Canopus Foundation
| Canopus Foundation | |
|---|---|
|
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| Legal form: | Family foundation |
| Purpose: | Fighting poverty through rural electrification, education and science for a sustainable economy |
| Chair: | Peter W. Heller |
| Consist: | 1997 |
| Seat: | Dreieich book cover |
| Website: | Official website |
The Canopus Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation under German law that was founded in 1997 by Wolfgang Heller and Peter W. Heller.
organization
The foundation has its legal seat in Dreieich- Buchschlag. The office is located in Freiburg im Breisgau . The managing director is Peter W. Heller. Other members of the Board of Trustees are Micaela Heller, Julia T. Rahmani and Jakob Heller. The foundation has two permanent and eight freelance employees (as of 2019). The annual operational budget is around 300,000 euros.
history
The non-profit Canopus Foundation, founded in 1997, aims to make a contribution to poverty reduction, environmental protection, education and science for a sustainable economy. According to its statutes, the focus of its activity lies in the areas of poverty reduction, environmental and climate protection (international projects in Asia, Africa and South America), as well as the promotion of education and science in the field of sustainable economic theory and practice (projects in Germany and Europe ).
The Canopus Foundation supports social enterprises and non-profit organizations that are committed to the electrification of low-income households with renewable energies in order to enable everyone to have access to sustainable energy ("Energy Access"). Support is primarily given to projects that electrify rural regions in developing countries and thus improve people's quality of life (see rural development ).
Furthermore, the foundation supports initiatives that open up the thinking space of economic sciences in the direction of a greater plurality of doctrines and a more intensive examination of the prerequisites for a sustainable economy and society.
From 2000 to 2019 the foundation sponsored 46 social enterprises and organizations and held two international competitions under the title “Solar for All”.
In 2014 the Canopus Foundation became a founding partner of the Humboldt Viadrina Governance Platform gGmbH in Berlin.
Other cooperation partners include Ashoka , Elea Foundation for Ethics in Globalization and Cusanus University .
method
As a private family foundation, the Canopus Foundation is based on the concept of venture philanthropy. In essence, it is about transferring the methods of venture capital from the commercial to the non-profit sector. The foundation promotes the provision of risk capital for young social enterprises in order to support them as part of a multi-year strategic partnership. If possible, they should become economically self-sustaining and be able to increase their social and ecological impact. The support of the Canopus Foundation goes beyond a purely financial commitment; management skills, market knowledge, contacts to investors and technical knowledge are made available if required . The foundation has been a member of the European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA) since 2008.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.canopusfund.org/wer-wir-sind/unsere-geschichte/
- ↑ "Venture Philanthropy in Practice - The Canopus Foundation", in: Venture Philanthropy in Theory and Practice (PDF; 3.8 MB) Hoelscher / Ebermann / Schlüter, Maecenata Schriften Vol. 7, (Lucius & Lucius), p. 13 –22 .. Stuttgart 2010. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
