Number of Registered Public Benefit Foundations in Europe Exceeds 147,000

by Lawrence T. McGill, Ph.D., Foundation Center, 1 October 2016

New data compiled by the Donors and Foundations Networks in Europe (DAFNE) and analysed by Foundation Center (New York) indicates that there are more than 147,000 registered “public benefit foundations” in Europe, with combined annual expenditures of nearly 60 billion euro. These figures are based on the latest available data from 24 European countries in the DAFNE network, including 18 European Union members. 1 This report follows on and updates information published by DAFNE a year ago. The 2015 report included data from 22 DAFNE countries. With the addition of information from Austria and Croatia, this year’s report includes data from 24 countries. Data for ten countries included in last year’s report – Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey – have been updated or adjusted based on new information that has become available since last year. 2 Data for the other 12 countries remains unchanged from last year.

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