Individual founders ranked at the top of the list
The EFC Research Task Force 2003 survey of foundations in EU countries indicated that independent foundations are by far the most common type, ranging from over 50% in Sweden to over 90% in Germany, Italy and the UK. These are usually set up by individuals, families, and private institutions e.g. associations.
The large majority of foundations are established by an individual from his/her personal wealth, or by a joint initiative of several individuals - 73% of foundations in Belgium, and 46% in France in 2001 respectively. Individuals have accounted for 65% of foundations’ founders in Germany since the 1950s[1].
Few data are available on gender issues at a European level. Findings from national surveys have shown that men often form the majority of foundations' founders. This is the case for France (56%). One would think that foundations’ individual founders tend to be middle-aged senior executives. Women philanthropists and new wealth donors may gradually change what is often considered as a common pattern. They include information, communications & high tech people. They are said to have a different approach to giving, seek a high engagement in their philanthropic endeavours and have tangible impact. A number of new donors want to give while they are alive and where they set up a foundation; it may be designed to “spend out” the endowment over a specific number of years.
Private institutions and families as key initiators
Private institutions are important initiators of foundations. In Sweden the so-called civil society foundations, which were set up by non-profit and voluntary organisations, cover 16,5 % of the foundation sector; associations set up 16% of the total number of foundations in France.
Family foundations are also very common in the field, in particular in the UK where they represented 42% of the top 500 Grantmaking Trusts in 2004[2] and 11% of the field in France in 2001.
Public authorities and the business sector come next
Governmentally-linked foundations can be found in most countries. They range from under 4% in Italy and Germany, 6% in France, over 10% in Finland, and 16% to 19% in Sweden and Belgium. Local, regional, national or supranational governmental bodies provide initial capital or make grants to the foundation on a periodic, usually annual, basis. Once created, these foundations may obtain additional funds from non-governmental sources, but they rely primarily on governmental funding. The number of public-origin foundations has grown over the past years in specific fields including research activities. This is the case with the creation of wage-earner fund foundations in Sweden in the early 1990s and university foundations[3].
In certain cases, these public-origin foundations were created by inter-governmental agreements, such as the Anglo-German Foundation and the Fondation Entente Franco-Allemande. A supranational example is the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions in Dublin.
Corporate foundations would form the fifth most important category. They can be found in most European countries. They cover over 7% of the sector in France and Sweden[4], almost 6% in Finland, some 3% in Italy, and 4,6% of the top 500 Grantmaking Trusts in the UK.
They can consist of foundations, which are set up by companies and receive annual contributions for the company to operate (this is the case of most corporate foundations in France). The foundation depends on the annual gifts from the company for funds that it will, in turn, distribute.
A distinct feature of the European scenery is the second type of corporate-related foundation, known as “foundations with corporate interests” which owns the company, or holds the majority of shares of the company stock. Following the decision, or in other cases, the will of the company founder/family, the foundation becomes the sole or major owner of the company with or without voting rights. Such foundations are well-known in Northern Europe but can be found across the EU including in Denmark (Carlsberg Fondet, Lundbeck Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation), in Spain (Fundación MAPFRE) or in the Netherlands, for instance the Stichting Ingka Foundation, a Dutch-registered foundation that became the new owner of the IKEA Group after its formation in 1982.
Community “multi-founders” foundations
Finally a growing number of “multi-founders” foundations can be identified across the EU with the development of community foundations, which support activities within a specific geographic area (city, region). There were 183 in 2004[5].
Foundations created by law are also an important characteristic of foundations' development in Europe. Hence in Italy, the Amato Law of 1990 set up some 90 “foundations of banking origin”. They represent less than 3% of the total number of foundations, but their assets amount to some 37 billion euros out of 43.5 billion for the whole sector in Italy.[6]
Other founding bodies include confessional groups and the church, which are at the origin of the creation of a sizeable share of foundations in some EU countries, e.g. 8,5% of the sector in Sweden.
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[1] Stiftungen & Stifter in Dekaden 1951 bis 2004, Verzeichnis Deutscher Stiftungen 2005- Bundesverband für Deutscher Stiftungen e.V.
[2] Charity Trends 2005, Charities Aid Foundation
[3] "The Swedish Foundation Sector, Its Size, Scope and Structure in the Early 21st Century" January 2004 by Filip Wijkström & Stefan Einarsson of the Stockholm School of Economics.
[4] Includes autonomous and “attached” administration foundations
[5] See Community Philanthropy Watch
[6] See report by Alessandro Monteverdi, Centro di Documentazione