Delphine Moralis:在挑战与抉择之间——欧洲公益慈善的趋势与转型
2023年11月22日至23日,由中国社会组织促进会、北京基业长青社会组织服务中心主办的中国基金会发展论坛2023年会(以下简称“2023年会”)在深圳圆满举办。
本次年会是中国基金会发展论坛连续举办的第十五次年会,也是基金会伙伴们时隔四年的首次大规模线下相聚。来自全国近500家机构、1000名伙伴共聚深圳,2场主论坛、12场平行论坛和1场长青文献图书馆展览活动,从多维度解析“笃行致远——基金会的‘功’守之道”的年会主题。
本文为欧洲慈善协会(Philea)首席执行官Delphine Moralis在主论坛上的演讲。
▲本文经嘉宾审定发布,仅代表嘉宾个人观点,不代表其所在机构或本平台立场。转载或引用请注明来源。
Delphine Moralis
欧洲慈善协会(Philea)首席执行官
图:Delphine Moralis在中国基金会发展论坛2023年会上演讲
尊敬的中国基金会发展论坛的成员们,与会的女士们、先生们、各位来宾,感谢中国基金会发展论坛2023年会“笃行致远——基金会的‘功’守之道”的邀请,有幸在此发言,与有荣焉。
我是Delphine Moralis,现任欧洲慈善协会(Philanthropy Europe Association,即Philea)首席执行官。Philea成立时间不到两年,是一个相对年轻的组织。但我们有着久远丰厚的历史底蕴,因为Philea是由欧洲基金会中心(European Foundation Centre,即EFC)与欧洲捐助者与基金会网络(Donors and Foundations Networks In Europe,即Dafne)合并而成的,而前者已有逾30年历史。
自2018年以来,欧洲基金会中心一直与中国基金会发展论坛秘书处保持着合作与互动。期间,多位中国基金会秘书长曾来到德国以及位于布鲁塞尔的欧洲基金会中心总部,拜访欧洲基金会同行。合并后,Philea延续了这一合作的传统。就在几周前,我们还在布鲁塞尔的“慈善之家(Philanthropy House)”迎接了来自中国的公益慈善伙伴。我很高兴Philea能与中国基金会发展论坛秘书处共同开展“中欧公益领导力项目”,并将于明年9月在中国举办下一次活动。
图:中欧公益领导力项目2023年成员在布鲁塞尔合影
欧洲基金会中心与欧洲捐助者与基金会网络合并后的Philea,汇集了来自31个国家的213家基金会和公益慈善组织,以及27个全国性协会。这些全国性协会本身代表着近7000至10000家基金会。正因为Philea会员的多元构成,我们能很好地审视欧洲公益慈善事业情况,并了解其如何以多种方式推动公共利益的实现。
在今天的演讲中,我想谈谈Philea的战略重点、自新冠肺炎疫情以来欧洲公益慈善事业的变化,以及我们在资助实践中观察到的变化,其中包括在资助过程中涉及的权力和公平问题。
正式开始之前,我想先简要介绍欧洲公益慈善的整体情况。
在欧洲范围内,共有逾14万7千家基金会。这些基金会每年共捐赠约600亿欧元,可支配资产和捐赠资金总额约为5110亿欧元。
值得注意的是,欧洲公益慈善领域非常多元。在Philea内部,我们有一句谚语:见树不一定见林。仅在Philea的会员中,就有社区基金会、家族基金会、企业基金会、银行基金会、私人基金会等等。其中,有受捐赠的基金会,有资助型的基金会,有运作型的基金会,也有兼具两种形式的混合基金会;有的基金会仅在地方开展业务,有的则在全球范围内开展业务,还有位居其间的其他基金会。
这些基金会所处的环境及文化背景不同,捐赠的资金体量也各不相同。例如,德国的基金会年均支出最高,达到90万欧元,而匈牙利的基金会年均支出仅为5万欧元。
这些基金会的共同点在于,它们都利用自己的私人资金以及其他非资金资源,促进公共利益的实现。这些基金会有创新的能力,且具备长远眼光。这些基金会投资于公众可以广泛受益的领域,包括教育、健康、科学、环境、艺术、文化等等。
