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Some of Europe's biggest foundations are also the most recent. They include a $1 billion foundation set up by Klaus Tschira, a co-founder of the German software firm SAP, that funds science competitions and antismoking campaigns, and a $250 million foundation set up in 2000 by Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant. In Germany some newer foundations are following the example of Reinhard Mohn, who built Germany's Bertelsmann into a media powerhouse after World War II and in 1993 transferred the company's ownership to a foundation that now has about $900 million in assets. In Belgium Luc Tayart de Borms oversees the $250 million King Baudouin Foundation, which was set up by the Belgian head of state, and serves as an umbrella organization for corporate and other donors. The number of private funds under its aegis has doubled in five years. Britain, which has a long history of philanthropy, is home to, among other big foundations, the $27 billion Wellcome Trust, which funds biomedical research like the genome project.
The rise in philanthropy helps fill growing funding gaps across Europe. Budget deficits have been on the rise since the 1990s owing to economic downturns and rising health and retirement costs. As a result, France, Spain, Belgium, Britain and Germany have introduced new laws--including bigger tax breaks--that encourage philanthropy. Scheubeck, for one, says the tax changes made the idea of creating his foundation "more interesting."
The new giving spirit isn't based on just pragmatism. A generational change in Europe's wealthy families has contributed to new charitable attitudes. As the entrepreneurs who rebuilt postwar Europe retire, many want to give back some of the bounty they have enjoyed. In a survey of 1,600 of the newest German foundations, the Bertelsmann Foundation found that more than 60% of them were set up by people over 60 years old--42% of whom don't have children.
Bertelsmann's Reinhard Mohn, 83, does have children, including a daughter who is active in the foundation and a son who works at the company. And the way he set up his foundation as the firm's major shareholder means the family will continue to have an influence in the business even after his death. That's controversial. Some managers at the company have criticized the role played by his wife Liz, 63, in the recent ousters of two top executives. But Mohn is committed to his vision of improving society and he wanted the Bertelsmann Foundation--unlike many U.S. foundations that limit their activities to providing grants--to have a hands-on role. The foundation, set up in 1977, funds only projects that it runs; its stated ambition is to influence the future shape of Germany.