The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Portugal

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is a Portuguese private foundation founded in 1956 with a bequest from Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian. It actively pursues its statutory aims (in the fields of arts, charity, education and science) in Portugal and abroad through a wide range of direct activities, scholarships to individuals and grants supporting projects and programmes. As well as its head office in Lisbon, it has a branch in the UK and a cultural centre in Paris.

The balance sheet for 2008 showed a decrease in value of total assets of €380.8 million (12.2 per cent) over the year.

Emilio Rui Vilar, President

When the gravity of the crisis became evident, our reaction was twofold: not only did we adopt more prudent investment and expenditure policies but we also began seeking direct inputs from non-profit organizations that were experiencing a shortfall in support because of the crisis, just at a time when the demand for their services and goods was increasing.  

Our first response came in October 2008 in the form of internal guidelines for a reduced 2009 budget, which already had a contingency for a 10 per cent cut. This prioritized maintaining levels of funding for grantmaking/operating activities so we reduced running costs and investment expenditure.

By 31 December 2008, our balance sheet showed total assets of approximately €2.737 billion, a decrease in value of €380.8 million (or 12.2 per cent) over 2008, mainly owing to the investment portfolio’s poor performance in the stock markets. It could have been worse. Losses were to a certain extent offset by a better performance of investments made in the energy sector (oil and gas) and the appreciation of the US dollar.

The forthcoming 2009 financial results will to a large extent dictate our 2010 budget guidelines, which will be announced by the board this autumn. We may need to introduce some additional budgetary constraints. We have been evaluating our expenditure policy continuously throughout 2009. In May the board decided on additional in-house savings measures to lower overhead costs such as business vehicles, leasing contracts and business travel expenses. As a result, we have not made, nor are we planning to make, any cutbacks in grants, at least for pressing social needs.

Largely as a result of our monitoring of the effects of the economic crisis on non-profits, we have given priority to tackling new or worsened incidences of poverty. To some extent, we have adopted a back-to-basics approach on the grantmaking side to meet the most pressing needs such as employment, shelter, education and food.  

To help tackle the rise in poverty that has been affecting families in Portugal, we brought together a group of institutions and well-known individuals to launch a national campaign, País Solidário (Charity Country), to raise funds for the most disadvantaged. The specific target of this campaign are the ‘new poor’, people who have suddenly lost their jobs but are not covered by public welfare mechanisms. We felt it was crucial to promote a quick and flexible response if we were to meet the basic needs of this group. Such campaigns are rare in Portugal, but we played a convening role and our credibility and experience have helped to launch a collaborative funding initiative that will give confidence to potential donors.  

The promoters of País Solidário together contributed €1 million as initial funding. Our goal now is to multiply this start-up amount during 2009 by calling on other institutions and the general public to contribute. As of July, the amount raised was around €1.4 million.

It’s also worth mentioning a couple of Gulbenkian initiatives that were not originally motivated by the crisis but which are now particularly relevant. One is the SIX (Social Innovation Exchange) 2009 Summer School on Social Innovation in July which focused on how social innovation could be an answer to the crisis. The other is the idea of a Portuguese Social Stock Exchange – we along with other partners are evaluating the possibility of funding something along the lines of the Brazilian model. While it is hoped that this project will provide a new impulse to Portuguese fundraising for non-profits, the main goal is to set up a framework to create social value by contributing to worthwhile projects in a transparent and reliable way.

País Solidário

The promoters of the campaign, launched on 31 March this year, are the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the EDP Foundation, the Millennium BCP Foundation, the banks BPI (Banco Português de Investimento), BES (Banco Espírito Santo), Banco Santander-Totta, CGD (Caixa Geral de Depósitos) and Montepio, and the group Jerónimo Martins. The Portuguese television channels SIC, RTP and TVI are media partners, as are the telecommunications companies AR Telecom and Mr Net.

Initial beneficiaries will be families affected by unemployment who do not benefit from any specific welfare assistance, particularly families with pre-school children, elderly and/or handicapped family members. Four Portuguese regions have been identified as priority areas: Porto, Vale do Ave, Vale do Tâmega and Setúbal.

In late May the campaign started to provide funds to three institutions that operate in these regions: the Portuguese Caritas (Cáritas), the Portuguese Red Cross (Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa) and the Portuguese Federation of Food Banks (Federação Portuguesa dos Bancos Alimentares contra a Fome). Over 100 families have applied for support to Caritas and the Portuguese Red Cross, and the Food Banks have reached 350 institutions who serve over 70,000 people. We are now considering extending the initiative to other Portuguese regions where unemployment is at its highest rate since1984-5.

For more information
Contact Rui Gonçalves at rgoncalves@gulbenkian.pt or visit www.gulbenkian.pt