Going global? Micro-philanthrocapitalism and Danish private foundations in international development cooperation

ABSTRACT

During the past decade, academic attention to the role of private foundations in international development cooperation has greatly intensified. The largest foundations have increased their global giving and moved towards strategic social impact, but we do not know if such processes have also occurred at a more micro level. This article explores this issue by studying the international activities of Danish foundations. It finds that grant-making on global issues is increasing, and that several foundations have undergone transformations in their approach to grant-making, making them surprisingly similar to established development organisations.

Au cours des dix dernières années, l’attention accordée par les universitaires au rôle des fondations privées dans la coopération internationale au développement s’est beaucoup intensifiée. Les fondations de plus grande envergure ont accru leurs dons au niveau mondial et ont évolué vers l’impact social stratégique, mais nous ne savons pas si ce type de processus a eu lieu à un niveau plus micro. Cet article examine cette question en étudiant les activités internationales des fondations danoises. Il constate que l’octroi de subventions sur des questions mondiales augmente, et que plusieurs fondations ont transformé leur approche de l’octroi de subventions, ce qui les rend curieusement similaires aux organisations de développement établies.

Durante la última década se han multiplicado considerablemente las investigaciones académicas en torno al papel desempeñado por las fundaciones privadas en la cooperación internacional para el desarrollo. Las fundaciones más acaudaladas han aumentado sus aportaciones a nivel mundial, buscando lograr un impacto social estratégico. Sin embargo, se desconoce si estos procesos han tenido lugar a nivel micro. El presente artículo examina esta cuestión a partir del análisis de las actividades llevadas a cabo por las fundaciones danesas a nivel internacional. En este sentido, considera que, al mismo tiempo que varias fundaciones instrumentaron cambios en sus enfoques para la aportación de fondos, se ha incrementado la filantropía centrada en temas mundiales. Tales cambios las han convertido en instituciones sorprendentemente similares a las organizaciones para el desarrollo más consolidadas.

KEYWORDS:

• Civil society – NGOs
• Partnership
• Globalisation (inc trade, private sector)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Adam Moe Fejerskov is a doctoral candidate at the Danish Institute for International Studies and Roskilde University. His work centres on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and has been published in journals such as Third World Quarterly, Journal of International Development, and Forum for Development Studies.

Christel Rasmussen is a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies focusing on EU development cooperation, especially in the context of West Africa.

Notes

1 It is impossible to precisely identify the number of foundations in Denmark and their giving, since they are not forced to report on grants, investment, and endowments as are, for example, US foundations. In 1991 former conservative Minister of Justice, Hans Engell, closed down the Danish foundation registry, thus making it impossible for the public to follow how many Danish foundations exist, how much they provide in grants annually, and how big their endowments are. However, in June 2014, Minister of Culture, Marinne Jelved, suggested the return of a voluntary registry of foundations.

2 Including nine foundations covered by this study: the A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation, Augustinus Foundation, Bestseller Foundation, Carlsberg Foundation, COWI Foundation, LEGO Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, Obel Family Foundation, and the Poul Due Jensen Foundation. Realdania is defined as a membership organisation. Villum Foundation and Fabrikant Mads Clausen Foundation are defined as non-profit organisations and the Rockwool Foundation is defined as an independent private institution. While being a not-for-profit organisation, the Villum Foundation, as laid down in the statute, still has responsibility to contribute to ensure the survival and sustained reputation of VKR Holding as a model company and has an important share in the company (Villum and Velux Foundations 2013, 9).