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The transparent daycare center: Open. Accountable. Traceable.

We stand for transparent, fair, and responsible management – because trust is built through openness. As a non-profit organization, we are obliged not only to authorities but also to parents, employees, and the public to account for our work and the use of funds.

Our Approach

At rainbowtrekkers, we understand transparency as a lived value. We want to make visible how we work, how we are financed, and the social value we create. Therefore, we disclose our structures, funding sources, and activity reports – voluntarily and beyond legal requirements. Our goal: to build trust and take responsibility.

Why Transparency is Important

Civil society organizations like ours operate in the public sphere and are partly financed by public funds. We believe that the people who entrust their children to us – and the citizens whose tax money flows into our work – have a right to know how we fulfill this responsibility. For us, transparency is not a bureaucratic act, but an expression of an open and democratic attitude.

Our Commitment

We adhere to the standards of the Transparent Civil Society Initiative and regularly publish:
  • Information on organizational structure and non-profit status
  • Activity reports, balance sheets, and proof of fund utilization
  • Information on social affiliations and grants
You can find these documents in the download section below.
To the website of the Transparent Civil Society Initiative

What is the Transparent Civil Society Initiative?

The Transparent Civil Society Initiative (ITZ) is an association of numerous organizations from the non-profit sector in Germany. Its goal is to create more openness and traceability in the non-profit sector through voluntary self-commitment.

Participating organizations commit to making ten central pieces of information publicly accessible – including statutes, goals, personnel structure, origin, and use of funds. By participating in the ITZ, we commit to these standards and demonstrate: Transparency is a lived responsibility for us.

Disclosure & Downloads

1. Name, Registered Office, Address, and Year of Foundation

rainbowtrekkers Kita gGmbH
Auf der Vierzig 2
50859 Cologne

Cologne District Court HRB 73661

The year of foundation was 2011. Predecessor organizations were rainbowtrekkers Tagespflegestelle (2006 to 2008) and rainbowtrekkers Joel und Shirley Mertens GmbH (2008-2012). In summer 2012, a business transfer occurred from the latter non-charitable GmbH to the charitable rainbowtrekkers Kita gGmbH.

2. Documents

3. Non-profit Status

4. Name and Function of Decision-Makers

At Company Level

Joel Mertens, Shareholder and Managing Director

At Management and Facility Level

Management Meeting (Facility Management + HR + Managing Director)

5. Accountability Reports

Accountability reports summarize what an organization has done and achieved over the course of a year. They provide an overview of important projects, goals, developments, and show how the funds used were translated into concrete work.

6. Personnel Structure

  • Overhead: One full-time position each for Management, HR, Secretariat.
  • Active pedagogical, permanent employees: approx. 40 full-time equivalents
  • Volunteers: Yes
  • Civil/Voluntary Service Providers: No
  • Freelancers: Yes
  • Volunteers (Parent Councils, Reading Mentors): 32 people

7. Origin of Funds

“Origin of Funds” describes where an organization’s financial resources come from – for example, public subsidies, parent contributions, donations, or other income. Here, we transparently show the sources of the money used for the operation and projects of our daycare centers.

  • Membership Fees: No
  • Income from Own Assets: No
  • Income from Commercial Operations: No
  • Unrestricted Donations from Citizens: Occasionally to a very small extent
  • Unrestricted Donations from Companies: No
  • Restricted Donations from Citizens: Occasionally to a very small extent
  • Restricted Donations from Companies: No
  • Funds from Public Collections: No
  • Unrestricted Funds of Regulated Origin: No
  • Grants from Support Associations: Yes (from 08/2020)
  • Grants from Foundations: No
  • Funds from Other Civil Society Organizations: No
  • Corporate Sponsoring: No
  • Service Fees from Private Recipients: Yes, Parent Contributions (until 07/2020)
  • Service Fees from Public Bodies: No
  • Public Subsidies: Yes (Kibiz funds)

8. Use of Funds

Balance Sheets

Proof of Fund Utilization

  • Investitionskosten Kita Junkersdorf 2025 (in Arbeit)
  • Investitionskosten Kita Lindenthal 2023 (in Prüfung)

The City of Cologne does not issue audit certificates for the proper expenditure of operating cost subsidies. Furthermore, we prepare proof of fund utilization for integration services for children with disabilities. Reasons of personal data protection prevent publication here.

9. Social Affiliations with Third Parties

rainbowtrekkers Kita gGmbH is a member of:

Deutscher Kitaverband
Federal Association of Independent Daycare Providers e.V.
Französische Straße 12
10117 Berlin
www.deutscher-kitaverband.de

Förderverein Frühe Bildung in der Kita e.V.
in the North Rhine-Westphalia State Association
of the German Daycare Association
Grafenberger Allee 277-287
40237 Düsseldorf

Deutscher Kinderschutzbund Local Chapter Cologne e.V.
Bonner Straße 151
50968 Cologne
www.kinderschutzbund-koeln.de

10. Names of Legal Entities whose Annual Contribution Exceeds Ten Percent of Total Annual Income

City of Cologne