The board of EASAC Foundation has established a policy plan for its future activities aimed at reaching out to individuals and organisations who might be interested in supporting the work of EASAC Foundation financially through donations. The highlights of the policy plan are summarized below.

Active role of board members
Board members of EASAC Foundation take an active role approaching individuals or organisations, with the aim to explore with them whether they might be interested in supporting the work of the EASAC Foundation through donations for specific projects or themes that fit the interests or mission of the donor.

Identification of key organisations
To achieve this goal, the board has met with various colleagues and representatives of academies sympathetic to the cause of EASAC Foundation, to get an overview of organisations who have generally been supportive of projects on science for policy advice in the past, and to assess which organisations within Europe might be willing to support future activities. A number of people to contact within these organisations have also been identified. Board members will start following up on these suggestions in the fall of 2024.

Identification of propositions
It is natural that different prospective donors are interested in supporting different types of activities of EASAC Foundation. In order to facilitate engaging with future partners, the board has therefore established an indicative list of possible propositions. A summary of these is included on the page Donating.

Transparency and opennness
EASAC Foundation adheres to transparency and openness required by modern fundraising. The board has therefore drawn up a draft gift agreement, which future donors will be asked to sign. This gift agreement also involves a statement of non-interference of the donor with the content of the activities supported by the donations. At the same time, EASAC Foundation guarantees that not more than 5% of a gift is used for overhead, so that at least 95% of each donation is used for the project for which the gift is intended.

Moreover, in the future, the website of EASAC Foundation will give information about donors and the projects which are supported by a particular donation.

Safeguarding the independence of science for policy advice
The strength of the work of EASAC Foundation is that the projects are focussed on giving independent science for policy advice based on the input of Europe’s best scientists, and that the work is not compromised or influenced by financial interests or support from donors. In order to safeguard this independence, before signing any agreement with a possible donor, the board of EASAC Foundation will consult partner academies and network organisations of academies whether support by the proposed donor is suitable and will not breach the independence of the science advice of EASAC Foundation.

Advisory board
The board intends to establish an advisory board in 2025. As advisory board members, EASAC Foundation aims to invite a few individuals who know the funding landscape, who have held a position as director of a fund, or who have first-hand experience (e.g. because they served on an advisory board of a fund).

Project management
EASAC Foundation will manage supported projects with the highest standards of accountability and transparency, making use of the experience of the board members in running large professional organizations, like universities, academies and funding organizations.

Website
In the future, this website will provide information about projects supported by donors.

Buildup-phase of 3 years
EASAC Foundation was established in 2024 with three board members, who all have ealier experience within the network organization EASAC or who are active within the network. The present board sees the period 2024-2027 as a buildup phase aimed at establishing the necessary contacts and experience.

Evaluation
In mid-2027 the functioning of the foundation will be evaluated and the composition of the board will be re-evaluated; a rotation schedule for the board members will then also be established. According to the statutes, the board should always have one board member who is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences KNAW (which has ANBI status, the Dutch version of a charity) and one board member who is a member of a foreign academy that has charity (‘ANBI’) status.