#11/25 Put your money where your mouth is

Dear Readers,

It strikes me that my journey yesterday describes not only a geographical but also a social distance. Let me take you along.

Just a few minutes from my apartment, I board the train at Berlin's Zoo station. Since last year, I have occasionally served buttered bread to the homeless at the station mission there. It's about more: about practical help and a safe place for community. However, the soup is missing, for which there has been no money for some time. (Why that is is a story about non-profit work and welfare that needs a different space.)

Six hours later, I arrive on Sylt. In the evening, the final stop of my book tour is scheduled in the millionaire village of Kampen. And to top it off, with the star chef and crowd-puller Johannes King (see below). We recorded our discussion, and you can listen to it soon on the podcast “Das Neue Geben” (“The New Giving”).

Nutrition divides. It makes people sick. It kills animals. It destroys forests. But it can also connect, make people healthy, create jobs, and preserve landscapes. How we can contribute to this with money is my focus with the new priority of my small FO Foundation and a small list of organizations I have encountered.

Yours, Felix

A number that sticks in your mind: 8.2 billion

That is how many people live on earth. And that is exactly how many euros the Novo Nordisk Foundation has to award. It recently became the richest foundation in the world. Why? Because it invented Ozempic - the drug you have to be able to afford so that you don't eat as much as you could afford to.

For me, there is so much in this number. A story about abundance. About technology. And about giving. Because now the big question is: What does a foundation that has already fully funded everything in its home country of Denmark do now with this enormous potential?

A person who inspires me: Johannes King

A star chef as a founder? Once again, Johannes King is a pioneer. He grew up on a Black Forest farm with nine siblings, worked his way up through the kitchens of big capitals until he cooked his way to two Michelin stars on Sylt.

What do you do when you have achieved everything? You start giving. With engagement at the Jeunes Restaurateurs d'Europe. As Mentor of the Year 2022. And for the past two years with a digital foundation, for which he has already raised almost €100,000 to fight hunger and promote good nutrition through cycling tours and other events.

An idea to ponder

My “Put your money where your mouth is” list of six organizations that have impressed me with their work recently.

You can help with financing: either via my FO Foundation (then I will distribute it) or directly to the organizations on bcause.

I look forward to additions, gladly by email or directly on LinkedIn!

• Acker is an incredible success story. The charismatic founder Christoph Schmitz grew up on a farm himself. I met him in 2016 shortly after Acker (then Ackerdemia) was founded, when we supported him through Ashoka. To date, 400,000 children have experienced sustainable agriculture and nutrition with their own hands.

• Haferkater is the snack bar I look for at every train station: healthy, fast, sustainable. I also admire the startup's path from venture capital to growth and now through crowdfunding into steward-ownership. Through my small bcause Foundation, I am even invested in Haferkater and thus contribute with every porridge to the returns that I can then donate further.

• The Tafel Germany needs no introduction. It is everywhere. Unfortunately. And fortunately. I have also come to appreciate it at the Berlin station mission.

• The Humane League (and the other organizations of Anna Alex's Wild and Free Animal Fund) advocate for a diet that does not kill animals. No matter your moral stance on it, the carbon footprint alone provides enough reason to act.

• Kreuzberger Himmel is a special restaurant on Berlin's Yorckstraße, it is a place for the successful integration of refugees with the association Be an Angel eV.

• The Johannes King Foundation is one of my favorite examples of impact influencing. Restaurants are underestimated locations for meeting and driving collective impact for regional agriculture, conscious nutrition, and many other good causes.

PS My prize question last week, “Who is currently the biggest impact influencer on YouTube?”, was answered correctly by NO ONE. Here is the answer: Mr. Beast, aka Jimmy Donaldson. 414 million follow him. He started with videos of small cash gifts to those in need. Then everything just got bigger and bigger. Some of it absurdly large. He has donated over $25 million. Recently, he even became a food entrepreneur. → Does anyone have a contact for Mr. Beast for my podcast?