Foundations’ importance in the actual economy has been increasingly recognized. This work
project assesses the impact of the new legal framework in the foundations’ financial reporting
and offers a financial statement analysis of the Portuguese foundational sector. It unveils links
between financial performance and characteristics of foundations, and profiles foundations in
three clusters, each with different approaches to disclosure, volunteer workforce, and taxes. It
is concluded that foundations are not respecting the benefits trusted to them, calling for a tighter
control to their financial reporting, and that even though that slowly, the sector is expected to
continue growing
