Thematic areas of interest

Data on areas of interest were provided in two ways and reflect either the amount of spending on each area of interest or the number of foundations interested in each area. Both types of data are represented in figure 7 below.

The overview of expenditure per area of interest for a sample of 36,717 foundations in seven EU countries shows that foundations spend most in health and social services. The latter is strongly supported by foundations from France (36% of all their support) and The Netherlands (31%). French foundations direct the majority of their support to health (49% of all their support). In The Netherlands foundations focus strongly on international relations and development (45%). The strongest support for employment comes from Belgian foundations. Swedish foundations mainly support science (48%).

The overview of the main areas of interest in decreasing order of interest for a sample of 9,380 foundations in six EU countries shows that most foundations support arts and culture, followed by social services (36% in Germany), education and initial training (29% in Slovakia) and science (15% in Spain).

 Geographic areas of interest

Data on geographic areas of interest were provided in two ways and reflect either the amount of spending, or the number of foundations interested, in each geographic area of interest. Both types of data are represented in figure 8 below. Both analysis of geographic areas of interest among six countries reveals that funders mostly support activities at local and national level. Cross-border support is most often given to other EU countries.