We are transparent

We support the Transparent Civil Society Initiative! By signing the initiative, we have summarized and published relevant information about our association. Much of it can also be read in our annual impact report (in German only).

Furthermore, our organization is certified as equivalent to a Certified Public Charity by NGOsource, which is a project of the Council on Foundations and TechSoup, helps U.S. grantmakers streamline and save in their international giving.

1. name, registered office, address and year of incorporation

HANDS on TECHNOLOGY e.V.
Plaut Street 80
D-04179 Leipzig

Seat: Leipzig, register court Leipzig VR 3683

Year of foundation: 2002

Contact persons: Stefanie Sieber and Susanne Voigt, Management Board

Contact: E-Mail info@hands-on-technology.org, phone+49 (0)341 246 1583, further contacts to the office team

2. complete articles of association and information on the objectives of our organization

The Statues of our association (available in German only) describe what we do and regulate fundamental issues of the association's life. The Contribution Rules include the admission fee and contributions for membership.

The vision of HANDS on TECHNOLOGY e.V. is to get young people excited about science and technology at an early age and to give them a playful introduction to the world of complex technology. They learn to tackle challenges creatively, imaginatively and together and to build digital competencies as well as team and communication skills. The aim is to equip children and young people with the key skills of the 21st century: they can think like researchers and engineers and actively help shape society - both with their STEM knowledge and with their social skills.

HANDS on TECHNOLOGY e.V. has been organizing various international educational programs since 2002 to facilitate young people's access to scientific subjects and to motivate them at an early stage to pursue an engineering or IT profession. Our most important tools are educational programs with a competitive character, such as the FIRST LEGO League Challenge research and robotics competition, the FIRST LEGO League Explore program, and the RoboCup Junior regional qualifying tournament in Berlin.

More about the project goals and impacts can be found in our Impact Report, which we publish annually - in the 2022 edition, the goals and impacts can be found in the following sections:

FIRST LEGO League Explore - page 18 ff.
FIRST LEGO League Challenge - page 24 ff.
RoboCup Junior - page 36 ff.

3. details of the tax concession

Our work is exempt from corporate income tax and trade tax under Section 3 No. 6 of the German Trade Tax Act (Gewerbesteuergesetz) due to the promotion of youth welfare according to the last exemption notice we received from the Leipzig I Tax Office (tax number 232/14013479) dated December 21, 2018 (assessment period 2015 to 2017).

 

4. name and function of key decision-makers

Organizational structure
The association was founded in 2002 in Leipzig. The general assembly consists of 30 members (8 legal and 22 natural persons, 1 honorary member). In addition to the association members, the association has a large network of partners and volunteers who support the association and the respective projects with their work, a total of about 1500 people.

The board of directors has been led by five volunteers since 2020. Irmgard Rothkirch is head of educational programs at the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum, among others, and has been chairwoman of the association since April 2022. Armin Gardeia is head of the "Young University" at the OTH Regensburg and has been deputy chairman of the association since April 2022. The board is completed by Marco Groß and Daniel Marburger as associate members.

The long-standing employees at HANDS on TECHNOLOGY e.V. Stefanie Sieber and Susanne Voigt share the management in a four-eyes principle.

More about people in our organizatipon in our impact report page from 58 ff.

5. activity report

All our annual reports (in German language) are available here. The latest information can be found in the Impact Report 2022 starting on page 8 ff.

6. personnel structure

The office is currently staffed with 10 full-time employees who take care of all aspects of implementing the educational programs and the association. All facts and figures on the staff structure in the office can be found in the Impact Report 2022 on page 58 ff.

7. information on the source of funds

HANDS on TECHNOLOGY e.V. finances its work through income from donations, sponsoring, participation fees, and the sale of robotics sets as part of funded projects. For details and figures, see the 2022 impact report on page 64 as well as in the extract from the profit determination report of the tax consulting company (page 11 - 15) in the PDF download.

8. information on the use of funds

The areas in which we have used funds are disclosed in the Impact Report 2022 on page 42.

In summary, the association is economically stable and will be able to continue its educational programs FIRST LEGO League and RoboCup Junior nationwide and internationally in the coming years. The goal is to further expand existing cooperations and to gain additional supporters. If you also want to support us, learn more about the possibilities.

9. social connection with third parties

HANDS on TECHNOLOGY e.V. has been working closely with the support association HANDS on e.V. in 2022, whose purpose since its founding in 2008 has been to provide the association with both personnel and financial support. More on this in the 2022 Impact Report on page 63. The support association is in the process of dissolution, the lock-up period ends on 18.7.2023.

10. names of legal entities whose annual payments exceed 10% of the total annual budget

With reference to the past financial year 2022, the following individuals, initiatives, companies and foundations have supported HANDS on TECHNOLOGY e.V. and thus our charitable work in varying amounts (alpha-beta order):

up to 5.000 €

  • 1a Zukunft, Dagmar Schimansky-Geier
  • Cosmo Consult GmbH
  • Hessenmetall (Verband der Metall- und Elektro-UN e.V.)
  • IT Executive Club e.V.
  • Kleinspenden (via Benevity / Haus des Stiftens)
  • Nadja Kaufmann
  • National Instruments Deutschland GmbH
  • Sebastian Thielke

from 5.000 to 50.000 €

  • Amazon Deutschland GmbH (via Haus des Stiftens)
  • Deutsche Stiftung fur Engagement und Ehrenamt
  • Deutsche Stiftung fur Engagement und Ehrenamt
  • Dow Inc. (via FIRST)
  • John Deere GmbH & Co KG (via Phineo gAG)
  • Landesverband Sächsicher Jugendbildungswerke e.V.
  • Motorola Solutions Foundation
  • Novelis AG (via Förderverein HANDS on e.V.)
  • Siemens AG
  • The Walt Disney Company Germany GmbH (via FIRST)
  • Vision Components GmbH
  • ZIVIZ gGmbH

over 50.000 €

  • Deutsche Postcode Lotterie
  • Support Association HANDS on e.V.
  • Hessian Ministry of Education*
  • Sage Global Services Limited

* 2022 a payment was above 10% of the total annual budget (it went to support and equipment for Hessian schools participating in FIRST LEGO League)

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