The Spanish Association of Foundations (AEF), of which PROA is a strategic ally, has presented this Tuesday the report The Foundation Sector in Spain: Key Attributes (2008-2019) carried out by the researchers Simón Sosvilla Rivero (Complutense University of Madrid), Gregorio Rodríguez Cabrero (University of Alcalá) and María del Carmen Ramos Herrera (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid).
Maria Cano, Head of Communication and Marketing of the Spanish Association of Foundations.says for PROA that "Communication is key to improving knowledge of the foundation sector and positioning it as a fundamental agent in the development of our society. Beyond an exercise in information transparency to make known what we are, what we do, how we do it and why we do it, communication is a way of generating trust. In this approach, it is necessary to develop a transversal strategy for the entire organisation. The aim is to connect with our stakeholders (beneficiaries, donors and society in general, among others), create social awareness and promote responses that contribute to fulfilling our commitment to the needs and problems of citizens".
This work is the most up-to-date snapshot, with the most recent data available, of the foundations sector in Spain and is the fourth instalment, corresponding to the period 2008-2019, of the series carried out by the Institute for the Strategic Analysis of Foundations (INAEF) of the Spanish Association of Foundations (AEF). It has been carried out with the information available at the AEF and in public databases and includes the evolution of the main magnitudes of the Spanish foundation sector.
The added value of the report is twofold: on the one hand, it provides an overview of the evolution and impact of the foundation sector in Spain over a relatively long period of time; on the other hand, coinciding with a deep economic and financial crisis and a subsequent relative economic recovery, the report shows not only the capacity of the foundation sector to adapt to the crisis but also, and above all, the decisive response to the demands and needs of Spanish society by increasing its economic and human resources as far as possible.
It is clear from the work carried out to date that foundations are playing an increasingly important role in developed societies because they can meet the needs of specific groups in certain circumstances in a closer and more efficient way than the public sector.
Spain's foundation sector brings social value (increasing contribution to meeting the needs of a wide range of social groups, while at the same time channelling the social capital of volunteering), employment (creation of high-skilled jobs and ability to adjust to shocks) and economic value (as a relatively balanced sub-sector of the non-profit and social market economy that walks a counter-cyclical path to partially and selectively alleviate and moderate the failures of other welfare spheres such as the market system and the public sector).
In 2019 there were 14,729 foundations in Spain, 1,395 more than in 2008. Of these, 9,218 have regular activity. Almost half of them (48.8%) were set up between 2003 and 2019. There are 20 foundations per 100,000 inhabitants and almost 50% of them have their registered office in Catalonia or the Community of Madrid. 38.6% have a regional scope of action; 26.6%, national; 16.7%, local; 11.7%, international; 4.2, provincial; and 1.9, county.