Foundations are organizations mainly engaged in public welfare undertakings. The foundation is a non-profit legal person established in accordance with the articles of association with the purpose of using the property donated by natural persons, legal persons or other organizations to engage in public welfare undertakings. There are three sources of funds for the foundation, namely, corporate donations, social donations and donations from other institutions. The foundation is set up for charity to raise funds for scientific research, poverty alleviation, education and other fields and give back to the society.

Foundations are divided into those that raise funds for the public and those that are not allowed to raise funds for the public. According to the geographical scope of fundraising, public offering foundations are divided into national public offering foundations and local public offering foundations. According to the Regulations on the Administration of Foundations, foundations must be registered with the civil affairs department before they can operate legally. Essentially, foundations are non-profit organizations.

An institution that manages funds or special funds reserved for the establishment, maintenance or development of a cause. Generally, it is a non-profit organization. The purpose is to promote the development of public welfare undertakings such as social science, cultural education and social welfare assistance through free funding.

The public welfare of the foundation is reflected in three aspects: first, the foundation comes from donation, which is an institutionalized and organized form of public welfare donation; Second, the foundation has a clear public welfare purpose; Third, the foundation has a clear public welfare purpose and benefits specific groups and the whole society through various project activities. Public welfare determines that the foundation is essentially a social welfare organization.