The German American National Congress (also known as DANK) is a national German-American nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. DANK was established to unite Americans of Germanic descent

German American

German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...

, while preserving their heritage and traditions on a local and national level. With over 30 chapters and more than 100 associated members throughout the country, DANK is the largest organization of German-Americans. DANK was founded in 1959; more than a half-century later, it still actively unites German-Americans across the United States.

Cooperation

Throughout its history the German American National Congress has had close relationships with U.S. governmental and civic bodies including the White House, the German Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, German consulates, and a number of other German organizations. In 1987 DANK was involved in the adoption of October 6 as German-American Day

German-American Day

German-American Day is a holiday in the United States, observed annually on October 6. The holiday, which celebrates German American heritage, commemorates the date in 1683 when 13 German families from Krefeld near the Rhine landed in Philadelphia. These families subsequently founded Germantown,...

, which is observed on a national level.

German-American Journal

The German-American Journal is the official newsleter of DANK, and is published bimonthly. At the start of DANK in 1959 the newspaper consisted of six pages, was issued every three weeks, and was written almost entirely in German. As of 2011, the paper is 16 pages and written primarily in English (articles written in German are often accompanied by an English translation or summary). Recurring topics in the Journal include current events, food and entertainment, reviews, organization news and other articles of interest to German-Americans. Members of DANK automatically receive a copy of the newspaper as part of their membership, and non-members may purchase an annual subscription.

National website

Launched in the late 1990s, DANK's website (dank.org) was one of the early cultural organizations to gain a foothold on the World Wide Web

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...

. It served as a means of attracting new members to the organization by offering information on the German American National Congress. In February 2009, the website underwent its first major upgrade of its appearance and content to appeal to the younger generation of German-Americans. Not only can people learn about the organization (as they could in the past), they can now interact by participating in a discussion forum, Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 and the national president's blog

Blog

A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...

.

Organizational structure

DANK is made up of chapters throughout the United States, which are divided into three regions: Regions One through Three. Along with its chapters, DANK has its national headquarters (DANK National) located in Lincoln Square

Lincoln Square, Chicago

Lincoln Square, located on the North Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois, is one of 77 well-defined Chicago community areas. Greater Lincoln Square encompasses the smaller neighborhoods of Ravenswood Manor, Ravenswood Gardens, Ravenswood, Bowmanville, Budlong Woods and Lincoln Square...

, Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. On the national and chapter level there are board-member positions which aid in keeping the organization running, and are responsible for organizing events and activities which aim to unite people of German-American descent.

National executive board

Name	Position
William Fuchs	National President
Erich Wittmann	First Vice-President
Donna Lippert	Second Vice-President
Maria Thompson	Treasurer
Beverly Pochatko	Secretary

List of chapters

State	Chapter name
Arizona	Phoenix
California	Woodside (King's Mountain)
Iowa	Quad-Cities
Illinois	German American Cultural Center
Illinois	Frankfort Mokena German Heritage Center
Illinois	Chicago-West
Illinois	Decatur
Illinois	Fox Valley
Illinois	Lake County
Illinois	Northern Suburbs
Illinois	Peoria
Illinois	Springfield
Indiana	Indianapolis
Indiana	La Porte
Indiana	LaFayette
Indiana	South Bend
Michigan	Benton Harbor
New Jersey	Pascack Valley
Ohio	Cleveland
Ohio	Columbus
Pennsylvania	The German Heritage Society
Pennsylvania	New Castle
Pennsylvania	Erie
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia
Pennsylvania	German American Heritage Society of Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania	Mason-Dixon (Subchapter of Pittsburgh)
Pennsylvania	Laurel Highlands (Subchapter of Pittsburgh)
Washington D.C.	Washington D.C.
Wisconsin	Janesville
Wisconsin	Milwaukee