Philanthropy in Europe magazine: Who�s In and Who�s Out :: PNNOnline :: the nonprofit news and information resource

Philanthropy in Europe magazine: Who�s In and Who�s Out :: PNNOnline :: the nonprofit news and information resource: "Philanthropy in Europe magazine: Who�s In and Who�s Out
Posted by: laurakujawski on Thursday, February 10, 2005
Topic PNN Worldwide
Philanthropy in Europe have published its second annual ranking of Europe�s biggest foundations, ranking the top 50 by grant expenditure and the top 20 by assets. Dominated by foundations from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK, there are however a further eight countries represented in the listing: Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
The ranking shows that the Wellcome Trust is still by far the biggest spender amongst European foundations, with giving rising to �806 million in 2003 up from over �700 million in 2003, despite assets falls of approximately �8.8 billion over the last four years, followed by Ireland�s Atlantic Philanthropies, founded in 1982 by Irish American Charles F. Feeney.


Europe vs America


The transatlantic gap is closing. In 2003, Europe�s top 50 foundations gave away over �3.8 billion in 2002, compared to grants from America�s biggest foundations of �6.4 billion. However, Europe�s foundations are a great deal more international in their giving than their American counterparts, in general spreading their grants across European and international borders. In contrast, of the 40 top American foundations, only 14 made any grants outside the US. Even the Italian banking foundations, traditionally parochial by statute in their giving, are beginning to extend their giving beyond regional or national borders. Italy�s oldest and wealthiest banking foundation, the Fondazione Mon"