1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Unexpected success

February 27, 2012

Germany's new volunteer scheme is exceeding all expectations, having filled nearly all its 35,000 vacancies in eight months. But the government will not consider expanding the plan.

https://p.dw.com/p/14AV0
ARCHIV - Die Bundesfreiwilligendienstleistende ("Bufdi" oder "BFDler") Julia Vogel besucht am 16.1.2012 die Seniorin Charlotte Hodera in ihrer Wohnung in Berlin-Mitte. Im Rahmen ihres Freiwilligendienstes beim Pflegedienst pro vita helfen sie der Seniorin bei kleinen Hausarbeiten und leisten ihr Gesellschaft. Entgegen aller anfänglichen Kritik ist das Interesse am Bundesfreiwilligendienst (BFD) so groß, dass die Träger Bedarf für 30 Prozent zusätzlicher Stellen haben. Fünf der sechs größten Trägerorganisationen wollen sieben Monate nach der Einführung insgesamt weitere 10 500 BFD-Stellen vom Bund gefördert bekommen. Foto: Jens Kalaene dpa (Zu dpa «Träger wollen 30 Prozent mehr BFD-Stellen» vom 04.02.2012) +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++
Image: picture alliance / dpa

"We've had enormous success, which no one was expecting," said Jens Kreuter, director of the task force for voluntary services in Germany's Family Ministry.

When the voluntary services came into force on July 1, 2011, no one knew whether there would be enough applicants willing to commit themselves full-time for between 300 and 500 euros ($400 - $670) a month.

The new voluntary scheme was created to compensate for Germany's decision to scrap its national service along with conscription into the armed forces. Before then, every young German male who did not pass muster for the army, or who opted out, was obliged to complete national service.

But the question lingered whether, with that obligation removed, there would still be enough people in Germany prepared to commit their time for the common good, either for social, ecological or cultural causes. It turns out there are.

"Mathematically, national service has been fully compensated for, and the number of participants has exceeded all expectations," says Kreuter, the former government commissioner for national service.

Waiting lists

The German federal government has set aside enough money for 35,000 volunteers, or "Bufdis," as they're known in German for short. They are now almost all taken. Some charities are already fully booked. "For Caritas there are 3,900 spots nationwide, and they're almost all filled," said Claudia Beck, press spokeswoman for the Catholic charity.

The same goes for a number of other charities. "A lot of the big organizations have had to stop taking people for these months," says Kreuter. Some have started waiting lists, while others just ask the disappointed applicants to try again later.

So many, in this case tens of thousands, will have to wait their turn. "There was a prognosis from the central offices of the big charities," says Kreuter. "They said if the government had made unlimited cash available – which of course it would never do – then we think we'd have 60,000 volunteers by the end of the year."

Money for more 'Bufdis'?

Some of the charities are already calling for the funds to be boosted. Maria Loheide, of the board of Protestant charity Diakonie, said that she would like the government to set aside more money for the scheme, "but not at the expense of other social areas."

Others disagree. "I think it's too early," says Beck. "I think we should wait and see how the demand develops, whether it stays stable. Seven months is not a long time for a new service."

In any case, the government has already answered the question about the money: No. "The budget is decided by parliament, and only the parliament can allocate that amount of money," explains Kreuter. "All the Bundestag parties have already said publicly that they don't support that, so we're not expecting it."

Too many volunteers?

Kreuter laughs at the suggestion that the volunteer scheme has been too successful. "Well, you can never have too much volunteering and too much social engagement," he says. The schemes generally last one year, so every year the places all become available again.

Der Bundesbeauftragte für den Zivildienst, Jens Kreuter, aufgenommen am Dienstag (24.07.20007) in Lübeck. Foto: Wolfgang Langenstrassen +++(c) dpa - Report+++
Jens Kreuter heads the government volunteer task forceImage: picture-alliance/ dpa

Nevertheless, charities like Caritas have received many more applications than they can cope with. "For example, for the year 2011, we got three times as many applications as places we had on offer in the Catholic projects," says Beck.

So Germany has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to volunteers. One reason for the high number of applications for the government's new scheme is that, unlike many other volunteer projects, it accepts applications from people of any age, including senior citizens, and indeed nationality.

"The federal volunteer scheme is expressly open for people from all countries," says Kreuter. "If someone wants to come to Germany to do it for a year or so, they're more than welcome."

It remains to be seen whether the number of applicants will remain so high. And there's another question that needs to be cleared up – will the word "Bufdi" catch on in Germany? Kreuter isn't too enamored with the coinage. "I always say BFDIs. At first we thought about whether the state should make some kind of suggestion, but we decided against that. Something like that has to develop in society on its own. It's not the job of the government to come up with the slang."

Author: Marco Müller / bk
Editor: Spencer Kimball