Yes @tobie - there are rules about donations for nonprofits in Germany, and actually every European country handles them slightly differently. I feel that this is important to remember. (Also, I cannot recommend setting up a non-profit in Germany.)
In Germany there's like four (or so) classes of activity within a non-profit (links in German):
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Ideal (like donations, membership fees, fulfils the charter of the non-profit)
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Chartered operations (doing the things that the company exists to do)
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Taxable activity (the non-profit is selling something tangible, not directly inline with their explicit charter, at risk of losing non-profit status)
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Sponsoring (if there is ANY kickback, even a link on a website attached to a logo, it is a taxable activity)
