FNF
From Educational Organization to Campaign Platform: FNF decides on Strategic Renewal and Reorganization
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) is repositioning itself strategically in response to changing conditions. The Foundation's Board of Directors and Board of Trustees have decided on a far-reaching structural reform. The aim is to renew and strengthen political liberalism in Germany by 2030.
The Foundation is responding proactively to the changing conditions and is aiming for a strategic transformation: FNF is evolving from a traditional political education organization into a visible campaign platform and center of competence for liberalism. To achieve this, the internal organization of the Foundation will be restructured to become even more effective, creative, and impactful in the future.
The focus will be on political training and political campaigns, centered around the core topics of Social Market Economy, Liberal Democracy, and Geopolitical System Competition.
This strategic reorientation of the FNF comes at a time of shrinking financial resources. Federal funding for the Foundation will decrease significantly in the coming years, as the allocation quota will drop from 12.01% to 8.4% as of January 1, 2026. The reasons for this are, on the one hand, the FDP’s results in the 2025 Bundestag elections, and on the other hand, the fact that another foundation (the AfD-affiliated DES) will also receive funding from the federal budget in the future. Rising personnel and infrastructure costs are adding further pressure to consolidate. From 2026 onwards, approximately 25 million euros will have to be saved each year.
In the future, political education in North Rhine-Westphalia and the training of international leaders will be even more focused on innovative formats and organized more flexibly. A liberal education network in NRW will be established in Düsseldorf, in close proximity to state politics, associations, and civil society networks. Political education in Germany, and especially political training, will be further professionalized and aimed at motivating and connecting office holders, candidates, their teams, and prospective liberal talents, in order to spread liberal ideas and strengthen democratic culture. To this end, the Foundation will offer a modern, practice-oriented, and flexible training program on-site and bring political training to people through its regional offices.The Theodor Heuss Academy, previously the Foundation’s primary venue for political education in Gummersbach, will have to close at the end of 2025. The Foundation’s governing bodies made this decision with heavy hearts and almost unanimously after carefully considering alternatives.
FNF will manage the closure and liquidation process of the Theodor Heuss Academy responsibly, together with employees, works councils, and the city of Gummersbach. This step is “painful but unavoidable,” emphasize Ludwig Theodor Heuss, Chair of the Board of Trustees, and Karl-Heinz Paqué, Chair of the Executive Board. All efforts must now be focused on using resources as efficiently and effectively as possible in line with the new strategy.
As part of a comprehensive package of measures, the Foundation’s global work for democracy, freedom, and the rule of law will also be more regionally consolidated and thematically focused. Several international offices will need to be closed and priorities redefined. The Foundation will focus its international work even more on its impact on Germany: through political training and campaigns, interviews, analyses, and the exchange of best practices from the work of liberal partners.
With this strategy, the Foundation aims to fulfil its role as a think tank, training center, and value-based platform for political liberalism—future-oriented, efficient, and impact-driven.