Foundation Governance - Professionalism and transparency

Controlling bodies and principles of the UBS Optimus Foundation

‘Foundation governance’ means the manner and way that leadership and management of a foundation are organized and how they function in practice. The UBS Optimus Foundation strives to do justice to high foundation governance standards. The organization of the Foundation corresponds to leading ‘codes of best practice’. Among others, the UBS Optimus Foundation is a member of Swiss Foundations and orients itself to the principles of the "Swiss Foundation Code". It contains recommendations about the effective implementation of the foundation’s purpose, checks and balances and transparency. Lastly, it deals with achieving the greatest possible sustainable effect with the donations, with the aim of fulfilling the purpose of the foundation. Plus, transparent and clear leadership structures are important to the UBS Optimus Foundation. The top controlling body is the Foundation Board, which makes all important decisions with regard to acquiring and distributing funds, and acts as a check on the business management. The business office is responsible for the operative management of the Foundation. The annual statements of the UBS Optimus Foundation are audited by Ernst & Young. In addition, the Foundation is overseen by government regulators for foundations of the Canton of Basel City.

Principles of selection for projects and partner organizations

We insist on the highest standards of quality when selecting or monitoring our projects and project partners. Each project proposal is evaluated in strict conformity with our evaluation criteria before we enter a financial commitment.In principle, any non-profit organization can submit an application for support. A clearly defined process exists so that applications reach the Foundation independently. Applicants can obtain all the information and application forms on our webpage 'Applications for support'.

Applications that meet the catalog of requirements will be evaluated by internal and external specialists and forwarded to the Foundation Board with an appropriate recommendation. The Board makes decisions about financing any project.

Project progress checks

The project partners commit to producing an interim report and an annual report once a year. These include detailed descriptions of developments, successes, failures and needs of the projects. Both the budget and actual expenses must be transparently disclosed. After 18-24 months, an external independent evaluation is conducted to review the effectiveness of the projects. In order to guarantee the project’s future success, prior to the end of the collaboration, the project partner must disclose a plan for securing financing after expiry of the project collaboration with the UBS Optimus Foundation.