It is the task of the latter to give advice to donors and foundations and see to the management of foundations on a trusteeship basis. An average of 15 new foundations are set up with the Donors Association each year. This figure is bound to rise in view of the considerable assets that will be passed on by inheritance over the next few years. The total assets of the foundations in the Donors Association amount to almost 1.5 billion Deutschmarks and can translate their objectives into practice with dividends of around 100 million Deutschmarks. The foundations managed by the Donors Association mainly support science and the humanities.
Education is a second promotion goal, and culture a third.
Medicine and bio-sciences are top of the list in terms of science and humanities promotion. They are followed by general, cross-subject science promotion, the natural and engineering sciences, economics and social sciences, and the humanities. Many foundations offer prizes to honour excellence among representatives of science and the humanities, technology, art and culture. Forty foundations of the Donors Association currently award 47 different prizes. Other foundations have set themselves the goal of promoting academic new blood by awarding stipends.