How to contribute to the common good: The Ardian Foundation

Back

Inside Ardian, Responsible finance

How to contribute to the common good: The Ardian Foundation

  • 05 June 2025

  • Ardian Foundation

Reading time: 3 minutes

At the Ardian Foundation, we apply the same discipline and strategic thinking used in Ardian’s investment work to drive high-impact programs for children, education and community development.

 

"We help charities increase their impact"

By combining a results-driven approach with a deep commitment to building strong organizations, we support sustainable projects that strengthen social systems and deliver long-term change around the world. 

 

  • €4.4m

    Budget for 2024

  • 26%

    Expected growth in 2025

  • 57

    Number of charity partners

What progress has the Ardian Foundation achieved in its early childhood program? 

We continued to put more of our resources into early childhood programs because they have an impressive impact on outcomes later in children’s lives but receive relatively little support compared to other age groups. At the end of 2024 we supported 25 early childhood charities across twelve countries.
Last year, we allocated 35% of our budget into these programs. We also renewed our funding for academic research at the Paris School of Economics and launched a new research partnership with MIT in the USA.


How does the Ardian Foundation use investment expertise to strengthen social impact programs? 

We take a venture philanthropy approach because we see parallels between committing funds to a charity and making an investment. We apply the same skills to our partner charities that Ardian uses to select investments; carry out due diligence, deploy funds and monitor progress. This is especially important for early childhood programs as they are often quite small and under-developed. We are not just here to provide money – we are trying to build stronger, more scalable organizations that can have a bigger social impact.

In 2024, the Ardian Foundation has continued its strong growth, with a budget of €4.4m, reflecting an increase of over 20% compared to the previous year

Matthieu Labouche, Treasurer, Ardian Foundation

What is the Ardian Foundation doing to engage its global community and employees in social action programs?

We made great progress with our Act4Change program in 2024. Act4Change gives employees up to three paid days per year that they can use for volunteering, with our charity partners or on other charitable projects. We rolled out the Act4Change program to three of our largest offices and more than 260 employees volunteered last year. We also provide match-funding for employees who raise money for their own causes because we want to encourage people to give back irrespective of the cause they choose.

  • 415

    Number of employee volunteers giving time and/or financing

In 2024 alone, we supported 45 employee-led fundraising efforts.

We help charities increase their impact.

Carole Barnay, President of the Ardian Foundation
  • Early Childhood

  • Ardian Foundation

  • Engagement

  • Carole Barnay

  • Charities

  • Social Mobility