6 040
foundations and endowment funds active in France in 2025.
CROMWELL & HOLMES
CROMWELL & HOLMES
The trusted third party between funders and the nonprofits they support.
Foundations, endowment funds and corporate donors receive an ever-growing number of applications. Selecting a nonprofit is not just about reading a file — it means understanding governance, financial model, execution capacity, field reality, risks and indicators.
foundations and endowment funds active in France in 2025.
the number of philanthropic structures has more than doubled in ten years.
in corporate philanthropy every year in France.
of corporate donors are micro and SMEs, with limited analytical resources.
Philanthropy teams compare very different projects, often with little time and few dedicated resources.
Applications describe an intention. They don't always reveal the real capacity to execute.
Without a shared framework, decisions can depend more on the quality of the pitch than on the robustness of the project.
After funding, deliverables, indicators and results are not always monitored over time.
It is in this space — between intention, decision and field reality — that Cromwell & Holmes operates.
Sources: Observatoire Philanthropie & Société, Baromètre de la philanthropie 2026, Fondation de France · Baromètre du mécénat d'entreprise 2024, Admical.
Many nonprofits are led by visionary founders: seeing the need, mobilising a community, championing a cause. Our role is not to replace them — it is to make their vision legible, solid and trackable for those who fund it.
We help funders move from a promising application to an organisation that can genuinely execute, report and last.
Identification, pre-qualification, application analysis and mapping of relevant nonprofits.
Governance, finances, leadership, financial model, strategic coherence and risks.
Application support, budget, theory of change, indicators, organisation and deliverable schedule.
Reporting to your formats, evidence collection, indicator tracking and impact report.
Short summary before the committee's funding decision.
Bi-monthly or quarterly tracking of deliverables and indicators.
Short document in the event of a deviation or risk.
Structured update at the halfway point of the funding period.
Final summary of activity, results and impact.
A funder doesn't just fund an intention. They fund a clear, structured and measurable trajectory. We build the complete architecture that allows a funder to say yes.
Problem addressed, target audiences, territory, root causes and limits of existing provision.
1, 2 or 3-year trajectory: milestones, priorities, partners and success conditions.
Roles, target org chart, strategic committee and decision-making processes.
Projected budget, phase-by-phase requirements, investment rationale and sustainability.
Theory of change, activity, output and impact indicators, measurement schedule.
KPIs, deliverables, dashboards, collected evidence, committee summaries and alerts.
A fundable project doesn't just tell a good story. It proves the project can be executed, monitored and evaluated.
Understanding your priorities, criteria, KPIs, budget and internal constraints.
Reading the application, challenging the model, assessing the team, identifying risks and verifying alignment with your objectives.
Producing a concise, comparable and argued summary: strengths, risks, budget, impact and recommendation.
Verifying deliverables, tracking your indicators, flagging risks and producing actionable reporting.
Our distinctiveness: understanding nonprofits as living organisations, and funders as decision-makers exposed to risk.
Turning a strong vision into an operational structure: governance, financial model, organisation, development and capacity to absorb funding.
Giving the committee a comparable, decision-ready read: scoring, project brief, budget, risks and the project leader's real capacity to deliver on commitments.
Adapting to your indicators, reporting formats and deadlines to monitor deliverables, flag risks and document impact.
We never read an organisation without looking at the people who lead it, nor a leadership team without checking the robustness of the organisation.
Two cross-reads, one purpose: securing your funding decision.
Selection + structuring is the most appropriate offer when a funder identifies a promising project but wants to secure its governance, budget, indicators and reporting before committing.
Founder
Twenty years of entrepreneurship and organisational structuring, before teaching. A direct practice of management, execution and fundraising — not theory.
Do you receive nonprofit applications, are preparing a call for projects, or want to strengthen the monitoring of your funding? We take the time for a first conversation, aligned with your criteria and KPIs.
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