Resilience

The Confidence Barometer

Sentiment, Challenges, and Future Prospects for Organized Civil Society in Germany

Illustration zum Zuversichtsbarometer: eine Person schaut durch ein Teleskop

What It’s About

How confident is organized civil society in Germany about its future? What gives people in associations, foundations, and nonprofit organizations hope, what challenges them, and how do they assess their ability to help shape society?

The Confidence Barometer is a survey of people active in organized civil society in Germany. It examines their expectations for the future of their organizations, how they are navigating the current social climate, and how they perceive their own ability to take action. In this way, the Confidence Barometer shows what strengthens confidence and where specific pressures and uncertainties lie.

By civil society, we mean self-organized action outside government and the private sector that serves the common good. The findings of the Confidence Barometer show what people and organizations need to continue working effectively for the common good, even in times of social change. The survey thus provides important insights into how civil society can be strengthened and how favorable conditions can be created for civic engagement and participation in shaping society.

Illustration zum Zuversichtsbarometer 2026: Eine Person blickt durch ein Fernrohr auf einen nach rechts oben gerichteten Pfeil.

Confidence Barometer 2026

How optimistic is Germany’s organized civil society about its future? The Confidence Barometer provides answers. It shows what organizations expect for their future, the challenges they face, and what gives them confidence. Insights from practitioners complement the findings and help put them into context.

Robert Bosch Stiftung

Ottilie Bälz, Isabel Gahren, Dr. Josefa Kny, Andreas Willisch, Dr. Ellen Ehmke

German 2026 35 p. Resilience

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Civil society is a vital pillar of our democracy and an important force for social change. At the same time, it is coming under increasing pressure: growing social polarization, rising distrust of nonprofit organizations, and far-right propaganda are having a lasting impact on its ability to act and shape society.

Especially in times of social uncertainty, it is therefore important to understand what strengthens civil society actors and gives them confidence. A strong civil society depends on people and organizations that remain capable of taking action even under difficult conditions and can actively help shape change.

With the Confidence Barometer, we want to shed light on how people in organized civil society are responding to these social developments and how they view their own ability to take action. Confidence does not mean ignoring challenges. Rather, it means trusting in our collective ability to confront them and bring about change. The findings help us understand what strengthens civil society actors and what they need to actively help shape society, even in times of uncertainty and crisis.

For the first edition of the Confidence Barometer, the polling institute forsa conducted telephone interviews with a total of 754 representatives of organized civil society across Germany on behalf of the Robert Bosch Stiftung between August 10 and September 4, 2026.

The survey provides insights into their current outlook, their expectations for the future of their organizations, and their perceptions of their own ability to shape change. The empirical findings are complemented by perspectives from practitioners. Together, they provide a nuanced picture of the issues affecting civil society, the challenges it faces, and the sources from which it draws confidence.