Organisation

2021 Annual Report

The Anne Frank House organisation was founded on 3 May 1957, with Otto Frank as one of the founders. It had the dual aim of preserving Anne Frank’s hiding place and opening it up to the public, and of drawing worldwide attention to Anne’s life story.

The mission statement of the Anne Frank House

The Anne Frank House is an independent organisation dedicated to the preservation of the place where Anne Frank went into hiding and wrote her diary during the Second World War. The organisation brings the life story and the work of Anne Frank to the attention of as many people as possible worldwide, partly with the aim of raising awareness of the dangers of antisemitism, racism and discrimination and the importance of freedom, equal rights and democracy.

‘The organisation’s work is not limited to managing the House. It was set up to increase awareness of the events of the dark years of the Second World War and the persecution of the Jews and to fight discrimination, prejudice, and oppression in the world today.’
Otto Frank in an interview with Basler Magazin in 1979

Organisational changes

The corona pandemic has had major consequences for the Anne Frank House. In 2021 the museum was again closed for much of the year. Our organisation is mainly dependent on the income from the museum for its financing, and does not receive any ongoing government funding. We are grateful to the government for the support we have received in 2020 and 2021, but nevertheless shortfalls remain. The organisational changes that we announced in 2020 were implemented in 2021.

‘We have had to let go colleagues who have worked for the organisation with heart and soul for years. That was a painful process. We carried out the reorganisation process as carefully as possible. The employees who were made redundant had recourse to a good social plan.’
Ronald Leopold, executive director Anne Frank House

Board and organisation

The Anne Frank House adheres to the Governance Code for the Cultural Sector, which provides guidelines for the proper, responsible, and transparent governance of and by cultural institutions as well as guidelines for supervision of their governance. The code applies to all Dutch subsidised cultural institutions. Please refer to the appendix for a more detailed explanation of the way in which the Anne Frank House complies with the eight principles of the Governance Code for the Cultural Sector.

The museum is managed according to a Supervisory Board model, in which the Executive Board is responsible for managing the Anne Frank House. The Executive Board is appointed by the Supervisory Council. The Supervisory Council supervises the Executive Board’s course of action and provides advice.

Supervisory Council

The Supervisory Council supervises all aspects of the organisation. The report of the Supervisory Board on the way the Board fulfilled its role in 2021, as well as the items that were on the agenda for the Supervisory Board meeting, can be found on the website.

Executive Board

The Executive Board is responsible for managing the Anne Frank House. Ronald Leopold has been its Executive Director since 2011. He has temporarily also taken on the tasks of the managing director in his portfolio.

The Executive Board

Remuneration policy

The Anne Frank House has its own terms and conditions of employment and, for the most part, observes the Collective Labour Agreement (CAO) for museums. The Executive Board is paid in conformity with the Governance Code for the Cultural Sector. The members of the Supervisory Council and the Advisory Council are not paid.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The Anne Frank House values proper compliance with the GDPR. In our collaborations with other parties, for instance, we invariably use a so-called processing agreement drawn up in accordance with GDPR guidelines. Our compliance is periodically assessed by an external party. The Supervisory Board also receives a report about our compliance with the GDPR.

Inclusion and diversity

The Anne Frank House adheres to the Cultural Diversity Code. In view of the objects clause contained in the articles of association of the Anne Frank House and the House’s history, diversity and inclusion are essential values. Our recruitment policy was set up to ensure a diverse workforce.

Employee Council

The Employee Council represents the interests of the organisation and the employees of the Anne Frank House, and participates in discussions about proposed organisational developments. In 2021 seven employees of the Anne Frank House became members of the Employee Council. A range of points were dealt with in 2021, including the strategic reorientation and various issues concerning working conditions.

Partners

The Anne Frank House collaborates with long-standing partner organisations in Argentina, Germany, Great Britain, Austria, and the United States. They host the travelling Anne Frank exhibitions and organise the accompanying educational activities in their countries.

Our partners

Finance

The Anne Frank House does not receive ongoing government funding for the museum and largely depends on the revenues from the entrance fees.

For the funding of major museum renovations and educational projects, the organisation depends on charity funds, donations, and grant-giving bodies such as the European Union and the Dutch government.

Examples of project support

  • The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport has supported the development and implementation of educational projects in the Netherlands for teachers and trainee teachers, young people and police officers, and of educational activities in professional and amateur football. The Ministry also made it possible for an employee of the Anne Frank House to become a delegate of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
  • The European Commission supported the football chants project Changing the Chants and the Stories that Move 2.0 toolbox against discrimination. Changing the Chants was also supported by the Levi Lassen Foundation, and Stories that Move 2.0 by the Remembrance, Responsibility, Future Foundation (Stiftung Erinnering, Verantworung, Zukunft – EVZ).
  • The vfonds contributed to educational activities for teachers and young people as part of the Learning from the war programme.
  • The Anne Frank Youth Network received support from the Atlassion Foundation and the Dutch embassy in India.
  • The Dutch embassy in Colombia enabled the international travelling Anne Frank exhibition in Colombia, including placements and training for guides.
  • The VSBfonds supported the development and tour of the open-air version of the Anne Frank exhibition Let me be myself, and thanks to Netflix an educational film was created to accompany the exhibition.
  • The European Solidarity Corps (an EU programme, implemented in the Netherlands by the Netherlands Youth Institute) provided the Anne Frank House with three volunteers in the Educational Projects department.
  • The Cultuurfonds and the VSBfonds contributed to the creation of the web edition of all the manuscripts of Anne Frank.
  • The Mondriaan Fonds enabled the development and construction of an online knowledge bank: Anne’s World.
  • The Kickstart Cultuurfonds contributed to the development of new guided tours of the museum.
  • The Makaria Foundation enabled the replacement of the glass screens in Anne Frank’s room that protect the original pictures.
  • The Bookcase for Tolerance app and the accompanying campaign were devised and made voluntarily by Innocean Berlin, Media Monks, Massive Music, Hagens PR& Strategy, Johan Kramer, Ted Alkemade, Yvette de Witt and Sven Shrader.

VriendenLoterij

Since 2007, the Anne Frank House has been an annual beneficiary of the BankGiro Loterij, the cultural lottery of the Netherlands. On 15 August 2021 the BankGiro Loterij merged with the VriendenLoterij. All participants play together in one big lottery under the name VriendenLoterij.

The Anne Frank House received a cheque for the considerable sum of €266,559 from the VriendenLoterij as a contribution in 2021. Besides the fixed annual amount of €200,000 we received an extra contribution of €66,559 thanks to the participants who stated that they wanted to play to benefit the Anne Frank House.

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