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Fundación Luis Vives

Voluntad y eficacia, juntos mejor

ÁREAS:

inicio / quiénes somos / who we are

Who we are

Created in 1987, after the aggregation of several pre existing foundations, the Foundation is an independent not-for-profit organisation.  The Foundation supports and capacity builds associations, foundations and other non-for-profit organisations with a social action mission, collecting the spirit of the distinguished Spanish Renaissance man Juan Luis Vives, who, already in the 16th century, promoted Social Action and fought for principles of justice, defence and protection of the people. 

The Foundation is managed by a steering board of independent professionals committed to the development of the Third Sector and to social justice.

The Foundation is member of the Spanish Foundations Association and the European Foundation Centre.

Mission

The mission of the Luis Vives Foundation is to give support and capacity build the Social Action Third Sector. 

In order to achieve this mission the Foundation has developed four activity lines:

  • Information and awareness rising
  • Training
  • Technical assistance and advising
  • Analysis, research and debate

Values

The Foundation is committed to being:

  • ...Independent: setting its own agenda to accomplish its mission, independently from any public or private body.
  • ...Open minded at all levels: management, decision taking and public action. The attitude towards its partners is receptive and cooperating, establishing relationships of mutual trust and always considering everyone’s interests.
  • ...Innovative: continuously improving our services and adapting to changing needs as well as taking initiatives to lead procedures and to mobilize actors and resources in benefit of the development of the sector.
  • ...Professional: our management style is ruled by principles of rigorousness, efficiency and excellence, and is guided by technical and quality criteria.

Information and awareness rising

Over the years, the Foundation has developed a wide offer of information and awareness raising sources.

Website

Weekly Newsletters

Training

Wide training offer in non-for-profit Organisations management (accountancy, taxes, project management, quality, communication, volunteering, etc.):

  • Degree in non-for-profit organisations management, co-managed since 2000 with UNED (Spanish University of Long Distance Education): more than 1,200 students have enroled in this course.
  • On-site Training: free courses aimed at social organisations, more than 600 students per year benefit from these courses.
  • On-line Training: through the website Solucionesong.org.

Technical assistance and advising

The Foundation offers different services aimed at strengthening social action organisations:

Technical assistance

Analysis, diagnosis and improvement proposals for organisational development.  Currently, four projects are being managed:

  • Implementing quality systems
  • Elaborating strategic plans
  • Elaborating communication plans
  • Strengthening organisations working with immigrants

Advising

Services aimed at solving social action organisation's queries through:

  • Our on-line Frequently Asked Questions Service managed through the website Solucionesong.org.
  • Advice Service aimed at solving queries regarding the creation of associations and foundations. 

Analysis, research and debate

The Foundation encourages initiatives aimed at creating and exchanging information about the sector:

  • Spanish Journal on the Third Sector (Revista Española del Tercer Sector): four-monthly scientific publication about the Third Sector.
  • Forum on the Third Sector: thematic forum on the main challenges of the sector. A summary of the results and the main findings are spread through seminars and the printed collection “Debate Handbooks”.
  • Seminars and workshops: aimed at fostering dialogue and exchange of information and good practice on Third Sector relevant matters (accountancy, communication in the European Union, social inclusion, etc.).

In 2008 this action line will be reinforced with new products, such as a publication on Corporate Social Responsibility and a Yearly Report on the situation of the Third Sector.

Cross-departmental services

In addition,  two crossed-departmental services support our four action lines:

  • European affairs: in recent years, affairs related to European social policies have acquired a growing significance in the foundation’s activities.  Our aim is to include the European perspective to our four action lines in order to bridge bonds between Spanish non-for-profit organisations and the European institutions.
  • Publications: publishing is oriented to promoting quality and useful tools for the development of social organisations. Together with the Spanish Journal on the Third Sector (RETS) and other studies, we publish three other collections: European Handbooks, Management Handbooks and Debate Handbooks). A new publication on Corporate Social Responsibility will appear in 2008 .

Partners...

Our main partners are:

The Foundation is a member of:

Who was Juan Luis Vives

Juan Luis Vives is considered the most important representative of humanism in Spain. He was born in Valencia, 1492, with a jewish background, and had to leave Spain most likely for this reason. He soon started travelling around Europe’s most important cities, completing his education, started at the University of Valencia.

Juan Luis Vives was a prestigious educator. He met and rub shoulders with the greatest characters of the time such as Erasmus of Rotterdam or Thomas More.

Many believe Juan Luis Vives was the first promoter of Social Action with his work "De subventione Pauperum", in which he analyzes the situation of marginalized collectives of the time, searching for solutions inside public institutions.

"No hay cosa, por fácil que sea, que no la haga difícil la mala gana". Juan Luis Vives (“There is nothing, as easy as it may be, not made difficult by reluctance”).

Translated by Elisa Raggio Quilez.