Current research projects on philanthropy in Switserland
The Centre for Philanthropy Studies (CEPS) at the University of Basel is currently conducting research on philanthropy in Switzerland. Different research approaches and theories are connected through a general view on the topics philanthropy and foundations. The centre works closely together with other research institutions to engage in interdisciplinary research.
The research activities thereby contribute to the growth of knowledge about the following general topics:
1. Governance and the legitimacy of foundations
The CEPS will provide interdisciplinary articles about the application and the implementation of governance as well as the impact of governance on the management of the foundation. The CEPS aims for jurisprudential and sociological analyses.
2. Foundations - Strategies, performance and potentials
The focus of research in this field is based on the question, how foundations can efficiently manage the process of acquisition, selection, supervision and evaluation of applications. Another important question is how foundations can measure and display the success of their activities.
3. Philanthropy and social capital
In the Anglo-American understanding the term philanthropy means private actions for the common good. The term covers manifold actions and fields of activities: from a non-recurring donation via a voluntary engagement to the establishment of a foundation. The CEPS deals with all kinds of philanthropy and analyses its nature within a social context. In particular, we want to analyse and record the social benefit of philanthropy. The theoretical background of our research in this field is the concept of social capital.
Current research projects of the CEPS are the following:
1. Philanthropy in Switzerland
In this research project philanthropic activities of individuals and organizations in Switzerland are analyzed. Based on our definition of philanthropy as “any private voluntary action for public benefit” this encompasses private individuals, informal groups, NPO (esp. foundations) and corporations. Further, the research differentiates for each group of actors how they engage in philanthropic activities and the reasons why they do so. Following an interdisciplinary approach research results are based on scientific theories as well as empirical data.
2. Strategic Management of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
A strategic CSR approach assumes that CSR inherits a potential of simultaneously creating value for the company and the society. The approach implies that the full potential of CSR in creating shared value can only be tapped if it is planned, implemented and evaluated as part of a strategic management process. The research project centers on the question of how CSR should be designed to contribute to the achievement of corporate goals while simultaneously maximizing the social value. To answer the defined research question theoretical contributions to this field are systematically being analyzed and a survey in large Swiss companies is conducted. The empirical part will finally be complemented with a selected set of case studies.
3. Foundations building social capital
This project analyses in different phases how foundations contribute to the building of social capital. We use the term social capital to mean social networks, norms and trust. With social capital we are able to reach social goals better. This means that beneficiary foundations enhance cooperation, knowledge accumulation, understanding and social development and provide know-how, contacts, opportunities for interaction and financial resources. Therefore, the performances of beneficiary foundations are a transformation of financial capital into social capital. To verify the statement, we will have a look at different case studies to examine how social capital can be accumulated through projects of foundations and which meaning the accumulation of social capital has for the success of these projects. Afterwards we will carry out a quantitative empirical survey to examine how foundations can manage the encouragement and allocation of social capital.
Current state of Individual Giving Research in Switserland
A. Data sources
There are different sources that provide data on private donations in Switzerland. Table 1 introduces the different surveys. In the next section, the corresponding author organizations are briefly introduced.
Table 1: Overview of data sources.
Abbrev. Author | Survey name (current issue) | Object of research | Sample | Survey Frequency |
BFS | Frewilligenarbeit in der Schweiz (2008) | Time donations | 40’000 Swiss inhabitants above 15 years representative random sampling | every 3 to 4 years |
SGG | Freiwilligenmonitor (2007) | Time donations | 7’410 Swiss inhabitants above 15 years representative random sampling | approx. every 3 years |
ZEWO | ZEWOstatistik (2009) | Monetary donations | 431 ZEWO accredited nonprofit organizations | annual |
gfs | Spendenmonitor (2008) | Monetary donations | 1’530 Swiss inhabitants above 15 years representative random sampling | annual |
one marketing | Studie Spendenmarkt (2008) | Monetary donations | 2’000 Swiss inhabitants above 15 years representative random sampling | irregular |
CEPS | Der Schweizer Stiftungssektor im Überblick (2009) | Foundation giving | CEPS database of Swiss foundations | annual |
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS)
The Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BfS) co-ordinates the public statistics system of Switzerland. The office is collecting since 1997 every three or four years data on the voluntary activity of Swiss inhabitants above 15 years. The data is gathered within the framework of the Swiss Labor Force Survey (SAKE).
