Close to fifteen hundred people gathered in Brussels at the beginning of April at BE Philanthropy, a one-day event to talk about the work of philanthropy in Europe. The convenor of this tri-annual gathering was the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF), Belgium’s largest public foundation and one of the largest in Europe. The Brussels conference brought together participants from around western Europe including European foundation leaders, advisors, researchers, intermediaries, nonprofit leaders and fundraisers.
I attended the event this year with Myriad Canada, a cross-border giving foundation launched under KBF sponsorship in 2018. I had first participated in the conference in 2023 when the world was still coping with the aftereffects of the pandemic. That year, as I noted in my blog on the conference, the pandemic, war, inflation and social unrest had darkened the mood in Europe. Since then, the continuing war in Ukraine and the policies of the United States towards Europe (and the rest of the world) have only added to the mood of worry. In convening the 2026 conference, KBF’s goal was in part to inspire philanthropy to step up its game in the face of the multiple pressures on European civil society and on the continent more broadly.
What struck me as an increasingly prominent focus for European philanthropy is the need to strengthen democracy in the face of the polarizing and systemic impacts on their societies of economic stress, the increasing use of social media and artificial intelligence, the dislocations of war and the felt decline of local communities. The rise of populist political leaders has been in response to this increasing sense of pessimism about the future and a longing for a past where people had more hope and communities had more social capital. Liberal democracies are facing political challenges to their legitimacy. At a deeper level, the forces of inequality and withering local and civil/social communities are pushing against a liberal democratic model that is being found wanting.
A panel discussion at the conference highlighted the trends and concerns that philanthropists are feeling about the threats to democracy. These threats are linked politically to the rise of more authoritarian and right-wing populist political movements and governments in Europe. As these gain power, they are undermining global coordination and collective action, as well as shrinking the space for civil society. Panel members agreed that philanthropy can play a more active role in supporting mechanisms for integration rather than division, in bringing people together to foster their understanding of other perspectives, and in funding independent and trusted sources of information.
Recognizing the challenges posed by threats to liberal democracy, European funders are reacting with increased commitment. They are directing money to community partners; some foundations are also delivering their own programs. The KBF itself has a Democracy program to “strengthen and defend democratic values”. It does this through projects and support to organizations working on what it sees as five essential components (and leverage points) for a healthy democracy:
The KBF increases its impact in this area by joining in pooled funds. For example, in 2020 it co-founded the European Artificial Intelligence and Society Fund, which supports organizations across Europe working on AI and democracy. KBF also participates in Civitates, a pooled fund dedicated to addressing democratic decline and strengthening civil society, media and digital rights in Europe, which was created in 2017. Increasingly the KBF sees its role as evolving from funder to ecosystem builder and steward, taking a long-term view about the need to invest in an information system that is pluralist and trustworthy, and that strengthens individual democratic agency.
Philea, the European foundation network, is promoting the defense of democracy as a priority for funders. A year ago, it published a briefing for European funders on democratic backsliding on the continent, with opportunities for philanthropic action to address the root causes of such backsliding. Philea runs a Democracy Network for interested funders who want to exchange on strategies to defend and develop democracy. Philea also takes a strong interest in democratic and pluralist media networks. It recently published a research report on how philanthropy is funding journalism and media in Europe. To quote the report, “the field of journalism and media is widely recognised by funders as essential for democracy, accountability and countering misinformation, but it still receives only a tiny slice of philanthropic budgets. Despite this, there is growing urgency, a slow but visible increase in investment, and a shift toward more flexible, long‑term funding, as the field grapples with a rapidly changing media landscape, unstable business models, and rising threats to independent journalism”. Many of the questions and experiences shared at BE Philanthropy are shared across the Atlantic in Canada. We also face multiple challenges to our social cohesion embodied in loss of local civic space and social capital, loneliness, youth isolation and continuing inequities of all kinds. We too are experiencing huge changes in our sources of information and in the organization of work. Our trust in media and in government is declining. Philanthropy’s response to these challenges is similar on both sides of the Atlantic: more investment in local infrastructure and neighbourhoods, more work to counter the effects of digital harms and to bolster public interest media, and more innovative uses of collaboration, pooled funding and investment tools. What we need in Canada is more urgency of action, and greater alignment of philanthropic efforts. We can learn from the Europeans who are already moving in this direction with a real firmness of purpose.
