Community Foundations

Community Foundations

The Community Foundations activated and supported by Fondazione Cariplo represent Italy’s version of the eponymous foundations created in North America in the early 20^th century. However, they also form part of the long history of attention to social issues frequently seen in Italy. Specifically, Fondazione Cariplo has adapted the model imported from the United States by activating independent, autonomous bodies in the local areas under its jurisdiction, to disseminate further its support for smaller and less structured non-profit organisations, which often experience difficulties responding to the philanthropic initiatives proposed by the Foundation. Since 1999, it has created and continues to support 16 Community Foundations working in Lombardy and in the provinces of Novara and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola (one community foundation for each province, except for the Milan Metropolitan Area where three such Foundations operate).

The “Community Foundations” project is the largest and longest-lasting project led by Fondazione Cariplo: since 2019, over €580 million have gone to support Community Foundations and the local areas in which they operate.

Community Foundations have achieved a total capitalisation of approximately €308 million (as at 31/12/2023); they contribute every year to supporting over 3,000 projects in the area with annual grants of approximately €40 million awarded to non-profit organisations in their catchment areas.

For Giovanni Azzone, Fondazione Cariplo Chairman: “Community Foundations have reached maturity, just like a person does, at the age of 25. They have significant assets and are now acknowledged interlocutors. Local people, institutions and companies are aware of and put trust in them, which is the key factor for working together. They have conscientious professionals among the bodies’ members and among the practitioners and collaborators who combine what they do with an extra bit of spirit. A winning mix of managerial skills and sensitivity. Fondazione Cariplo relies on them, aware that it can count on a unique network that reaches even the most remote locations, according to an approach of listening and responding to needs, even of those who live in villages where there often seems to be little or nothing, but which actually have treasures of great value: the strength of relationships that keeps the world turning and makes things happen”.

The Community Foundations in the Fondazione Cariplo ‘system’:

• are autonomous, independent philanthropic institutions that aim to attract and aggregate bodies and resources to carry out initiatives of general interest to support a community (a province)
• address the needs of local communities by promoting the culture of giving and the participation of citizens, non-profit organisations, public bodies and private companies
• perform a role of ‘philanthropy mediator’: they collect resources (donations, grants, bequests); they stimulate and collect projects of general interest (via calls for proposals, working groups, co-design, etc.); they award grants (through calls, non-call projects, philanthropic funds); they evaluate the effect of the activities supported.

Community Foundations therefore represent infrastructure in the name of communities and can catalyse and connect resources and the needs of communities. They can also create alliances between donors – people, companies, informal groups and institutions – and non-profit organisations to carry out interventions aimed at responding to local priorities and at improving the well-being and quality of life of the relevant population.

Fondazione Cariplo has dedicated a specific ‘Observatory Handbook’ to Community Foundations, which explores the dynamics that have marked the establishment and evolution of these bodies. The publication identifies their specific characteristics and modus operandi, their most innovative activities and the future plans they are adopting to face the challenges of the future.Le Fondazioni di Comunità attivate e sostenute da Fondazione Cariplo rappresentano la declinazione italiana delle Community Foundation nate in Nord America all’inizio del ‘900, ma si innestano nella lunga storia di attenzione al sociale tipica della storia italiana. Fondazione Cariplo, in particolare, ha declinato il modello importato dagli Stati Uniti attivando sul territorio di propria competenza enti indipendenti e autonomi, capaci di rendere più capillare il sostegno di Fondazione Cariplo alle realtà non profit più piccole e meno strutturate, che spesso hanno difficoltà a rispondere alle iniziative filantropiche proposte da Fondazione Cariplo. A partire dal 1999 ha fatto nascere e tutt’ora sostiene 16 Fondazioni di Comunità attive sul territorio lombardo e nelle province di Novara e Verbano Cusio Ossola (una fondazione di comunità per ogni provincia, ad eccezione dell’Area Metropolitana milanese in cui operano tre Fondazioni di Comunità).