KOOT FOUNDATION

The aim of the Koot Foundation (‘Koot Foundation’) is to provide financial and other forms of support to civil society organisations with ANBI status, and project-based support to civil society and new catalytic initiatives, aimed at promoting a just, peaceful, sustainable and inclusive society that offers equal opportunities to all – in the Netherlands, Europe and worldwide.

The Foundation does this by focusing on the following areas:

• promoting democracy, peace, justice and human rights;
• promoting equality and equal opportunities;
• strengthening education, science and research;
• supporting social initiatives in less developed countries;
• improving the quality of life on Earth and preserving it for the long term, including through the protection and restoration of nature and the environment;
• promoting art and culture, and their social impact;
• supporting the independent press and investigative journalism, as well as promoting the provision of independent and reliable information within a democratic constitutional state

The Foundation aims to provide a solid foundation for initiatives that generate social impact, promote structural change, and make catalytic contributions to a world in which freedom, knowledge and equal opportunities are central. This is not only beneficial for those of us living today, but also for all future generations.

The Foundation aims to support existing organisations and initiatives that have proved to make a real difference. The Foundation also aims to create space for experimentation and new ideas by providing project-based support to new initiatives that may carry a higher risk of failure but also have the potential to bring about a significant positive impact.

In general, the Foundation will undertake the following activities during the period 2025-2028:

• Supporting catalytic, high-impact existing organisations with ANBI status that have proved to make a substantial difference in the Foundation’s priority areas;
• Actively seeking out and identifying new ideas and experiments, with skilled people to implement them, and subsequently providing project-based support to innovative and potentially high-risk initiatives that aim to make a substantial difference within the Foundation’s priority areas;
• Reaching out to (European) philanthropists to learn from their experiences and best practices – both individually and through donor platforms;
• Creating partnerships with other (European) foundations and individual philanthropists within the Foundation’s priority areas – such as the promotion of democracy in Europe, independent media, ending violence against women, etc.;
• Exploring the possibility of creating a ‘start-up’ fund with other donors to support creative, social initiatives with a high potential for success and potentially a significant and substantial impact, which promote the public good and operate within the Foundation’s priority areas.

The Foundation will carry out these activities by utilising its financial resources, the expertise of its board members and the networks of its board members. Where useful and appropriate, the Foundation may act as a thought partner for the organisations and initiatives it supports, assisting them with introductions and advice.

The Foundation’s work is based on a number of principles:

• Collaboration: No one can change the world alone, but by working together we can achieve a great deal. The Foundation believes in ‘partnership’. The Foundation believes that real change only happens when different individuals and organisations work together – and build on each other’s work, expertise, and experience.
• Trust: Through honest, open discussions with our partners, the Foundation hopes to evaluate what works and what does not, and to learn how the Foundation can improve.
• Equality: Tension and ‘power dynamics’ may arise in the relationship between donor and recipient of financial support. The Foundation considers this undesirable. The Foundation views and respects its grantee partners as experts. The Foundation will treat them as equal colleagues in a coalition for change, each with their own role.
• Experimentation: The Foundation aims to create space to test new ideas and adjust them when necessary. The Foundation is aware that not all projects will be successful but believes that such learning moments contribute to the achievement of its goals.
• True partnership: The Foundation does not wish merely to provide financial resources to the organisations it supports. Where appropriate, partners may also be assisted with advice, research, networking, introductions, feedback, etc.
• Independence: The Foundation is neutral with regard to party politics and religion. Support is given to the strengthening of democracy as a whole and the quality of leadership, not to political parties or party-political initiatives.
• Empowerment: The Foundation aims to give its partner organisations with ANBI status the greatest possible scope to carry out their work by, in principle, providing multi-year ‘core funding’, thereby fostering sustainable collaboration and enabling a focus on the mission and long-term goals. In other cases, the Foundation will provide more restricted project funding.
• Co-funding: The Foundation hopes to collaborate with other donors active in its priority areas and, where appropriate, to provide joint funding.
• Public benefit: The Foundation supports only organisations and initiatives that promote the public good and are not-for-profit.

The Foundation’s board intends to critically review the Foundation’s principles at least once a year and, if necessary, revise them – so that the Foundation can be certain that the way it operates enables it to carry out its mission effectively and does not create unnecessary restrictions.

In the initial years, the Foundation will itself seek out grantee partners to support, who fit within the stated objectives. The Foundation will only consider applications by invitation.

The Foundation’s board works on a voluntary basis. It consists of Hilary Cottam, Mabel van Oranje (chair), and Willemijn Verloop.

The Foundation will not hold any assets other than those prescribed in the Foundation’s regulations or in the terms and conditions of the donations, such as a maintenance obligation.

The costs of the Foundation’s management and administration will be in reasonable proportion to the expenditure incurred for the purpose of the Foundation.

The Koot Foundation aims to be a socially and environmentally sustainable organisation, both in its policy and in its implementation.