DEEPENING AND WIDENING THE MEMBERSHIP

We want our membership to grow strategically, and to be more actively engaged in Philea so that we can capitalise on our collective pool of knowledge.

With individual philanthropies and national-level infrastructure organisations in over 30 countries as members, we unite over 7,500 public-benefit foundations that seek to improve life for people and communities in Europe and around the world.  

This was another year of encouraging membership growth, with 30 new Full Members and 6 new Associate Members – from 21 different countries, 4 of which from central and eastern Europe – joining in 2024.

The year began with our first Open House online event, responding to members’ suggestions and aiming to help them navigate our vast offer of activities and identify engagement opportunities that best suit their needs.

Members made important decisions at the Philea Forum’s General Assembly 2024 in Ghent, Belgium: In addition to the approval of the annual accounts, members voted to update our membership fee scale, effective as of 1 January 2025. The General Assembly's (GA) approval was the final step of a broad consultation that involved all our governing bodies as well as the wider membership. Members reviewed the draft proposal before the GA and shared their views through a survey and individual conversations. This was a milestone for our financial sustainability, helping us to better enable, encourage and empower the philanthropic community to build a better today and tomorrow, in line with our Strategic Framework 2023-2027.

The GA also marked our first-ever full-scale elections, with the renewal of half of the Board of Directors and the Nominations and Governance Committee, as well as the election of additional members to the Advisory Committee, now in its final form and representing the wider membership more comprehensively.

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“Philea is the KEY actor that can drive the much-needed changes in the philanthropy sector in Europe.”

Respondent from 2024 Philea membership satisfaction survey

Membership Survey

In 2024, we launched the second edition of our annual membership satisfaction survey, which provided valuable insights into what our members appreciate and offered useful suggestions on how to best serve the community. The results were very encouraging, with 88% of our Full Members indicating that they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with us.

These insights helped our team and governing bodies advance strategic discussions, including the involvement of Associate Members and corporate philanthropy, as well as the criteria for selecting candidates for our governing bodies during elections.

Moreover, our commitment to supporting the ecosystem at large, with a specific focus on central and eastern Europe, led to a series of online conversations bringing together philanthropy infrastructure organisations from the CEE region – beyond our membership – offering these actors a valuable space for exchange and collaboration in the challenging context they face.