Community foundations are well established in Germany. The participatory foundations see themselves as a central engine for civic engagement. The community foundations’ website shows that the 435 community foundations currently in existence are constantly expanding their endowment capital. They see themselves as a modern, participatory form of foundation. Why is this model not catching on in Switzerland? The Philanthropist spoke to Nils Güggi, Director of the Swiss Federal Supervisory Board for Foundations, and Professor Georg Schnurbein, Director of the Center for Philanthropy Studies (CEPS) in Basel.
Participatory foundations with a growing impact
According to the Alliance of Community Foundations in Germany, the number of community foundations in Germany is growing. Around 400,000 people are currently actively involved in 435 community foundations with time, money and ideas. The foundation’s capital amounts to 684 million euros, and the amount of funding it has received since 1996 is 338 million euros. Cooperative Volksbanks and banks play a key role. They support 90 percent of German community foundations financially and have also actively helped to set up foundations.
Are there community foundations in Switzerland?
Community foundations would also be legally possible in Switzerland. Nils Güggi, Director of the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations, points out: “Swiss foundation law offers flexible options for setting up local foundations that pursue different charitable purposes.” According to Güggi, the fact that the form of the community foundation has not emerged in Switzerland is due to the existing structures of civil society involvement, which already cover many of the functions of community foundations in Germany. “We have an enormously high density of foundations in Switzerland and proven alternatives such as charitable associations, local societies or cooperatives,” explains Güggi. Georg von Schnurbein from CEPS Basel sees the historical continuity in Switzerland as a decisive factor: “Foundation-like structures such as guilds, social funds and local aid societies have been passed down through generations and characterize the commitment. There was never a need to reinvent the wheel.”
Social and political characteristics
In Germany, community foundations are often used as a “local corrective” to counterbalance the influence of higher-level political bodies. Municipalities with limited financial scope in particular use community foundations to make local decisions close to the grassroots. Switzerland, on the other hand, has a different starting point: thanks to the financial autonomy of the municipalities and direct democracy, this need hardly arises, according to Schnurbein. He says: “Citizens already have a strong say, which is why community foundations cannot play the same role here.”
In addition, the ease with which people can set up their own foundations in Switzerland has a similar function to community foundations in Germany. According to Schnurbein, umbrella foundations such as the Lebensraum Aargau Foundation or the ZKB Foundation have already created structures that act like community foundations at a local level.
Is the future community-based philanthropy?
Looking to the future, it seems unlikely that community foundations will become widely established in Switzerland, but hybrid forms of philanthropy could become more popular. “Cooperation between foundations, civil society and private actors is a potential that could grow,” says Güggi. According to Schnurbein, however, this also depends on possible changes on the part of the state. In recent decades, the state has taken on many tasks that were once funded philanthropically, which is why this solidarity-based form of mutual aid is less relevant today. “If the state withdraws from certain social tasks, new models of engagement will emerge. Community-oriented philanthropy has always played a role historically, even before the development of the social welfare state.” However, the social conditions for this must first be created. Visibility and social appreciation of such models could be a decisive factor.
It remains exciting
In Germany, community foundations are regarded as a dynamic and successful form of local involvement. In Switzerland, on the other hand, various culturally and historically evolved structures as well as the political autonomy of municipalities with far-reaching financial powers fill the space that community foundations occupy in Germany. What the future will bring remains to be seen. If social and governmental conditions change, new forms of community-oriented philanthropy could emerge, whether in the form of community foundations or other hybrid structures.
