IKEA Foundation donations increased by 26% in 2012 to €82m

Howard Lake | 18 March 2013 | News

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• funding
• Research / statistics

Last year the IKEA Foundation gave €82 million (£71m million) in grants to help children and families living in poverty in 28 developing countries.

The Foundation made grants for the first time to six charities and NGOs, bringing to a total of 20 the organisations that it supports. Its annual report for 2012 claims that it is "now the biggest global corporate donor to UNICEF; UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency; United Nations Development Programme; Save the Children; and Fight for Peace International, a UK-based charity."

During 2012 the Founation provided funding for the first time both to USA- and UK-based charitable organisations working in developing countries. For example, it donated €9.3 million to UNICEF and Save the Children through the Soft Toys for Education campaign with IKEA.

The Foundation's annual report places it "among the most generous corporate foundations in the world":

•             Using the Foundation Centre’s “50 Largest Corporate Foundations by Total Giving” would place IKEA Foundation as the seventh largest corporate foundation by total giving.

•             Using a study of Europe’s largest family foundations by the Research Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy shows that by spending, the IKEA Foundation would be among the top five family foundations in the UK, Germany, and Italy.

•             In the UK, using a recent CITY.AM – Guide to the world’s largest donors would put the IKEA Foundation at 14th.

Per Heggenes, CEO of the IKEA Foundation, commented: "what’s important isn’t just how much we give, but how we give. By working long-term with the right partners, we can help drive innovation and implement lasting change, allowing us to reach and make a difference in the lives of 100 million children by 2015.’’

www.ikeafoundation.org

Photo: Gerard Stolk on Flickr.com

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.