Erste Foundation Bond
Facts and Figures
ERSTE Foundation currently holds 25.3% in the stock of Erste Group Bank AG, one of the largest financial services providers in Central and South Eastern Europe. ERSTE Foundation invests its dividend revenue in the development of societies in Austria, Central and South Eastern Europe: it supports social participation and civil-society engagement, it brings people together and disseminates knowledge of the recent history of this region that has been undergoing dramatic change since 1989.
ERSTE Foundation’s work
The funds used by ERSTE Foundation for project work can be classified as either (i) funding of project partners, i.e., payments to non-profit organisations for the implementation of projects or (ii) direct project expenses, i.e., costs incurred by ERSTE Foundation for the research, development and implementation of projects in the frame of its 3 programmes Social Development, Europe and Culture.
In 2006, ERSTE Foundation provided the nominal capital for the founding of Zweite Sparkasse, the bank for the unbankable, and in 2008/2009 of good.bee, an initiative to overcome financial exclusion. These were extraordinary expenditures, which are not incurred on a regular basis.
The charts below give you more information on how ERSTE Foundation uses its funds for project work.
ERSTE Foundation’s total expenditure for projects 2005-2010: €39.9 million
Chart 1: Amounts in 1,000 euros
The funding of project partners makes up for the vast majority of ERSTE Foundation’s total expenditure. From 2005 to 2010, 64% of ERSTE Foundation’s funds were paid to non-profit organisations for the implementation of projects. Only in 2006, when ERSTE Foundation invested in the establishment of Die Zweite Sparkasse, a substantial amount was used for non-project related purposes.
Types of expenditure: Share in total project expenditure 2005-2010
In the period 2005-2010, start-up financing for Zweite Sparaksse and good.bee made up for 20% of ERSTE Foundation’s total expenditure. Direct project expenses accounted for 16% of total expenditure.
ERSTE Foundation’s regular expenditure for project work:
Funding and direct project expenses 2005-2010: €32.0 million
ERSTE Foundation’s expenditure for project work in the period 2005-2010 — calculated as total expenditure minus the founding costs of Zweite Sparkasse and good.bee — amounted to a total of 32.0 million euros. Chart 3 shows the share of ERSTE Foundation’s programmes (Social Development, Culture, Europe and General Funding) in total funding and direct project expenses in this period.
Number of projects approved
From 2005 to 2010, a total of 548 individual projects was approved. Out of that, 110 projects were the results of calls for application.
In Austria, private savings bank foundations are committed to serving the common good, while also carrying a special respon-sibility as main shareholders of their banking institutions. There-fore, ERSTE Foundation invests part of its dividend to promote the growth of Erste Group. The inde-pendence and the economic success of Erste Group, in turn,
safeguard the future of its major shareholder, ERSTE Foundation.
of ERSTE Foundation's annual budget is invested in projects that we initiate in our 3 pro-grammes Social Development, Culture and Europe. The remai-ning 20% are spent as grants to non-profit organisations to support their projects.
is the total amount of funds ERSTE Foundation has spent between its founding date in 2003 and the end of 2010.
is the total number of projects ERSTE Foundation has imple-mented and/or supported between 2005 and the end of 2010.
is the total number of persons who form our operating team*. In detail, these are 30 employees and 8 freelancers.
* excluding Boards, as of end-2010.
Fact Sheet
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As of: August 2011
Annual Reports
You want to know more about the work of ERSTE Foundation? Here you can download our Annual Reports.