Foundations in the Canton of Zurich

Canton of Zurich: Foundations Top the List in a Switzerland-wide Comparison

The most populous canton is also the one with the most foundations. Zurich is number 1 among the cantons in terms of the number of foundations: with 2’225 foundations, according to the Swiss Foundation Report, Zurich leads the ranking by a large margin, ahead of the canton of Vaud (1’374), the canton of Geneva (1’333) and the canton of Basel-Stadt (905).

Foundations in the Canton of Zurich

In 2021, the canton of Zurich recorded the highest increase in new foundations nationwide: 51 new foundations were offset by 36 liquidations. This trend did not continue in 2022: 41 foundations were newly established and 44 were liquidated, which resulted in a slight decline in foundations.

In the past years: in 2017, there was still a net growth of 22 foundations in Zurich. In 2018, for the first time, there were more liquidations than new foundations (net growth -6), and in 2019 there was again a decline of -11 foundations.

Education, Social Issues and Art and Culture: the Main Areas of Activity of Zurich’s Foundations

Which topics are the majority of Zurich foundations involved in? A trend can be seen in the foundation purposes: According to the foundation statistics of the Center for Philanthropy Studies (CEPS), most of the foundation purposes are located in the area of «education and research». 720 foundations have a foundation purpose in this area. This is followed by «social services» (704) and «culture and leisure» (589).

This trend is confirmed by a look at the StiftungSchweiz foundation register: most of the grant giving organizations listed on the philanthropy platform according to a specially developed categorisation system are active in the areas of social welfare, education, and art and culture. This means that the Zurich foundations are a reflection of the Swiss average in terms of their main areas of activity: the dominant areas of activity in Switzerland are social welfare, art and culture, education, and leisure and sport.

Many of the largest and most important Swiss grant giving organizations have their roots in the Canton of Zurich. For example, the headquarters of the Swiss Study Foundation is in Zurich, the largest Swiss foundation for the promotion of students. The prominent Jacobs Foundation, active in the field of child and youth development, is also based in Zurich.

Start Digital Fundraising and Find Suitable Foundations in Zurich Faster

If you are looking for suitable grant giving organizations in Zurich, the StiftungSchweiz foundation directory is the right place for you. This directory contains data from over 13’000 grant giving and nonprofit organizations. Thanks to intuitive filter and search options, you can quickly narrow down the results and find what you are looking for.

Already with the entry level “Starter” you get access to the largest philanthropy platform in Switzerland. Digitize your fundraising and get to successful project funding faster and more efficiently thanks to numerous tools.

With StiftungSchweiz, you can not only start your digital foundation fundraising, but also activate your organization and projects on the largest Swiss donation platform – and thus gain easy access to the private donor market.