According to Statute 55 of the revised statutes adopted on 8 March 2024, ‘The Council may establish one or more charitable trusts to facilitate donations to the Council to support its work to advance science as a global public good. The activities of any charitable trust will be limited to providing funds for activities that are aligned with the Council’s goals and are of a charitable nature. Any trust established by the Council will apply the same sponsorship and due diligence policies as the Council, within the bounds of the law of the country of its incorporation.’

The need for the ISC to engage actively in fundraising to supplement income from membership dues was explicitly acknowledged at its 2021 General Assembly meeting.   

The ISC has therefore established a charitable foundation in the UK, called the International Science Council Foundation (UK). The objects of the charity are, for the public benefit, to advance such charitable purposes (under the law of England and Wales), and in particular to advance science, in particular by providing grant funding to, in particular but not exclusively, the International Science Council for research projects (with the useful results of such research being disseminated to the public).  

The founding trustees of the ISC Foundation are:

Further trustees will be appointed in the near future.