Grant and Funding Programs Offered by Fondation Notre Dame

Fondation Notre Dame is a public-interest Catholic foundation created in 1992 under the Archdiocese of Paris. It plays a major funding role by receiving, managing and redistributing private donations, legacies and endowments to associations and initiatives serving people in difficulty. The foundation supports projects in a wide range of fields: poverty and social exclusion, youth and education, employment and training, family, housing, media, culture and Christian reflection, and heritage.

Each year, the foundation finances hundreds of projects. The homepage highlights 665 projects supported and 27 million euros committed in 2024, with more than 314 million euros redistributed since its creation. Funding is mainly directed to non-profit organizations and church-related actors carrying out concrete actions in Paris and, through some hosted foundations, elsewhere in France and in several countries.

Fondation Notre Dame offers several ways for organizations to obtain financial support. Through the “Proposer un projet” pathway, Paris-based associations can submit initiatives that respond to needs in solidarity, education, culture or heritage. The foundation also operates an emergency fund (“Fonds d’urgence”) designed to respond quickly to crisis situations requiring rapid intervention.

Project pages on the site describe in detail the supported initiatives, target audiences, objectives and grant amounts. Examples include housing and educational support for homeless youth, training for parish volunteers working with people in extreme poverty, and projects that fight hotel-sector waste for the benefit of vulnerable families. These pages explicitly state the beneficiary organization and the financial commitment from the foundation.

Since 2008, Fondation Notre Dame has held the status of a hosting foundation, sheltering around sixty foundations, including numerous private, family and thematic foundations. It handles the legal, accounting, financial and administrative management of these hosted structures, while they retain their own missions and specific focus. This arrangement allows donors to create a dedicated foundation under the aegis of Fondation Notre Dame, benefiting from its expertise and public-interest status while directing their funds toward chosen Christian or solidarity projects.

The foundation provides personalized support to donors who wish to transmit their assets through legacies, donations, life insurance or gifts of securities. Dedicated staff advise benefactors confidentially on structuring their philanthropic projects and ensuring that their intentions are respected. The communication on impacts, annual action reports and public-interest recognition underline a framework of transparent governance and accountability toward donors and supported partners.

Fondation Notre Dame primarily supports vulnerable populations: homeless people, families and individuals in great precarity, young people in difficulty, migrants, and communities needing housing, training or cultural and spiritual resources. By combining regular grantmaking, emergency funding and the management of hosted foundations, it acts as a key intermediary between private generosity and field organizations, strengthening the social, educational and cultural fabric of Paris and other territories.