Italy: The dream of a national foundation with an unlimited budget

A single foundation capable of thinking about art, culture and science, as well as education. A foundation that would be funded by the national lottery, by the government and by traditional fundraising ventures. A foundation with a national perspective, that looks to the long term. These are the characteristics that the Fondazione Italia, Italy foundation, should have according to Vincenzo Manes, president of Italian venture philanthropy foundation Dynamo, who recently proposed the idea on the pages of the Sole24ore, Italy?s national financial magazine.

An idea that some consider a provocation, that risks copying models implemented abroad and questioning the role that existing foundations play. But that Manes is quick to defend: Fondazione Italy would cover an area that no one covers in Italy today. Long term investment and planning.

What are the most innovative aspects of your proposal?
There are 5 thousand active foundations in Italy today. Each one engages with its own separate communities, there is no single foundation that deals with the whole country; that plans for the future and attempts to create the conditions for citizens in twenty years time to live better than they do today. My proposal is to create a foundation that has this wide perspective and that is financed by both the public and private sector.

Would such as structure not risk becoming a political pawn?
It would. But such a risk can also be avoided through careful planning: the foundation should have credibility, starting with an authoritative board of directors. Perhaps the foundation should be presided by Mr. Ciampi, ex governor of the Bank of Italy and Italian president till 2006. And the executive body should be made up of real experts, who would not necessarily be Italian.

What model would the foundation be based on? France?s Attali commission?
Certainly on the experience gained from other European countries, without fearing to be provincial nor attempting to re-invent the wheel.

And what role would banking foundations take on if this super foundation were to be created?
They should carry on being community foundations, in close contact with the areas they operate in. The Italia Foundation, on the other hand, should have a different role, a wider scope.

But wouldn?t this super foundation become a kind of parallel ?ministry??
It may look like it. But it wouldn?t. Today ministries have short term objectives, they think in terms of their budget, not in terms of what the national interests are over the next twenty years. Today ministries manage what exists, wheras what I propose is to create a structure that has no budget constraints, that thinks long term free of financial pressures. It should obviously be accountable, but not limited by deficit problems.

And what role for the Italian Minister for the Economy, Tremonti?
He is the ideal interlocutor. My proposal is addressed to the political class, to the entrepreneurial and social worlds that exist in our country. It has no particular points of reference. But in any case at the moment the priority is to raise the necessary funds for the start up ? we can?t ask for a 200 million euro fund.

Today decentralization seems to be the magic word. Your proposal goes counter to this trend. What do you think the public will say?
Honestly, I haven?t thought about it. I am interested in an indirect initiative for the common good and I think that at the moment the climate is ripe. This is a nearly zero cost project that has the potential to have a great impact. But it needs everyone?s cooperation in order to succeed.

The initial capital will be both public and private. So each stage has to guarantee transparency ?
Certainly. For example, to recruit the chief executive, I would put an advertisement on the Economist. This way we would be able to select the best that Europe has to offer and open up to different culture. I can add that if they were available, I would also call on the assistance of those responsible for the success of the Foundation of France or the King Baudouin Fondation to adopt their successful models. Its not a question of copying but of helping Italian citizens live better

More info

• www.fondazionedynamo.org
• www.vita.it
• www.fdf.org
• www.kbs-frb.be