Philea对公益慈善领域的多元性倍感骄傲。为此,我们常将公益慈善领域比喻为森林。就像森林一样,公益慈善领域是一个多样、复杂且有韧性的生态系统,经过漫长演变以适应特定的环境。正如森林中的动植物和谐共生,公益慈善领域也有多个层级,包括在全球开展业务的老牌大型基金会、关注本地需求的草根基金会,以及介于两者之间的各种基金会。但是,它们都扎根于同一片土壤,即共同的行善理念。
鉴于公益慈善领域的多样性,Philea的愿景是:以人与地球为本,充分发挥公益慈善事业潜力、协同共建一个更有韧性、更公正和更可持续的社会。在我们看来,Philea的职责是确保这片“公益慈善之林”的土壤及生态系统尽可能健康,并帮助我们的会员茁壮成长,使整个公益慈善领域受益。
因此,为了共建更美好的今天与明天,Philea的使命就是启发、鼓励和赋能公益慈善社群伙伴。秉着这一愿景,我们希望打造并赋能一个互帮互助的公益慈善社群。这个社群将围绕着人与地球相关的关键议程,打造公益慈善事业的思想领导力,并不断产生集体影响。
我们深信,在面对和回应当今世界的重大危机时,建设社群的集体影响力对于充分发挥公益慈善领域的潜力至关重要。我们深知,各种危机层出不穷——新冠肺炎疫情、愈发紧急的气候问题、世界范围内的战争与武装冲突、政治紧张局势以及生活成本高涨。随着公众对公共机构愈发不信任,对公益慈善事业的审查也越来越严格。公益慈善领域所面临的大环境确实动荡不安。因此,公益慈善事业更需要反思、自省,以更好地履行自己的承诺。正如Philea最近出版的一本书的标题所言,“公益慈善事业需要重启”。恰好,中国基金会发展论坛秘书处将把这本书译介至中国。
图:Philanthropy Back to the Drawing Board: Shaping a Future Agenda(暂译为“公益慈善事业需要重启”)封面
在这个过程中,我们观察到了一些显著趋势。
首先,自疫情以来,公益慈善领域展现出更强烈的合作意愿——基金会之间的合作、基金会内部的合作、基金会与受助方的合作、以及基金会与公共部门之间的合作。这不仅体现在联合资助的基金池数量增加,也体现在基金会相较于独自行动,更愿意选择与受助方合作来共同解决问题。
这一趋势的另一例子是“采用三部门(公共部门、私营部门、慈善部门)共建模式的人与地球项目(Public – Private – Philanthropy Partnerships For People & Planet)”的启动。这一共建模式鼓励基金会更有效地使用多元方法与工具,充分发掘其资金和非资金资源,并善用合作网络的力量,以全面支持受助方。例如,为实现组织使命,许多基金会正在探索与其使命相关的投资机会,或进行影响力投资。
此外,第二个趋势是“以信任为本的公益慈善”,其中包括基金会采用非限定的灵活资助,建立与受助方的互惠关系。具体的例子包括,基金会从资助产出转变为资助过程。另一个例子是,在疫后欧洲能源短缺期间,基金会直接略过或简化繁琐的行政文书程序,不带任何附加要求地、快速支持了那些难以承担上涨的能源费用的组织。
第三个趋势是公益慈善事业愈发强调参与与包容。作为曾经的青少年公益领域从业者,我很高兴看到越来越多基金会在其资助过程中考虑儿童与青少年。去年,Philea对40家基金会进行了一项调查,结果显示,在纳入并考虑儿童与青少年的基金会中,有35%的基金会让他们参与决定重要事项,28%的基金会将他们纳入组织治理架构。Philea成员之一,意大利公益慈善组织与基金会全国协会(Associazione Italiana Fondazioni e Enti Filantropici)坚信,把未来一代的需求纳入当代人思考中,不仅重要,且大有裨益。因此,该协会正在试行一项举措,即在每个基金会的理事会中象征性地保留一个席位(被称为“空位”),提醒基金会们充分考虑未来一代的需求。
我再次强调,“参与”有着不同的形式,且与公益慈善领域的许多议题息息相关。在今年5月举办的Philea年会上,这种相关性得到了700名与会代表的确认。为了应对和回应欧洲面临的重要挑战,公益慈善事业该何去何从?就这一问题,Philea向与会代表们征集了意见。
与会代表们提出的最重要战略,恰好与参与息息相关,即基于信任的捐赠、参与式方法和灵活资助。论其根本,这一趋势源自公益慈善领域对受助方与资助方之间权力关系的深层反思。公益慈善领域愈发希望让那些位于第一线、受资助、有着实际经验的人领路。
