — is delivered by the Schmidt Consulting practice.
The Foundation evaluates every potential partner organisation against four standing criteria. We do not fund organisations that fail any of them — regardless of cause merit.
Audited financials, an open question on overheads, and a willingness to tell the donor what didn't work last year. Polished decks fail this test.
Programmes designed with input from the people they serve, not at them. We ask for evidence of that voice in the design process.
Leadership and field staff who live in the geography. We rarely fund parachute-in international organisations without local partners in equal authority.
Theory of change that does not promise a five-year fix to a fifty-year problem. We prefer organisations that measure honestly over those that measure optimistically.
The Foundation operates under the personal authority of the founder, with a small advisory council of named field practitioners from the partner network.
Funded principally from the founder's own capital and selected principal donors of the house. The Foundation does not solicit publicly.
Audited annually. Programme reports issued to donors privately; summary impact reports issued publicly when partners consent.
The Foundation never funds counterparties to the house's commercial advisory work. Strict information-wall observed between the Foundation and the rest of the house.
The Foundation is intended to outlast the founder. Succession is documented in the house Constitution and reviewed every ten years.
All grants made under applicable charity law, AML/KYC standards, and recipient-country regulation. No grants in or out of jurisdictions where the founder cannot certify lawful flow.
Field organisations doing serious work in any of the Foundation's four initiative areas may apply for grant, technical, or convening support. Applications are by introduction; please write to the Office of the Foundation with a brief named reference.
Principal donors can give directly to the Foundation, or co-fund a specific named programme. The Foundation does not charge management fees on co-fund programmes.
Members of the house's commercial network — clients, counterparties, partners — may refer trusted organisations into the partner programme. Referrals are evaluated against the four standing criteria like any other applicant.