Year in Review 2025
Instead of talking about the fallout of inequality, in 2025 we placed our focus on the benefits of greater equality. And we invited our membership to come together, in all its diversity, to envision not only what a greater balance of power and justice could and should look like, but how it can actually be achieved.
Overview
Some issues are so huge that they touch on almost every aspect of philanthropic work.
Perhaps all work.
Like great monoliths, they cast vast shadows and are slow and difficult – but not impossible – to move. In 2025, we placed a special focus on the first of three of these – equality – to be followed in 2026 by the theme of climate and environment and in 2027 by the theme of democracy. These are not addressed in isolation one year at a time but rather as cross-cutting themes, and the emphasis is on finding the critical intersections between them.
Key takeaways
- Grappling with the theme of “Power and Equality: A Balancing Act”, more than 800 participants from Europe and around the world convened from 2-5 June in Lisbon for the Philea Forum 2025, hosted by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
- Members Day kicked off with an interactive session dedicated to the recently-released Philea publication “Philanthropy and Equality: A Framework for Sharing Power and Addressing Inequalities”.
- Matthias Scheffelmeier encouraged us to “be a megaphone for those without one, because they show us every day that this dominant, collective current narrative of a world where things are too late and cannot be fixed anymore is, in fact a lie, and instead they write the story of a planet that can heal and that can recover, and of a world that’s kinder, more caring, and more human…”
- Across our 14 thematic networks, more than 90 people from 40 organisations helped steer activities.
- With 90 representatives coming from 40 organisations, peer-learning became increasingly important to our work with funders and Philanthropy Infrastructure Organisations, helping them navigate a year defined by turbulence, heightened scrutiny and shifting geopolitical realities.
- We published 11 new full publications including a ‘Democracy Briefer for Funders: What’s Happening to European Democracy and What Funders Can Do About It‘ and ‘The Fabric of Giving 2025: Public-Benefit Foundation Data in Europe‘ .
- Alongside our members, we contributed to the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Civil Society Week 2025 at a critical time when civic space is facing mounting pressure.
- During EuroPhilantopics, Commissioner Lahbib joined a high-level session with foundations to review more strategic engagement with foundations and collaborate more with the European Commission around international development, media and civic space as well as research and innovation.
- This was another year of consolidating our community while continuing to grow, with 29 new Full Members and 2 new Associate Members – from 17 different countries and including 5 from central and eastern Europe – joining in 2025.
Contact
