The majority of funds raised by charitable foundations in Liechtenstein went to foreign causes. This was revealed in a survey conducted by the Association of Liechtenstein Charitable Foundations and Trusts.
The Association of Liechtenstein Charitable Foundations and Trusts (VLGST) has for the third time already conducted a voluntary survey on the funding volume of charitable foundations and trusts. Accordingly, in 2018, the 340 foundations taking part in the survey paid out a total of 190 million Swiss francs overall to charitable projects and institutions. In an interview with the newspaper Liechtensteiner Vaterland, Thomas Zwiefelhofer commented that the survey clearly emphasized the key contributions made by charitable foundations to social solidarity.
According to Zwiefelhofer, who has succeeded founding president Hans Brunhart as the President of the VLGST, 22 percent of the total of 190 million Swiss francs went to projects in Liechtenstein and Switzerland, with a further 75 percent put towards international projects further afield. Funding areas range from education and development cooperations, research, healthcare, art and culture as well as social affairs, all the way through to environmental and climate protection.
From Hans Brunhart’s point of view, the survey results are informative. In the interview with Liechtensteiner Vaterland, Brunhart stated that the results of the survey reveal that charitable foundations support projects and institutions across all areas of life, and in so doing they have a huge social importance. This can be felt across the entire country. According to Brunhart, the large, internationally operating charitable foundations make a significant contribution to the global reputation of the country’s finance sector.
