The state (and future) of the community foundation field in Europe

Foresight offers a way to imagine alternative futures together with communities, identify emerging local risks and opportunities early and build strategies that strengthen resilience in the face of both global and local shifts. ECFI has applied futures thinking to its 2026 state of the field assessment. Rather than present a static analysis the report considers how this dynamic and growing field can contribute to shaping futures. The Futures Triangle framework is used to structure the report which explores the Pull of the Future, the Push of the Present and the Weight of the Past.

The report shows how community foundations bring a richly diverse, place-based, dynamic and creative dimension to the European philanthropy ecosystem. As locally-rooted philanthropic institutions they offer a distinctive institutional form and approach mobilising people, knowledge and financial capital and deploying these resources in a specific geographical area. Above all, they have ‘skin in the game’ and ‘staying power’, and are committed to building cohesive, resilient communities.

However, context is everything in community foundation development. Funding cuts, including the withdrawal of USAID support, shrinking civic space and increasingly hostile regulatory environments have taken a toll. Across Europe, albeit to different degrees, communities are faced with targeted misinformation, rising polarisation and deepening inequalities. Against this backdrop, and operating under intense pressure, often with fewer resources and greater scrutiny, community foundations need to double down on their role as anchors of democratic resilience. The sense of solidarity and shared endeavour across the movement feels, nevertheless, stronger than ever. Increasingly, community foundations are stepping beyond grantmaking to convene, connect and help communities shape their own responses to structural challenges. Three key issues are highlighted in the report:

Importance of place

There is a growing appreciation that place and context matter, and that citizen engagement and participative approaches are conducive to more effective and more democratic philanthropy at local level. Place is where macro and micro systems (and others between) collide. Irrespective of the geographic scale of operation there is a coherent sense of place as a meaningful space that people identify with and/or belong to.

From social capital to systems change

Their investment is not only financial but also yields dividends in respect of bonding, bridging and linking social capital, that combine to make systems change possible. Through applying a place-based, holistic and long-term approach, community foundations are well positioned to understand the dynamics and interdependencies that are unique to their locality and to support the kind of deep, systemic change many communities need today. The report draws on evidence of community foundations demonstrating their potential to present themselves as more than transaction agents but as relationship builders and catalysts.

Here for now and the future

Community foundations bring the financial and institutional stability needed to move beyond ‘first aid’ responses to crises. They can support medium and long-term solutions that address root causes. This temporal dimension encourages future-oriented thinking, gives communities a stake in shaping their own future, and builds cooperation around a shared vision. Their local embeddedness and long-term presence enable community foundations to hold space for connection, creativity and shared action. They offer continuity where other institutions have weakened, respond with flexibility where systems are rigid and build bridges where divisions run deep.

In exploring the three dimensions of the Futures Triangle Dr. Hanna Stähle Head of Foresight and Innovation at Philea, suggests community philanthropy, albeit imperfect, holds the key to the future. Franz Prüller, Vice-President of the Austrian Association of Charitable Foundations and Advisor to the Board of ERSTE Foundation, reflects on the current much-needed contribution to social coherence, democratic renewal and human interaction for the public benefit in a BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, Incomprehensible) world. Ivan Blažević, Programme Manager at the European Fund for the Balkans, highlights that while the weight of the past is real, it does not need to define the future.

In response, ECFI presents how community foundations are acknowledging and understanding the pull of the future, addressing the push of the present, and living with the weight of the past.

It wouldn’t however be a ‘State of the Field’ without the presentation of field data. ECFI has mapped 829 active community foundations in 28 European countries (and a further 66 which appear to be currently inactive or do not wish to be listed). In the last year an additional 25 community foundations were established across ten countries, including the first ever in Austria and Albania. There are 16 more in development but not yet formally legally established. In addition, across Europe there are some 38 organisations that play an essential role providing assistance in start-up and on-going development.