Last month, the Philanthro-lab hosted its first-ever Europe Day to celebrate the work of all the nonprofit actors working on the large scale of Philanthropy and Europe. 

Building bridges between different sectors and creating value where there are no discussions, has become one of the most important parts of the Philanthro-lab’s work. Which is why Europe Day at the Philanthro-Lab was involved both foundation leaders such as King Baudouin Foundation, EVPA, Fondation Hippocrène, and Porticus Foundation, as well as nonprofit leaders working in Europe and on European matters such as Atelier Europe and The Good Lobby.

It was important for the Philanthro-lab to address in their event the ‘power imbalance between nonprofits and philanthropists,’ according to Sophie Faujour, Corporate Market Development Lead at EVPA.

Featuring multiple panels, European Foundations, and European nonprofits, the goal of this day was to assemble philanthropists and nonprofit leaders working on democracy, leadership skills, gender equality, climate change, and biodiversity on a European level (L’Académie des Futurs Leaders, Planète Urgence). A strong sense of community emanated from these roundtables, as everyone conceded they were all working towards the same goal: creating impact.

European Foundations and nonprofits have largely contributed to a better understanding of Europe through education, communication and development; what is less visible is that they have also contributed to transnational giving and better policies accompanying donations, as pointed out by Joseph Le Marchand from King Baudouin Foundation. Donations were pouring at the start of the war in Ukraine and it was made possible by laws helping philanthropy all over Europe.

A strong emphasis was put on democracy as a critical topic for influential nonprofit and Foundation leaders. As Alexis Prokopiev from Make.org remarked, ‘associations are the shield of democracy’. Floriant Covelli from Institut français du Monde associatif stated that ‘nonprofits are trusted by civic society and are entitled through this trust to call out institutions on their behaviour.’ Alice Barbe, founder of L’Académie des Futurs Leaders and SINGA France member, also invited the public to reflect on the importance of nonprofits in inspiring youth into becoming future leaders: ‘We need to give back confidence to individuals so that they can get involved in politics. I call on as many people as possible to give a seat at the table to those who are deemed marginal, vulnerable, precarious, and to especially let them speak up.

Nonprofits inspire change and, through public policies, they often contribute to systemic change. Whether it is to change the law to help larger tax deductions for non-profit gifts, like La Fonda did many years ago, the French landscape, and more broadly the European landscape, is full of initiatives and it is important for philanthropists to not always solely demand performance but to be grateful for the added value to the political and societal change.

At the Philanthro-Lab’s Europe Day, leaders of the community of European change-makers gathered to celebrate this change, measure all the way we’ve come, and encourage each other for the exciting road ahead.

Emeline Foster is the Deputy Head of the Philanthro-lab. It is the first House of Philanthropy in Paris, which hosts more than 50 nonprofits and philanthropic funds as well as an incubator for nonprofit leaders, that she contributes to create the program.