Are European Foundations Making Enough of a Difference? EFC to Embed This Inquiry in Their Work

On May 15, 2014, a session entitled “Sea Change or Hard to See Change – Are Foundations Making Enough of a Difference?” was presented in Sarajevo, organized as part of the EFC Annual General Assembly and Conference. Foundations in Europe seem to vary greatly on the charity to social change spectrum. But, in one way or another, do all foundations aspire to create sustainable change? Should they? This highly interactive session examined how foundations look at themselves and will consider the question: ‘Do we understand ourselves to be change makers?’ This is not evident and is often the subject of heated debate. Even those who do see themselves as change makers seem challenged by foundations’ relatively insignificant position vis-à-vis markets and governments.

The session was based upon a survey of EFC members, and examined attitudes and practices surrounding the willingness and ability of foundations to create change in society. We are now pleased to follow up with the survey results, as well as the scripts from our two dramatic endeavours: “Waiting for Do Good” and “Job Interviews at the Do GoodFoundation.”

Sea Change was the fourth in a series of workshops organized by a team of organisations which includes the Bernard van Leer Foundation, Fondazione Cariplo, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo, Global Fund for Community Foundations, Working Group on Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace and Stichting Fonds 1818. Each of the four workshops has been an attempt to better understand the common attributes of foundations active in Europe – their attitudes, practices and beliefs about the role they play in society. Previous workshops explored foundations attitudes and practices towards evaluation and impact; risk; and what it means to do great work. In the coming months, the EFC Secretariat will be working to embed this work, and to build from the results of these four dynamic session, into core EFC activities. This may take the form of workshops, webinars, etc. to share the nuanced knowledge that has already been built up.

We hope that you continue to engage with work via the EFC and other organisations that part of this team. We will be looking for your support in moving this work forward!