NRW.BANK also lives up to its corporate responsibility through its contributions to public and community life in North Rhine-Westphalia. Suitable measures are supported in accordance with the Bank’s “Guidelines for Corporate Citizenship and Other Services [German]” adopted by the Supervisory Board. The Bank is committed to making its decisions on grants and sponsorships transparent and comprehensible.
NRW.BANK has established a fixed internal process for the allocation of funds. It documents requests for project support in a central place and votes on them according to uniform assessment criteria. An essential prerequisite is that the funds granted are used to finance projects in North Rhine-Westphalia. Grants and sponsorships focus on young talent promotion and education.
The Executive and Nomination Committee is the supreme control body for the allocation of the corporate citizenship funds. Before the beginning of each fiscal year, NRW.BANK submits a budget for all planned activities under the Corporate Citizenship Programme to the Committee for approval. After the end of each fiscal year, the Bank reports to the Executive and Nomination Committee on the use of the funds.
The Bank committed a total of € 1.25 million (previous year: € 1.2 million) through donations, sponsorships and memberships in 2024. The projects sponsored (> € 25,000) are presented in NRW.BANK’s Activity Report for 2024 [German].
In accordance with the “Guidelines for Corporate Citizenship and Other Services” set by the Supervisory Board, NRW.BANK made neither direct nor indirect donations to political parties or party-related foundations in the reporting year. Moreover, the Bank places no advertisements in their publications.
Selected Projects
Find out more about selected projects that we have supported in recent years.
Under the motto 'Digital ideas for a green future', NRW.BANK and Die Bildungsgenossenschaft promoted the implementation of digitally supported environmental projects in North Rhine-Westphalian schools with the 2024 DIGIGREEN school competition. The competition is under the patronage of the Ministerium für Schule und Bildung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen.
GWK supports up-and-coming artists from Westphalia-Lippe and develops cultural projects in the region. In 2024, NRW.BANK and GWK jointly hosted a concert of the “Chapeau Classique” series at the Bank’s premises in Münster. NRW.BANK’s employees volunteered to help with the event.
NRW.BANK sponsored individual concerts of düsseldorf festival! and of Klavier-Festival Ruhr, with a special focus on the promotion of young talent. In addition, the Bank made available rooms for a concert of düsseldorf festival! at its location in Düsseldorf in 2024. Here, too, NRW.BANK’s employees volunteered to help with the event.
In the reporting year, NRW.BANK supported Stiftung Zukunft NRW in its central fields of activity (securing jobs, preserving the environment, promoting culture, helping people in need) to make a contribution to the positive development of the future of North Rhine-Westphalia.
In 2024, NRW.BANK donated a total of € 40,000 to inclusive projects of the Regional Associations of the Rhineland (LVR) and of Westphalia-Lippe (LWL).
In 2023, NRW.BANK supported the “Krass e.V.” association, which added a “Krass van for young people” to its range of services. This converted bus visits various schools in the south of Düsseldorf, offering a creative and cultural programme for young people.