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.
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 funds of the foundation have a clear purpose and purpose. Foundations flourished in the 20th century. 1900 Carnegie Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation are the most famous. Founded in 1936, the Ford Foundation is funded by the Ford family and has billions of dollars. It has become the largest foundation in the world. Other large foundations in the world include: John Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Danfoss Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, etc. After 1980s, the China Foundation has also made great progress. 1988 in September, the executive meeting of the State Council adopted the Measures for the Administration of Foundations, which stipulated a series of matters such as the nature of foundations, the conditions for their establishment, the way of fundraising, the use and management of funds, etc. The foundations established in China include China Foundation for the Aged, China Welfare Foundation for the Disabled, China Welfare Foundation, Soong Ching Ling Foundation and China Youth Development Foundation.
Funds have broad and narrow definitions. Fund in a broad sense is the general name of institutional investors, including trust and investment funds, unit trust funds, provident funds, insurance funds, retirement funds and funds of various foundations. Funds in the existing securities market, including closed-end funds and open-end funds, have the characteristics of income function and value-added potential. From the accounting point of view, capital is a narrow concept, which refers to funds with specific purposes and uses. Because the investors of government agencies and institutions do not require investment returns and investment recovery, but require funds to be used for designated purposes in accordance with the law or the wishes of the investors, funds are formed.