The Department of Economic and Management "Marco Fanno" has promoted four national surveys on Italian grant-making foundations in collaboration with industry associations. The research aims to investigate the role of Foundations ‘governing bodies in in promoting institutional philanthropy inspired by the theoretical model of strategic philanthropy.

Strategic philanthropy is a predominantly Anglo-Saxon model that encourages Foundations to become proactive actors capable of planning social interventions by establishing complex networks with other actors in the third sector. These private welfare networks should be fuelled by frequent interactions between grant-making Foundations, operational beneficiaries, institutional actors, social enterprises, and policymakers.

The goal is to concretely enhance the Foundations' ability to develop action plans, identify the best intervention tools, select appropriate project partners, and monitor and analyse the social outcomes achieved. The expected result is a greater capacity for Foundations to experiment with and assess different lines of intervention, in search of the best possible social impacts. The applicability of strategic philanthropy in the Italian context is inevitably influenced by the particularities of our country and our patronage tradition.

The research results aim to promote understanding of the theoretical model and analyse possible improvements or local adaptations.