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 Anne Frank House is an independent organisation that manages the place where Anne Frank lived in hiding during the Second World War, and where she wrote her diary. The organisation aims to achieve global awareness of Anne Frank’s life story and her work in an effort to encourage people to reflect on 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.’
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.’
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.