这种对权力的自我反思,也与对基金会聚财方式的反思相关联。对于一些基金会来说,这种反省促使他们决定尽快削减开支、关闭运营,并重新分配所有资产。另一些基金会则采取系统性变革视角,关注跨部门、跨领域的方法,或者面对日益加剧的两极分化,探索更有效发挥影响力的方式。
值得一提的最后一个趋势是,基金会愈发认为:真正的改变是从组织内部发生的。许多基金会正致力于培养组织文化,借助“内在发展目标(Inner Development Goals)”,通过改变公益慈善事业来影响世界。如何通过实际行动践行权力共享?除了培养基金会自身的组织文化之外,许多基金会还深知帮助受助方实现其“内在发展目标”的重要性。
因此,让我们来回顾这些趋势,是什么让基金会夜不能寐?我们面临着什么挑战?
基于我们两年前对会员进行的一项调查,欧洲公益慈善领域关注的主要议题是气候、民主及日益加剧的不平等现象。而在今年Philea年会的700名与会代表中,74%的受访者认为,欧洲的首要任务是遏制气候恶化。位居第二的是缓解不平等现象,65%的与会代表认为这一问题至关重要。
显然,实现Philea的使命,即“以人与地球为本,充分发挥公益慈善事业潜力、协同共建一个更有韧性、更公正和更可持续的社会”,仍然任重而道远。Philea将继续致力于打造一片适宜“公益慈善之林”生长的土壤,这意味着我们还需攻克许多不利于行善的法律和行政障碍。这些问题至今仍在妨碍着基金会以创新方式使用其捐赠资金,也使跨国捐赠极为困难。
我们相信,这些问题可以且应该得到解决,并正在朝这一方向努力。可喜的是,公益慈善领域依然存在,为了更好地发挥作用,它正在进行转型。尽管整个欧洲社会经历了困难的时期,但团结意识却愈发强烈。无论是全球还是欧洲,公益慈善领域都正在蓬勃发展,并经历着持续数年的全面转型。公益慈善组织和基金会捐赠得更多、更快。在中东欧地区,新冠肺炎疫情的爆发成为了一个转折点,15%的公众开始捐赠,近一半的公众开始更积极地参与志愿活动。这仅是其中一个例子。
于我而言,公益慈善在本质上源自一种古希腊传统,那就是“对人类的爱”。看到如此丰盈、以多样形式存在的爱,实在令人动容。为了向一个更可持续的明天转型,我期望能见证更多的爱,不断持续合作与探索创新解决方案。带着这样的愿景,我祝愿各位活动圆满成功,并期待与你们——包括中国基金会发展论坛的伙伴们保持联系。感谢大家!
视频:Delphine Moralis在中国基金会发展论坛2023年会上的演讲
翻译:周安琳
字幕:孟婷怡
附发言原文,供各位参考(请上下滑动翻阅):
(请上下滑动翻阅)
Dear members of the China Foundation Forum, dear ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests. Thank you so much for the invitation to contribute to your important event, centered on the topic of theme of “Advancing with Determined Endeavor, Values and Principles of the Foundations”.
My name is Delphine Moralis, and I am the CEO of Philea, the Philanthropy Europe Association. Philea is formerly a young organization registered less than 2 years ago. We however have a strong and long history to build on, as Philea was created following the merger between the European Foundation Centre, which was established more than three decades ago, and Dafne.
