Public- benefit foundations are purpose-driven, asset-based, independent and separately-constituted, non-profit bodies. Foundations focus on areas ranging from social services, health and education, to science and the environment, and arts and culture. Foundations have established reliable sources of income, which enable them to plan and carry out work over the long term. Increasingly, foundations are cooperating across borders on issues and projects which directly benefit European citizens and further the European public good, and are therefore key to developing a citizens’ Europe.
The foundation sector in Europe is growing dynamically and is gradually achieving a significant economic footprint. There are 110,000 public-benefit foundations (almost 4 foundations per 10,000 people) located in the European Union. Some 43% of these foundations were set up as recently as the early 1990s. It is estimated that in 2006 one public benefit foundation was created per day in Spain and two per day in Germany. Foundations spend between €83 billion and €150 billion annually, over twice as much as the US foundation sector. Foundations are also big employers, providing direct full-time employment to between 750,000 to 1 million people in the EU. If you want to know more about our members, go to the Membership page.
Documenting the work and impact of foundations across Europe is essential to better understand and promote their social utility. Through the former EFC Research Task Force, the Centre has produced a comparative map of the foundation sector in the European Union. The work was carried out with the cooperation of several national partners collecting data at national level, which was then integrated into a European perspective. This initiative has received special support from the King Baudouin Foundation.
Additionally the task force has compiled generic information on foundations' practices and operating frameworks, in several topics.