European Friends Fund

Is your not-for-profit organisation based outside the European Union? Would you like to raise funds from European donors (individuals, businesses etc.)?

With a European Friends Fund, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation, you can fundraise in Europe to support specific projects. Thanks to our role in the Transnational Giving Europe, network, such a fund will not only have a presence and a legal base in Europe, but also an effective tax structure for your European donors.

The European Friends Fund has a duration of three years, which may be prolonged at the request of the Fund’s founders.

To open a European Friends Fund, your organisation must first complete a questionnaire, which is then submitted for approval to the King Baudouin Foundation’s Selection Committee for the European Friends Funds. Once this has been approved, a European Friends Fund can be created for your organisation and open to receive donations.

The one-off incorporation fees for a European Friends Fund amount to 1,000 euros.

Each year, the King Baudouin Foundation is authorised to deduct 5% of the total amount donated to the Fund in order to finance its own activities. This percentage is regressive on donations amounting to over 100,000 euros: 2% between 100,000 and 400,000 euros, 1% between 400,000 and 700,000 euros and 0.5% on amounts over 700,000 euros.

European donors can make a donation to your organisation:

• either via the King Baudouin Foundation, which is authorised to issue tax certificates to donors (individuals, businesses and organisations) living in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Denmark, in accordance with the tax legislation in the country concerned;
• or via the Transnational Giving Europe, network, for donors living in some 15 other European countries. Donations made via this network are also tax-deductible, in line with the current legislation of EU member states.