Alliance Online - May 2008

Bringing Turkish foundations into view
Interview with Üstün Ergüder

This year’s European Foundation Centre annual conference will be held in Istanbul. Turkey may be largely uncharted territory for many European foundations but, as Üstün Ergüder, chair of Third Sector Foundation of Turkey (TUSEV), tells Alliance, Turkish foundations, in one form or another, have a long history. They are also, as he explains, going through a period of very significant change.

Alliance A book about to be published on philanthropy in Europe has the subtitle ‘A rich past, a promising future’, which seems a good lens through which to look at foundations in Turkey. Starting with the rich past, I’d like to ask you about Turkey’s foundations or vakifs dating from the Ottoman era. How significant a role do they play in modern Turkish society?

Ergüder Vakifs played a really important role in the Ottoman Empire because they were in effect an extension of the government. They did a lot of local work for the central authorities, like building mosques and schools; places where caravans come and stay at night, like hotels; fountains, waterworks, what have you. They were really local organizations supported by the local citizens of the Empire.

In the early Republic, the government moved away from this model and took over some of these functions directly and the foundations became irrelevant. Most of them do not exist nowadays, but the monuments they created and the property they owned are being managed by the general directorate of foundations in Turkey, which is an autonomous body, one of whose functions is to administer the properties (since the foundations no longer have descendants or trustees to run them). Restoring property and renting it out is an important source of income for the general directorate of foundations, and they use this for philanthropic purposes.

Can we move on to the around 4,500 ‘new’ foundations that have been established since the new Civil Code in 1926. How different is the role they are playing?

I believe they are playing an increasingly important role. They are making a very important contribution to cultural life in Turkey by, for example, funding museums, restoration projects, and art. They have also funded a number of new private universities in Turkey. There are about 115 universities in Turkey, of which 30 were established by private foundations.

Filiz Bikmen, in a chapter for the book on European philanthropy, writes of a new shift in foundations: ‘Their objectives are not the buildings and “hardware” of institutions, but the programmes or “software” of social change.’ To what extent are these foundations beginning to develop a new programme strategy beyond institution building?

I think the foundation scene in Turkey is in the midst, or perhaps in the early stages, of moving to a new paradigm. I’m a university man and, to me, foundation universities are very important. There are bricks and mortar aspects to them because people give their names to these universities and names, like buildings, are quite permanent, but you cannot look at them merely as bricks and mortar philanthropy because they also contribute to social change in the country by having an impact on the education system. So it’s a model that’s a cross-over, I think.

But, as Filiz said in the book, there is a serious soul-searching going on in Turkey about what foundations should do next. Let me give you an example: several colleagues of mine the other day were engaged in a conversation and they were asking this very important question: ‘Look, we have invested in schools and put our name to them, and turned them over to the government, to the Ministry of National Education, but we have no control over the process that’s going on in there. Why don’t we think about investing in human resources and the processes that go on in schools?’ So there is a growing interest in investing in social change in Turkey – and not just on the part of the Sabanci Foundation, other foundations have also started soul-searching in this respect.

Let me give you another example. I’m running an education reform initiative. We’re not trying to build buildings for schools; what we’re trying to do is to push the government for reform in education and to inform society about the importance of education. So we’re talking about a process. We’re trying to get the government to invest in a process of reform and we’re also asking civil society to follow it up very closely and perhaps raise funds to support it. This is certainly not a bricks and mortar investment and every year we are getting more and more foundations contributing to our efforts. Within the past five years, I’ve seen a very important transformation: initially, the reform initiative was supported by two foundations in Turkey but the main chunk of money came from the Open Society Institute in Turkey. Now we are totally supported by Turkish companies and foundations.

I gather that Turkish foundations have traditionally not made grants. How important is a move to grantmaking in terms of supporting the growth of Turkey’s civil society sector?

I think grantmaking is increasingly becoming a part of the philanthropy agenda in Turkey. And again my example is the education reform initiative. In the past two or three years, we’ve had grants for it, which is a first in Turkey. But we’ve got a long way to go. It’s not only the availability of the money: I think the Turkish philanthropic sector has to find ways of controlling how effectively that money is used.

