Charity begins at home

1
 Charity begins at home 
Savings Banks and Community Foundations

Silvia Cambié Deputy Director Communications
European Savings Banks Group
2
Savings Banks have their roots in philanthropy

• Philanthropy  by promoting saving, members of
  the lower classes are guaranteed social
  advancement, thereby changing society 
• 600 years of history
• Created in late Middle ages and early
  Renaissance
• Roots in Franciscan pawnshops
• Montes Pietatis ( Charity Hills )

3
Savings Banks Origins

• 1431 Orcas de Limosurs (Spain)
• 1463 Perugia and Orvieto (Italy)
• 1484 Misericórdias (Portugal)
• 1500s  Orphans safe deposit boxes 
• 1778 First Savings Banks established in
  Hamburg- Hamburger Allgemeine
  Versorgungsanstalt

4
Savings Banks Origins

• 1st SB- promotion of savings by private
  individuals
• 18th and 19th century granting credit was a
  socio-political requirement.
• Political liberalism
• After 1815  savings could contribute to
  stabilising the social order 

5
TodayEuropean Savings Banks Group

• 990 savings banks
• 25 countries
• 2,775 billion EUR assets
• 1,675 billion EUR non-banker deposits
• 700,000 employees
• 66,000 branches

6
Common features

• Households, small businesses and handicraft
• Social commitment
• Special relationship with local authorities

7
Savings banks foundations
Savings Banks owned by foundations operate
foundations Total grants of savings banks
foundations, federations, associations, etc. of
France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden,
the Netherlands average 1.7 billion EUR per
year
8
Germany

• German savings banks operate 512 foundations
• Total capital 782 million EUR
• Total grants 267 million EUR
• Around 20 Bürgerstiftungen

9
Kulturstiftung der Sparkasse Stormarn

• Established in 1983
• Capital 24 million EUR
• Yearly grants ca 900,000 EUR
• Cultural projects, environment protection,
  initiatives for the youth, sports, protection of
  cultural heritage

10
Virtual countrysidewww.norsjo.se

• Norsjö Municipality
• Citizens give suggestions and express views over
  the internet, broadcasting of Municipal Council
  meetings, community information, e-mail, etc.
• 1999-2003
• 1,300 of 2,000 houselholds and 50 of 100 companies

11
 When a bank branch is closed down, this rips
the heart out of a community  Paul
Frampton Kiwibank New Zealand