The European Foundation Centre has been working with the China Foundation Forum since 2018, and through this collaboration, CEOs of foundations in China visited peers in Germany and in Brussels, where we are based. We continue this tradition of collaboration with the China Foundation Forum as Philea, and we were pleased to welcome Chinese philanthropy professionals at our Philanthropy House in Brussels just a few weeks ago. I’m excited that Philanthropy Leadership Platform we’re working on together will have its next situation in September next year in China.
Together, as a result of the merger between the European Foundation Center and Dafne, Philea brings 213 foundations and philanthropic organizations from 31 different countries, along with 27 national associations, who in themselves represent close to 7,000 to 10,000 foundations. Our membership gives us a unique vantage point on European philanthropy, and the many ways in which it contributes to public good.
In my talk to you today, I would like to share a few points on our strategic priorities as Philea, on how the philanthropic sector has been evolving in Europe since the pandemic, and on the changes we have observed in funding practices, including when it comes to power and equity in the grant making process.
Before I do that, let me, however, paint a quick picture of the philanthropic landscape in Europe.
To start, there are, across Europe, an estimate of more than 147,000 foundations. Together, these foundations amount for about 60 billion euro of annual giving, and they have at their disposal about 511 billion euro of assets and endowments.
What is important to say is that the sector in Europe is extremely diverse. We in fact have a saying at Philea that goes as follows: if you know one foundation, well, you know one foundation. Within our membership alone, we bring together community foundations, family foundations, corporate foundations, enterprise foundations, foundations with banking origins, private foundations, and many more. Some of these foundations are endowed and some of them are not. Some of these foundations are grant making, some are operational. Some are both. Some act at local level, other acts at global level, and everything in between.
The operating environment and culture within these foundations are rooted, also differs. And so does the amount of giving. The highest amount of annual expenditure comes from the philanthropic sector in Germany, at an annual average of 900,000 euro, compared to an annual average of 50,000 euro in Hungary.
What all these foundations share is that they use their own private financial and non-financial resources for the public good. They have the ability to innovate and to take the long view. They invest in sectors we all benefit from, including education, health, science, environment, arts and culture, and much more.
At Philea, we celebrate this diversity, and we do that among others by using a metaphor of a forest to describe the sector. Like a forest, philanthropy is a diverse, complex and resilient ecosystem, evolved to specific environments over long periods of time. And just like the flora and fauna cohabiting within a forest, philanthropy is at various levels. From large evergreen foundations working globally, to those focused entirely at grassroots level and every level in between. But all are rooted in the same soil, a common motivation to do good.
With all its diversity, our vision is for philanthropy to use its full potential to co-shape and support a pluralistic, just and resilient society that centers people and planet. We see our role at Philea as making sure that the soil and the ecosystem of the philanthropy forest are as healthy as they can be, and to help our members thrive and grow, and for the sector as a whole to benefit.
Our mission is therefore to enable, encourage and empower the philanthropy community to build a better today and tomorrow. This vision is translated in an ambition to build and empower a mutually reinforcing community, which can come together around key agendas through people and planet, build collective thought leadership on philanthropy, and generate collective impact. We believe this is needed for the philanthropy sector to unleash its full ability to respond to the major crisis faced by our world today. And as we know, there are so many – from the pandemic over the ticking clock of climate breakdown, on to war and conflict around the world, chief political tension, and the cost-of-living crisis, along with the increasing distrust in institutions and with that, a never tighter scrutiny on philanthropy. Times have indeed been quite turbulent for this sector. Philanthropy has been called upon to reflect and introspect to do better and to live up to its promise. Or, as the title of a book we recently published goes – a book I believe you will be translating into Chinese: philanthropy has been invited to go back to the drawing board.
In doing so, we have seen a couple of interesting trends emerge.
First, ever since the pandemic, we have seen a growing appetite for collaboration – collaboration between foundations, collaboration within foundations, collaboration between foundations and their grantees, and between foundations and the public sector. Illustrations of this include the increased number of pooled funds, but also ways of working whereby foundations choose to work with their grantees to define solutions to problems together rather than doing that on their own.
Another example is the launch of Public-Private-Philanthropy Partnerships for People & Planet. These collaborations invite foundations to use their diverse toolbox more effectively, tapping into their financial and non-financial resources, using their networks to support their grantees. Many foundations are also looking into their mission-related investing opportunities and impact investing, as ways to realize their mission.
