The Robert Bosch Stiftung, German for “Robert Bosch Foundation,” is a left-of-center grantmaking organization that finances initiatives in health care, education, climate change mitigation, expansionist immigration, countering inequality, and anti-war advocacy. It also conducts advocacy of its own. ¹

Background

The Robert Bosch Stiftung was founded in 1964 as the legacy of entrepreneur Robert Bosch, founder of the Bosch industrial conglomerate, who had died in 1942. Bosch’s will had declared his wish for his wealth to be used to create a foundation that would promote the “moral, physical, and intellectual development of the people.” Bosch was a liberal democrat who introduced the eight-hour workday for his employees, promoted educational opportunities, and was an opponent of antisemitism and the Nazi regime. ^{2 3}

Today, the foundation is a powerful international organization, employing about 170 people at its Stuttgart and Berlin offices as of 2025. ²

Activities

The Robert Bosch Stiftung makes grants supporting left-of-center initiatives related to health care, education, climate change, immigration, inequality, and anti-war advocacy, and engages in advocacy of its own. ¹

The foundation communicates its own research and the research of allied organizations to politicians with the aim of influencing government policies and laws. ^{4 5}

The Stiftung is committed to religious and ethnic diversity, expansive immigration, tolerance for Islam, anti-racism, LGBT acceptance, and anti-discrimination for the disabled, and conducts polls and produces blog essays to promote such causes. ^{6 7 8 9 10}

In 2024, the Stiftung announced a new program to fight “economic injustice,” which was designed to “examine and question the structures of economic inequality” to identify how technology can “be used to benefit marginalized groups rather than further disadvantage them,” and to discover how to “break the link between income and wealth distribution and political influence.” ¹¹

The Robert Bosch Stiftung also administers a number of institutions, including the Bosch Health Campus, the Robert Bosch Hospital, the Robert Bosch Academy, the Robert Bosch College UWC, and the International Alumni Center. ²

Grantmaking

The Robert Bosch Stiftung funds More in Common, a left-of-center think tank and public opinion research organization based in New York. ¹²

The foundation’s list of funded projects is extensive. As of 2025, it was financing over 180 projects in 116 countries. ¹³

1. “What We Do.” Robert Bosch. Stiftung. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/what-we-do.
2. “Who We Are.” Robert Bosch Stiftung. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/who-we-are.
3. “Robert Bosch.” Robert Bosch Stiftung. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/robert-bosch-0.
4. “Impetus for policymakers.” Robert Bosch Stiftung. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/foerdergebiet/impulse-fuer-die-politik.
5. “Futures and networks.” Robert Bosch Stiftung. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/support-area/futures-and-networks.
6. Mirbach, Ferdinand. “Diversity Barometer 2025: Acceptance of Diversity in Germany in Declining.” Robert Bosch Stiftung, September 16, 2025. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/storys/diversity-barometer-2025-acceptance-diversity-germany-declining.
7. “Genuine Diversity: We Are Still A Long Way Away.” Robert Bosch Stiftung. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/storys/diversity.
8. Goldmann, Fabian. “Why Islam and Germany Go Hand in Hand.” Robert Bosch Stiftung, January 7, 2025. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/storys/why-islam-and-germany-go-hand-hand.
9. Fischer, Sabine. “I was shocked that racism is openly practiced even in the queer community.” Robert Bosch Stiftung, Accessed September 22, 2025. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/storys/queer-refugees.
10. Salian, Priti. “Bridging the Disability Rights Funding Gap.” Robert Bosch Stiftung, April 22, 2025. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/storys/bridging-disability-rights-funding-gap.
11. “Building Power for Economic Justice.” Robert Bosch Stiftung, November 6, 2024. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/storys/building-power-economic-justice.
12. “Funding.” More in Common. Accessed September 21, 2025. https://www.moreincommon.com/about-us/funding/.
13. “Project Search.” Robert Bosch Stiftung. Accessed September 22, 2025. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/project-search.