More than a thousand people gathered in Brussels in the last week of April to talk about philanthropy – striking evidence of a pent-up demand for conversation and learning about the role of philanthropy today. The convenor of the sold-out gathering BePhilanthropy was itself a major philanthropic player, the King Baudouin Foundation, Belgium’s most significant foundation. The Brussels conference was the largest of several in person gatherings planned by the Foundation in 2023 to convene philanthropy not only in Belgium but also in other parts of Europe. The meeting brought together a diverse group of European foundation leaders, donors, advisors, researchers, intermediaries and a few nonprofit leaders and fundraisers.
Much has changed in the world since March 2020 when this conference, then optimistically titled The Spring of Philanthropy, was first scheduled. Pandemic, war, inflation and social unrest have darkened the mood in Europe. The climate crisis and global migration are putting great pressures on European societies. As the conference program noted, “today’s challenges are complex and require creative approaches”. Perhaps sensing the need to energize a philanthropic sector in need of encouragement, the organizers structured their program around four exhortations to philanthropy: Be…Responsible, Enabled, Innovative, and Engaged.
European philanthropy itself is in strong shape, despite the effects of the pandemic. According to the Global Philanthropy Environment Index 2022 from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Western and Northern Europe continue to score very highly in global measures of philanthropy. The policy context and the socio-cultural environment generally support philanthropy. Philea, the European network of foundations and donor associations, confirms this in its own report on the Philanthropy Environment in Europe, from December 2022.
The conference opening speeches of Belgian leaders, including Queen Mathilde and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, reaffirmed the importance of a strong civil society and the value of philanthropy in supporting that society. The President of the National Bank of Belgium (the central bank) who also serves as the Chair of the King Baudouin Foundation, spoke eloquently about the advantages and opportunities for philanthropy to work with policy makers in creating dialogues, contributing diverse voices to policy debate, and supporting a just economic transition. Canadian philanthropy, I believe, would be only too pleased to have its unique role similarly recognized by key national policy leaders.
That said, there were plenty of speakers to point out the challenges that European philanthropy must overcome. For example, there are regulatory obstacles. While there is a common market for goods and services in Europe, there isn’t one for philanthropy. This makes cross-border funding and operations more difficult and costly. Philea advocates in its European Philanthropy Manifesto for a EU philanthropy common market, to allow donors and foundations to operate across borders. The European Commission (EC) is now consulting on a possible European Statute for associations and nonprofit organizations. An EC representative at the conference spoke about the importance of sharing with philanthropy a joint purpose around transforming and decarbonizing the continental economy in a just and sustainable way. The EC also recently presented a proposal for a Defence of Democracy which “will include measures to foster an enabling civic space and promote inclusive and effective engagement by public authorities with civil society and citizens in order to bolster resilience from within”. If the EC is beginning to recognize the need to develop new forms of engagement with philanthropy, this will open important possibilities.
Another set of challenges for European philanthropy focus on accountability and the need to build trust. Delphine Moralis, the Chief Executive of Philea, pointed out at the conference that the crisis of trust in philanthropy is present in Europe as well as in Anglo-Saxon countries. This will require an agile and determined response by philanthropy. The flexible and collaborative approaches to working with community that were forced on philanthropy by the pandemic will need to continue. European philanthropy must use lenses of social justice and equity in designing their funding and work more closely with communities to build their resilience and foster social solidarity. Citing a philanthropic accountability model that combines transparency with performance and democratic accountability, Ludwig Forrest, Head of Philanthropy at the KBF, spoke of the need to share knowledge, engage beneficiaries and also maintain accountability to donors who trust public foundations such as KBF for philanthropic advice and expertise.
The conference identified key issues for the future of philanthropy that we share across the Atlantic: cross-sectoral collaboration; corporate partnerships and social investment; global giving; localisation; the formalization of philanthropic infrastructure, including advice and advocacy; and the digital revolution in philanthropic giving. My sense was that some important topics did not get enough airtime (in contrast to many current philanthropic dialogues in North America): power, privilege and the importance of decolonializing and diversifying philanthropy. The perspectives shared were notably those of funders and donors, less so those of charities and community partners. But there were twelve separate discussions during this very full conference day and these views may have been expressed in sessions I did not attend. The KBF will continue generously to share the content of the day through recordings of every discussion, so we will have a chance to find out.
I came away feeling that European and Canadian philanthropy have much in common. Giving is a universal human activity….and as one conference speaker said, “philanthropy gives purpose to life”. To be purposefully philanthropic, to be boldly engaged, as this conference reminded us, we need courage and an openness to listening and learning from each other.