Data and the future of philanthropy: Romania in the Fabric of Giving 2025

Philanthropy plays a crucial role in addressing today’s most pressing challenges, from climate change to social inequality. But to be truly effective, it needs more than good intention, it needs solid data. That’s the central message of The Fabric of Giving 2025, Philea’s latest report on the philanthropic landscape across Europe, covering 34 countries. For Romania, this report offers both a reflection of where we stand and a guide to where we could go.

Romania’s philanthropic sector is young but steadily growing. Inheriting no philanthropic organisations from communism, now the country is home to over 4,000 active foundations, as presented in the report. However, additional data on their assets and expenditures is not included, due to the difficulty of distinguishing public-benefit foundations from other types. As in other Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, the vast majority of Romanian foundations operate without endowments and rely on a mix of funding sources, including government grants, international support, and local donations (individual and corporate). Still, much of this information remains anecdotal, drawn primarily from our extensive experience in the country. Unfortunately, although public reports include a wealth of data, only a small fraction is usable for understanding the development of the field.

The lack of comprehensive data makes it difficult to fully understand the true size, scope and impact of Romania’s philanthropic sector. Philanthropy is about generosity, but also about infrastructure, organisations and systems whose effectiveness is best demonstrated through evidence. Data helps us understand who is giving, how much, to whom and with what results. It reveals gaps, highlights trends and informs smarter strategies. For policymakers, it’s the basis for drafting supportive legislation. For funders, it serves as a compass for the context in which they operate and a measure of effective giving. And for civil society, it plays an essential role in advocacy, fundraising and accountability. Without data, we are left navigating a foggy landscape.

The path forward requires a collective effort. Foundations, civil society organisations, public institutions and academia all have a role to play in building a more complete picture of the field. This means making data more accessible, supporting research that tracks the sector’s development, creating open platforms for sharing knowledge and nurturing the skills needed to interpret data and extract meaningful conclusions.

Philea’s work through The Fabric of Giving is a valuable starting point. By providing a European benchmark, it invites Romanian stakeholders to reflect, compare and aspire. In the end, this is not just about numbers, it’s about making things work. For philanthropy to be a true force for social good in Romania, we need to know where we stand and what we hope for.

This Opinion Piece is part of a series commissioned to accompany the Philea report ‘The Fabric of Giving 2025: Public-Benefit Foundation Data in Europe’. The Fabric of Giving 2025 report reveals that Europe has 175,000 foundations with assets totalling €516 billion and annual expenditures of €76 billion, highlighting the sector’s significant contribution to societal developments.

Due to a discrepancy in the initially reported data on Romanian public-benefit foundations, further context was added to fully describe the sector’s data. As a result, Roxana Vitan, Suzana Dobre, Lev Fejes and Stefania Andersen kindly agreed to write the explainer.