Words by Smiley Team
Image: Henry Wellcome and William Duncan, Metlakaht, Wellcome Collection, Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Dating all the way back to medieval times, charitable foundations in Europe “are rooted in a rich past”, as claimed by editors Norine MacDonald and Luc Tayart de Borms in their book on European philanthropy. To pay tribute to some of the major institutions building on this tradition today, we created the following list of the top philanthropic foundations from different countries, channeling corporate funds into causes for social and environmental good.
Dating even further back, another of Europe’s wealthiest charitable foundations is The Wellcome Trust, which funds research and campaigns to improve public health. Originally funded by the pharmaceutical entrepreneur Henry Wellcome, the foundation continued to run after his death on income from his pharmaceutical company, Wellcome Plc. Since selling the company, the trust has sourced its funds from investment in a range of large corporations around the world.
La Caxia Foundation, Spain
The Spanish banking foundation, La Caxia Foundation is Europe’s second most impactful foundation, funding initiatives across a broad range of areas including education, culture and social transformation. In 2020 alone it helped communities through the pandemic, collecting millions of euros to support food banks, creating thousands of jobs and funding social care, housing and psychological support.
Fondazione Cariplo, Italy
The Fondazione Cariplo is a charitable foundation created under Italy’s 1990 law that required savings banks to divide into not-for-profit foundations and commercial banks. It offers grants for education, the arts, heritage, environment, health, social services and economic development.
Fondation de France, France
Inspired by the American model of private sponsorship, the Fondation de France was established in 1969 to promote benevolent initiatives in the public sector. Leading the way for French philanthropy, the foundation became a testing ground for ways of supporting initiatives driving positive change. Today it connects donors and philanthropists with a broad range of causes for them to support.
INGKA Foundation, Denmark
Established in 1982, the INGKA Foundation is one of the largest charitable foundations in the world. Its story starts in the mid-20th century, when IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad wanted to support “the many people”. It funds the IKEA Foundation, which helps children and families around the world to thrive while caring for the planet. All its endeavours are possible thanks to funds from the INGKA Group, which runs IKEA’s corporate activities.