Schweizerische Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft (SGG)
The SGG is the Swiss Public Welfare Society and was founded in 1810. The SGG has created a monitoring tool of the voluntary action in Switzerland, called “Frewilligenmonitor”. The initial survey was published in December 2007. The next „Frewilligenmonitor“ will be published in 2010.
Schweizerische Zertifizierungsstelle für gemeinnützige Spenden sammelnde Organisationen (ZEWO)
The foundation ZEWO is the Swiss certification authority for nonprofit organizations which collect charitable donations. The ZEWO surveys annually data on the revenue structure of the 431 ZEWO accredited organizations. The main findings are published in the so called “ZEWOstatistik”.
GFS-Forschungsinstitut (gfs)
The research institute gfs-zürich is publishing annually the “Spendenmonitor”, a survey on the donation behavior and the image of nonprofit organizations in Switzerland.
One marketing services
The privatly owned market and social research published in 2008 a study called “Spendenmarkt Schweiz”. The study centres the donation behavior of Swiss inhabitants above 15 years.
Centre for Philanthropy Studies (CEPS)
The Centre for Philanthropy Studies (CEPS) is collecting and preparing continuously data about foundations in Switzerland and about their central organizational indicators such as employees, budgets, projects etc. Initial findings are presented in working papers and are generally available on the CEPS website. The findings are based on the CEPS database of all Swiss foundations.
B. Descriptive statistics
Private charitable giving
Private charitable giving is highly developed in Switzerland. In this section we will briefly present some key findings on monetary and time giving by privates in Switzerland.
1. Monetary donations (one marketing services 2008)
The volume of the private individual giving was estimated on 1.3 billion Swiss francs in 2007.
67% of the Swiss inhabitants over 15 years donated at least once in the year 2007. The proportion of donors has thereby remained relatively stable since 2002. The total amount donated by all adults over the course of the year of the survey was calculated to have been 250 Swiss francs on average. There is a significant increase of the median donation since the year 2002, when the median donation averaged at 200 Swiss francs.
Each donor supports at an average 2.4 organizations. The donor’s loyalty is high: every other donor supports a specific organization for more than 10 years.
Women in Switzerland donate more frequently than men (women 70%, men 64%), but there is no significant difference on the amount of the donation between the sexes.
Moreover contributing behavior is related to the linguistic region of the donors. Individuals living in the German linguistic region donate more frequently than their francophone neighbors.
Donation frequency and amount increase with age. In the group from 20-29 years 48% of the Swiss donate on at least a yearly basis. In the group of the 60-years old this frequency is 84%.
For the topics children and development aid is donated the most. The donations subjects depends on the age of the donator as well as on the linguistic region.
2. Time donations (SGG 2008)
24% of the resident population in Switzerland carries out at least one honorary or voluntary activity. About half of the volunteers (46%) hold an honorary post.
Men are more involved than woman (28% compared with 20%). The percentage of volunteers is significantly higher in the German-speaking part of Switzerland than in the French and Italian-speaking part.
The voluntary engagement in relation to age structure follows the rhythm of working life: During the active phase from 15 to 64 years, the share of formal volunteers is at his peak and decreases in the retirement phase.
Sporting associations benefit most from this involvement. People who carry out a voluntary activity spend on average almost one and-a-half working days per month.
82.4% of the volunteers indicate that their work is locally oriented. Only 7% of the voluntary activities are globally oriented.
80% indicate fun as the main motive of their voluntary activity. Other important motives are "move something with other people," "help others" and "meet with people."
References
Bundesamt für Statistik (2008) (Hrsg.): Freiwilligenarbeit in der Schweiz, Neuenburg.
GFS-Forschungsinstitut (2008) (Hrsg.) Spendenmonitor, Zürich.
One marketing services (2008) (Hrsg.): Studie Spendenmarkt Schweiz 2008, Zürich.
Stadelmann-Steffen, Isabelle/Markus Freitag/Marc Bühlmann (2007): Freiwilligenmonitor Schweiz 2007, Zürich.
Von Schnurbein, Georg (2009): Schweizer Stiftungssektor im Überblick, Basel.
ZEWO (2009) (Hrsg.): Der neue Spendenmix ist da. In: ZEWOforum, No. 03/2009, S. 6-9.
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