Building bridges not walls: Philanthropy and policy join forces

We’ve closed the chapter on 2024, and opened a new one, filled so far with pages of hope, of goals and ambitions we aim to act upon in the 12 months ahead.

For Philea, last year’s chapter ended with EuroPhilantopics, a moment of reflection at the end of the super year of elections, and of new encounters with those who will lead on key agendas of relevance for philanthropy following the EU elections. It was a ray of light in darker days, as we took stock of the continued shrinking of civic space on the European continent and of a global agenda which is falling behind, with only 16% of the SDG targets on track for 2030. Despite the grim picture, close to 100 policymakers and sector representatives chose to identify common goals, share best practices and forge partnerships to address shared challenges collaboratively.  

“Philanthropy is about caring, sharing and daring. This makes the sector such an important part of our work to achieve prosperity. That’s one thing we share: Generosity in the public purpose.” Kerstin Jorna, European Commission.

Philanthropy representatives from the King Baudouin Foundation, ONCE Foundation and GivingTuesday reiterated that philanthropy is ready to step up its contribution to more pluralistic, just and resilient societies that centre people and planet. While we may grapple with increasing polarisation, voter apathy and democratic frustration, we are also seeing the emergence of a true philanthropy wave. As recognised by the European Commission, philanthropy is about people who care, people who give and people who share.  

“Philanthropy is a key partner to mobilise civil society and citizens.” Isabelle Le Galo, EESC.

If, across the philanthropy and public sectors, we are indeed working in the same direction, the gathering demonstrated avenues to explore for moving forward to a stronger collaboration: 

• The Commission’s DG GROW called upon the national levels to make sure the European Cross-border Association Statute becomes a reality, to alleviate the obstacles that still exist to the single market for common good
• The European Economic and Social Committee invited us to continue working together to raise the voice of civil society
• The Fundamental Rights Agency reminded us that to succeed in communicating about fundamental rights, we need to build coalitions
• The European Investment Bank shared a strong desire to increase collaboration, to tackle constraints to collaboration, and to join forces to build the ecosystem of impact investors  
• The European Investment Fund made it explicit that they would welcome a co-investment facility with philanthropy in line with the promise of the Social Economy Action Plan
• The European Commission DG INTPA reaffirmed the importance of working together as public and philanthropy also in low- and middle-income countries, avoiding scattered approaches
• And the closing panel confirmed that Public-Private-Philanthropy-Partnerships can be a gamechanger for people living in the most vulnerable circumstances  

“We need enabling legal environments, we need financial support, protection from online and offline threats and meaningful participation in order to achieve sustainability for civil society, including philanthropy.” Friso Roscam Abbing, FRA.

To fulfil our role, we need to have a seat at the table, and we need to work in a favourable operating environment for our sector – that’s why our Philanthropy Manifesto calls on the EU to address obstacles and barriers to philanthropic action. From foreign funding restrictions to administrative red tape, philanthropic organisations are challenged both at national and cross border level. In fact, barriers to cross border giving have been estimated to cost the sector around €100 million per year, money which we could otherwise invest in the just transitions citizens of Europe are asking for.

To address these challenges, our Manifesto invites the EU to: 

• EMPOWER philanthropy 
• FACILITATE cross-border philanthropy 
• ENGAGE with philanthropy 
• PARTNER with philanthropy for public good 

Second, and this is homework for us as a sector, we need to get better at telling our story. It’s about the love of humanity. The 186,000 foundations across the European continent are not a monolithic block, but a rich and diverse ecosystem. Nonetheless, this ecosystem represents around €647 billion in assets and endowments and €54 billion in charitable giving a year, invested in topics ranging from equality to climate to democracy and so much more in between.

From community foundations to family foundations and enterprise foundations – we cross over between civil society, social economy, public and private, using financial and non-financial resources to act as supporters, conveners, and catalysts. As investors in hope and servants to a better tomorrow, we are in the business of in building bridges: between communities and between the local level, European and global levels. We look forward to collaborating across sectors for a 2025 filled with hope.