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A foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations. Foundations may also and often have charitable purposes. This type of nonprofit organisation may either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the sole source of funding for their own charitable activities.

Contents 1 Foundations in Civil Law 1.1 Italy 1.2 Netherlands 1.3 Spain 1.4 Sweden 2 Foundations in Common Law 2.1 Canada 2.2 England 2.3 Ireland 2.4 States of Jersey 2.5 USA 3 See also 4 Further reading 5 Further listening 6 External links

The term "foundation," in general, is used to describe a distinct legal entity.

Foundations as legal structures (legal entities) and/or legal persons (legal personality), may have a diversity of forms and may follow diverse regulations depending on the jurisdiction where they are created.

In some jurisdictions, a foundation may acquire its legal personality when it is entered in a public registry, while in other countries a foundation may acquire legal personality by the mere action of creation through a required document. Unlike a company, foundations have no shareholders, though they may have a board, an assembly and voting members. A foundation may hold assets in its own name for the purposes set out in its constitutive documents, and its administration and operation are carried out in accordance with its statutes or articles of association rather than fiduciary principles. The foundation has a distinct patrimony independent of its founder.

Foundations are often set up for charitable purposes, family patrimony and collective purposes.

In Italy, a foundation is a private non profit and autonomous organisation, its assets must be dedicated to a purpose established by the founder. The founder cannot receive any benefits from the foundation or have reverted the initial assets. The private foundations or civil code foundations are under the section about non commercial entities of the first book (Libro Primo) of the Civil Code of Law (Codice Civile) from 1942. The Art. 16 CC establishes that the statutes of the foundation must contain its name, purpose, assets, domicile, administrative organs and regulations, and how the grants will be distributed. The founder must write a declaration of intention including a purpose and endow assets for such purpose. This document can be in the form of a notarised deed or a will. To obtain legal personality, the foundation must enroll in the legal register of each Prefettura (local authority) or some cases the regional authority. There are several nuances in requirements according to each foundation's purpose and area of activity.

A foundation or "stichting" in The Netherlands is a legal person created through a legal act. This act is usually either a notarised deed (or a will) that contains the articles of the foundation which must include the first appointed board. No government authority is involved in the creation or authorization of a foundation, it acquires full legal capacity through its sole creation. A foundation has no members and its purpose must be to realise a purpose stated in its articles, using capital dedicated to such goal. The foundations are defined in the Dutch Civil Code "Burgerlijk Wetboek", Boek 2 Art 285-2:285. It is not necessary in Netherlands that a foundation serves a purpose of general interest. The foundations are governed and represented by a board that is responsible for its administration, this board has not a requirement for specific number of members. The Funds or "fondsen" are almost all foundations but those must not be confused one with the other regarding their legal status. The Art 2:289 of the Civil Code establishes that all foundations must be registered in the Register of Commerce or "Handelsregister". Commercial activities are allowed if they are within the purpose of the foundation and are taxed. Board members can be held liable for the foundation, civilly as well as criminally.

Foundations in Spain are organizations founded with the purpose of not seeking profit and serving the general needs of the public. Such foundation may be founded by private individuals or by the public. These foundations have an independent legal personality separate from their founders. Foundations serve the general needs of the public with a patrimony that funds public services and which may not be distributed to the founders' benefit.

A foundation in Sweden (Stiftelse) is a legal entity without an owner. It is formed by a letter of donation from a founder donating funds or assets to be administered for a specific purpose. When the purpose is for the public benefit, a foundation may enjoy favourable tax treatment. A foundation may have diverse purposes, including but not limited to public benefit, humanitarian or cultural purposes, religious, collective, familiar, or the simple passive administration of funds. Normally, the supervision of a foundation is done by the county government where the foundation has its domicile, however, large foundations must be registered by the County Administrative Board (CAB), which must also supervise the administration of the foundation. The main legal instruments governing foundations in Sweden are the Foundation Act (1994:1220) and the Regulation for Foundations (1995:1280).

Main article: Foundations in Canada

Under Canadian law, foundations may be public or private, but both are charities. They collectively comprise a large asset base for philanthrophy

In England, the word "foundation" is sometimes used in the title of a charity, as in the British Heart Foundation and the Fairtrade Foundation. Despite this, the term is not generally used in English law, and (unlike in civil law systems) the term has no precise meaning. Instead, the concept of Charitable Trust is in use.

The law does not prescribe any particular form for a foundation in Ireland. Most commonly, foundations are companies limited by guarantee or trusts. A foundation can obtain a charity registration number from the Revenue Commissioners for obtaining tax relief as far as they can be considered under the law on charity, however, charitable status does not exist in Ireland. The definition usually applied is that from the Pemsel Case of English jurisprudence (1891) and the Irish Income Tax Act 1967. Trusts have no legal personality and companies acquire their legal status through the Company law and the required documents of incorporation. Foundations are not required to register with any public authority.

The States of Jersey are considering introducing civil law type foundations into its law. A consultation paper presenting a general discussion on foundations was brought forth to the Jersey government concerning this possibility.

Main article: Foundation (USA)

In the United States, many philanthropic and charitable organizations are considered to be foundations. However, the Internal Revenue Code distinguishes between private foundations (usually funded by an individual, family, or corporation) and public charities (community foundations or other nonprofit groups that raise money from the general public). Private foundations have more restrictions and less tax benefits than public charities.

• Wikipedia articles on individual foundations
• Charitable organisation
• Charitable trust
• List of wealthiest foundations
• Offshore foundation
• Program evaluation
• Think tank
• List of articles about charitable foundations
• Nongovernmental organization
• International nongovernmental organization

• Dwight F. Burlingame, Philanthropy in America: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia, Santa Barbara, Calif. [etc.] : ABC-CLIO, 2004
• Mark Dowie, American Foundations: An Investigative History. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2001.
• Lester M. Salamon et al, "Global Civil Society: Dimensions of the Nonprofit Sector", 1999, Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies.
• David C. Hammack, editor, "Making the Nonprofit Sector in the United States", 1998, Indiana University Press.
• Joan Roelofs, Foundations and Public Policy: The Mask of Pluralism, State University of New York Press, 2003, ISBN 0791456420

• Joan Roelofs, The Invisible Hand of Corporate Capitalism, Recorded at Hampshire College, April 18, 2007. [1]

• European Foundation Centre.
• The Foundation Center, a Clearinghouse of Information on the approximately 70,000 U.S. foundations
• The Foundation Center Historical Foundation Collection
• Council on Foundations

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