Welcome to Philanthropy in Europe magazine

Access new and previously unpublished data and research on Europe’s leading foundations, companies and individual philanthropists.

Highlights include annual rankings and comparison of Europe and America’s biggest spending foundations and corporate foundations; analysis of the corporate giving of Europe’s wealthiest public companies; in-depth profiles of Europe’s wealthiest individuals; and numerous special features, including a focus on investment bankers and their social commitment.

Current subscribers include: Watson Wyatt, UBS Philanthropy Services, Harvard Business School, Atlantic Philanthropies, World Health Organisation, International Finance Corporation, Starr Foundation, McKinsey & Co, World Vision International, London Business School and many more...

Crisis, What crisis?

European foundation giving soars over the last three years

OK, so these figures might not yet show the true extent of the global credit crunch on European foundation giving, given the fact that financial reporting lags behind real time, but these foundations have in the main shown a huge rise in giving over the last three years. Since the last PiE listing of Europe’s top givers in 2006, the giving of the top 50 foundations has risen from €4.4 billion to virtually €6.3 billion according to the most recent figures available. The top ten spending foundations alone accounted for nearly €3.9 billion of the total, compared to around €2.5 billion in 2006.

There are no real changes at the top, excepting the Fondazione Cariplo, one of Italy’s infamous banking foundations, which has seen its expenditure plummet in just three years from €155.9 million in 2005 to a relatively meagre €43 million in 2008. The UK’s Wellcome Trust still sits comfortably at the summit of the table, with expenditure rising by the year and today hitting just under €1 billion. Two other foundations have hit the plus €500 million mark: Ireland’s Atlantic Philanthropies (at €588 million) and Spain’s Fundacion La Caixa (€550 million) – an impressive rise where  any financial dip in the markets has clearly yet to have materialised.

The listing is dominated by Germany and the UK, who together contribute just over 50 per cent of the 75 foundations listed. This is partly due perhaps to disclosure requirements in Germany and the UK, but no doubt also due to the philanthropic legacy in these two countries. [read more...]

Sample Articles

Coming out of the cold - Iceland's first billionaire Biörgólfur Thor Björgólfsson
Historic donation raises questions of accountability
Spanish Gold

Copyright Karina Holly