With this, a second trend to what is often referred to as trust-based approaches or trust-based philanthropy includes different ways whereby foundations choose to use unrestricted flexible funding, drawing on reciprocal relationships with their grantees. Concrete examples include foundations who decide to fund the process rather than the output. Another example comes from the time of the energy crisis, when foundations decided to proceed to grants with a little or no administrational paperwork just to support organizations that were struggling with paying their energy bills. No questions asked.
A third closely related trend relates to participatory and inclusive philanthropy. Coming from the child and youth sector myself, I have been excited to see how foundations increasingly consider ways to include young people and children in their grant-making cycle.
A study of 40 foundations published by Philea last year revealed that, of those foundations who involve children and young people, up to 35% involve them in deciding on priorities, and up to 28% include them in their governance structure. Convinced of the importance and unique ability of foundations to include the needs of future generations in their thinking today, our Italian national association (Associazione Italiana Fondazioni e Enti Filantropici) is currently piloting a campaign to have a seat, an empty chair as what they call it, reserved symbolically in every foundation board to be reminded of the importance of taking into account the needs of future generations today.
Participation, again, comes in many forms. And it is of relevance for the many areas we cater to. The relevance of these trends was confirmed by the 700 delegates who attended our annual Philea forum in May this year. We asked them about the most important ways in which philanthropy should change to address Europe’s challenges. And the number one strategy recommended by the delegates related exactly to this, to trust-based giving, participatory approaches, and flexible funding. At a more fundamental level, it appears that these trends are rooted in a deeper reflection around power between grantees and grantmakers and a desire to let those on the frontline, those who we serve, those with lived experiences lead the way.
Self-reflections about power also connect introspection about how wealth has been generated by foundations. For some, this introspection leads to the decision to spend down, to close up operations and to redistribute all assets, as soon as they can. Others embrace systems change perspective, they focus on intersectional approaches, or faced with increased polarization, decide to explore ways in which they can use their voice more effectively.
A last trend to mention here is that increasingly foundations see change as something that also comes from within. Efforts are made to invest in organizational culture, sometimes usingInner Development Goals, transforming philanthropy to transform the world. How to walk the talk in share power? Beyond investing in their own organizational cultures, foundations also understand the importance of supporting theInner Development Goals of their grantees.
So, as we observe these trends, what is it today that keeps foundations awake at night? What are the challenges that we face?
Based on a survey undertaken with our members 2 years ago, key topics of concern related broadly to those concerning climate, democracy and growing inequality. Going back to the 700 delegates at our Philea forum in May this year, 74% of them felt that the No.1 priority for Europe was to stop climate breakdown. Fighting inequality closely followed, with 65% of the participants identifying it as a crucial focus.
It is clear that there is a lot of work to do, to achieve our vision of a world for philanthropy to use its full potential to co-shape and support a pluralistic, just and resilient society that centers people and planet. As Philea, we will continue working towards creating that healthy soil needed for the forest to thrive, which also implies that we need to address the legal and administrative barriers to doing good. These today, still hamper the ability of foundations to, for instance, creatively use their endowment, or make it quite complex to donate across border.
All of these are issues that can and should be addressed. And we’re working on that. The good news, however, is that philanthropy is there, that it is transforming to do better and that despite the difficult years for societies as a whole, solidarity is on the rise. Globally and in Europe, the sector is in full growth. It is in full evolutions and it has been for several years. Philanthropic organizations and foundations are giving more and they’re giving faster. In Central and Eastern Europe, the pandemic was a breakthrough moment to start giving for 15% of the citizens and almost 50% start to volunteer more. And those are just examples.
To me, philanthropy at its core is what goes back to the Greek origins of the world - love for humanity. It’s heartwarming to see so much of that, and in so many different forms. I hope to see much more of it to continue collaboratively, to find bold responses we need today to transform and transition to a more sustainable tomorrow. And with that I wish you a fantastic event, and hope to stay connected with you and our friends at the China Foundation Forum. Thank you!
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