I’ll give you an example. When we reported to the OSI, we gave them a very detailed project report on our activity, every penny we spent and what we spent it on. But the Turkish foundations do not yet have such structured grant programmes to track where the funds were spent and what impact was achieved. So we are trying to convince them – and find ourselves in a paradoxical position as recipients of grants – that they should be asking for reports from us. They should be moving into a new era. If they are making grants, they have to make the organizations that receive grants accountable. We think that if such procedures are developed, in the long run grantmaking will grow in Turkey.

Because the foundations will feel that they can be more sure that they’re going to get effective use of their money?

Yes. Now that foundations have begun to make grants, they will realize that they need to develop procedures to make civil society associations accountable for what they do, for the money they have received. I think that we are at the beginning of that process and we think it is very timely to put the question on the agenda.

How are foundations seen by the Turkish government?

Turkey has a democratic heritage. I’m a political scientist who has studied this heritage so I’m very much tempted to go into detail but just take my word for it that it’s a control-orientated democracy. Very hierarchical. So civil initiatives have always been viewed with suspicion, especially on the part of the bureaucracy. So you have to try very hard to make yourself acceptable to the bureaucracy. Once you have gone through that wall, then you have a chance of making an impact.

But I think this is changing because the government is increasingly realizing that it’s very difficult to deal with a complex society by going it alone. So we are getting more and more requests for cooperation, especially in the past five or six years. But you must remember that Turkey is being transformed very, very fast. So you have a control-orientated paradigm but, at the same time, ever-growing civil society activity that is eating away at that paradigm.

And what about the business sector? How do they see foundations and philanthropy?

Well, the business sector is also learning how to move into philanthropy, I think that there’s a lot of interest. The business sector here is establishing its own philanthropic organizations, like the Sabanci Foundation and the Koc Foundation. It’s through these activities that you get universities and cultural activities supported, museums restored and so on. But again I think that the business sector has some way to go to institutionalize its involvement with the philanthropic sector.

What do you see as the main challenges facing Turkish foundations today?

Human resources. Finding talent and competing with the private sector and the public sector for it. This is extremely important. For example, at TUSEV we have covered ground that I never thought we would have been able to cover six or seven years ago. Our ability, and luck, to find and recruit the proper talent made all the difference. I think that Turkish foundations are waking up to the fact that they need better professionals and they have also started to realize that they will have to pay for them, which is a significant development. Another challenge in Turkey is the feeling that the philanthropic sector should be left to volunteer staff rather than professionals.

The other major challenge is the institutionalization of strategic thinking. Under the Ottoman Empire, foundations had a tradition of charity and I think one of our most important challenges is to change the concept of charity into a concept of social change and social justice.

What do you think Turkish foundations have to gain from being part of Europe? What can they learn from foundations in Europe and from the EFC?

From European foundations, perhaps responsiveness to society, being more transparent, and collaboration. I have seen very interesting instances of collaboration in Europe, for example the Network of European Foundations. Perspectives on social change, I think, are another thing, for example integration of communities.

In this day and age of Turkish accession, if ever, to Europe, I think foundations could play an important role and here we can look to the European model.

And what about America? Are there any particular things you feel can be learned from their foundation practices?

I think the American model has a great deal to offer in terms of strategic thinking, fundraising and grantmaking, and developing organizations’ skills and capacities – these are the main things we should be looking across the Atlantic for.

What is the importance for TUSEV, and Turkey, of the EFC AGA being held in Istanbul?

To me personally it is very important and I think it is important for Turkey too. Historically, Turkey has had a very important foundation sector and with many accomplishments to its credit. I don’t think Europeans know much about the Turkish foundation heritage, and they should definitely be more aware of it. Turkey is a very important and dynamic country to whose development Turkish foundations are increasingly contributing and I would like my colleagues in the EFC to witness what is happening.

I also think that Turkey has a publicity problem in Europe. To be very frank, I don’t think that Europeans know much about Turkey and I don’t think the Turks are doing much about it! So I’m very happy that we are able to bring the EFC to Istanbul. They will see things, we will learn from them, and we will bring the European and the American foundations together with the Turkish foundations. We will consider opportunities for networking and future collaboration, wider publicity for the foundation sector, and greater visibility for Turkey.

If you could go ahead ten years, what changes would you like to see in the Turkish foundation sector? What is your vision?

I’d like to see Turkish foundations become more strategically orientated, developing partnerships and better governance, and investing more in research and policy – and, I would add, in social change.

Üstün Ergüder is chair of the Third Sector Foundation of Turkey (TUSEV). Email ustun@sabanciuniv.edu

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