Fondation Ensemble, France

Fondation Ensemble was created in December 2004 by Gérard and Jacqueline Delia-Brémond, with very clear dual objectives of serving the needs of underprivileged populations and restoring their environment. Both the founders are very involved in the foundation and participate in the in-depth analysis of all programmes. The foundation has two separate funding vehicles: the Programmes Fund for larger, long-term grants and what is known as the MicroGrants Fund, for smaller grants from €3,000 to €30,000.

The Programmes Fund represents 87.5 per cent of the foundation’s annual distribution (65 per cent of it invested in the field of water and sanitation, 35 per cent in sustainable development). The remainder of the annual budget is dedicated to the Small Grants Fund, over half of which is invested into conservation of animal biodiversity and the other fields of the foundation’s involvement.

Fondation Ensemble has invested over €13 million since its founding, with annual grants of approximately €3.2 million. It now has over 100 programmes on four continents with the investment amount rising steadily.

Jacqueline Delia-Brémond, Founder and Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees

It’s pretty obvious that we, as donors, feel even more responsible towards the grantees during this period of crisis where grants have slightly reduced in volume and number. Although the financial turmoil seems to be behind us, we are still in the middle of an economic and social crisis whose destructive power we cannot yet measure!

For the time being, the resources of our foundation have not suffered. What we have changed slightly is the average amount we allocate to each project, with a tendency to reduce the percentage we ourselves contribute. We have always felt that we had an obligation to use the foundation’s funds in the best and safest way. That’s why, since the beginning, we have set up a very rigorous review process for our two annual grant cycles. What has happened now is that money has become more scarce so our College of Experts, which reviews all grant proposals, is becoming more demanding on terms of potential and efficiency of projects.

I must admit that this cautious attitude makes it a little more difficult for innovative projects to go through, but we feel the most urgent need is to support useful projects first, rather than take risks on innovation. Our main concern is for the grantees to meet their objectives. In addition, it is taking longer for the potential grantees to fund their proposals. Fondation Ensemble’s policy is to work in partnership with other funders, not exceeding 50 per cent funding for a project overall, nor providing a grant until 75 per cent of the funds are in place. In the current situation the process is slower, as proposals are having more difficulty in finding other donors.

As founders, we feel strongly that it is part of our responsibility to help our NGO partners to construct the best project possible. And that’s what we do with the help of our experts. Helping the grantees to prepare a solid and credible proposal is also important in establishing partnerships with other foundations attracted by the quality of the projects we work on.

Another factor that increases the potential success for grantees is our policy of staying with the Programme Funds initiatives throughout the life of projects. That creates solid ground for their development.

For now, we don’t intend to make any drastic changes in our strategy. We follow the process we set up very carefully, and if it turns out to be more challenging, our engagement with grantees, based on our fundamental principles, is probably even stronger.

Jacqueline Delia-Brémond on establishing Fondation Ensemble

Money is great for fulfilling needs, and even for providing enjoyment, but above a certain level of wealth, it usually becomes a poison for the people who possess it, and most of the time a disaster for their children. We made sure that our own children would understand this, and now that they are adults, they fully share these views. In the 1990s, my husband and I read a book called Avoir ou être (‘To have or to be’) by the German philosociologist Eric Fromm. We were very impressed by the idea it contains that if you choose to be rather than to have, it will change your life. It also leads to the fact that you share what you have because you just don’t need the largest part of it.

So, later on, in 2004, when we felt the time had come, we decided to create our foundation. We chose the name ‘Ensemble’ (together) because we strongly believed that everything on earth is linked together. We also wished to work together with our children and, maybe some day, grandchildren, as well as the team of the foundation, all the NGOs involved and also the local people we would carry out projects for. For all these reasons, ‘Ensemble’ appeared to be a pretty obvious choice. We do believe synergy is the answer. And synergy means togetherness …

Many people who create a foundation do so because misfortune strikes someone near them. In our case, nothing of the sort happened ¬– we just had to look around to see the desperate state of our sick planet. That’s why we focus on urgent needs such as water and sanitation in as sustainable a way as possible, and on all kinds of actions directly related to sustainable development such as eco-agriculture, agro-forestry, renewable energies and conservation of biodiversity.

For more information
www.fondationensemble.org
info@fondationensemble.org