Current policy
The Foundation’s current policy consists of raising as much money as possible and identifying and assessing potential spending purposes and support requests, as per the Foundations articles, to which the Foundation will be able to contribute. The Foundation does not pursue wealth creation. Funds raised will always be used for the Foundation’s objectives before the end of the year following the year in which they were raised. The Foundation may decide to keep a maximum of 10% of funds raised in reserve to cover unforeseen expenses and unplanned spending. An exception to this principle will be made for gifts, donations, and testamentary dispositions that come with the condition that only the revenues or another designated part can be spent on the Foundation’s objective. An exception to the above principle may also be made for long-term projects that require phased execution and funding.
Support request processing
- A request for support must at least include the following:
- A factual description of the objective to be achieved;
- The way in which the objective is to be achieved;
- Specification of the efforts that the party requesting support has made to achieve the objective and the reason(s) why these efforts have proven to be inadequate to achieve the objective;
- The amount of financial support requested from the Foundation.
- The request will be assessed to check whether it is aligned with the Foundation’s objective as specified in the Foundation’s articles.
- A request for support will be discussed at the first upcoming board meeting, and at least within four weeks after a complete request has been received.
- If a decision on the request cannot be made at this board meeting because the request raises questions, the party that submitted the request will be given the opportunity to provide the required information. A decision on the request may be postponed to no more than eight weeks after the request for further information was made;
- A request relating to one and the same objective can be submitted only once.
- The board will make a decision in the first and only instance.
- Concise reasons for a decision to grant or reject a request will be provided, looking in particular at efforts made by or for the party requesting the support to achieve the intended objective.
The Foundation does not pursue wealth creation. Funds raised will always be used for the Foundation’s objectives before the end of the year following the year in which they were raised. The Foundation may decide to keep a maximum of 10% of funds raised in reserve to cover unforeseen expenses and unplanned spending. An exception to this principle will be made for gifts, donations, and testamentary dispositions that come with the condition that only the revenues or another designated part can be spent on the Foundation’s objective. An exception to the above principle may also be made for long-term projects that require phased execution and funding.
Fundraising
The Foundation will raise funds among Bronkhorst group members and their staff, as well as among their customers, business partners, friends, acquaintances, and fellow locals. Funds can be raised from gifts, donations, testamentary dispositions, and legacies.
Fund spending
Funds raised will be spent as specified in the ‘Current policy’ section. Given that funds raised are intended to serve the public good, the Foundation will keep the costs involved in maintaining the Foundation and the execution of projects and initiatives to the absolute required minimum.
Board members are authorised to claim expenses made in a private capacity or in advance, including travel expenses other than travel expenses incurred to attend a meeting. Board members are furthermore entitled to an attendance fee that includes a travel allowance to be able to attend meetings, up to the maximum set for this purpose by Dutch tax legislation for public benefit organisations (PBOs). The attendance fee will be set annually by the board at the start of the year.
Funds will solely go to institutions or be spent on initiatives that are guaranteed to serve the public good. In case of doubts over the status of spending options, the Foundation will seek prior advice from a fiscal and legal expert. If there is still uncertainty after such advice, the Foundation will ask the Dutch tax administration for its opinion beforehand.
Financial management
The treasurer will keep records of all financial transactions and report to the board at least once a year at the end of the year. The reporting will include a statement of assets and liabilities (balance sheet) and a profit and loss account (profit and loss account), a specification of projects and initiatives with the associated expenditure and a specification of all monies received. All funds will be held in regular bank or savings accounts with nationally known Dutch banking institutions pending their spending. Cash transactions will be avoided as much as possible. An exception to this rule will necessarily have to be made in the case of collection campaigns on special occasions, such as the collection box at the exit of a festive gathering.
The treasurer will not issue any payments without the consent of at least a majority of the board members. Such consent will have to be recorded in the minutes of a board meeting or in a written or email message issued by board members.
Decision-making
The formal criterion for all decision-making by the board is the provision from the Foundation’s articles that states that decisions are to be made by an absolute majority of the votes cast. That said, the board will take as its basic principle that decisions to take initiatives, support other initiatives and institutions, and allocate funds will be taken on the basis of unanimity.
Financial forecast 2024-2025
At the time of drafting this policy plan, most of the year 2024 has already passed. Therefore, the ambitions for 2024 are not substantial. For the remaining part of 2024 and 2025, the foundation will primarily focus on fundraising and raising awareness of its existence and objectives among individuals and organizations in the vicinity of the Bronkhorst Group and Ruurlo.
The Foundation aims to raise a total of €1,000 in the second half of 2023. Of this amount, at least 75% will be actually spent on providing support in line with the stated objectives during the years 2024, 2025, and 2026, after deducting necessary expenses.