Calls for Social Projects of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation: 25 years promoting social action
The Calls for Social Projects of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation celebrate 25 years of history, a quarter of a century in which 23,518 projects have been promoted by social organisations in Spain aimed at promoting equal opportunities and improving the quality of life of 10 million people in vulnerable situations.
In Catalonia, 5,428 projects have been promoted, through which more than 2.9 million people in 275 municipalities have been assisted, with an accumulated contribution of more than 126 million euros.
With the mission of promoting equal opportunities and social inclusion, and improving the quality of life of people in vulnerable situations, in 1999 the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation created the Calls for Social Projects, aimed at social organisations to support transforming, sustainable initiatives with a social impact. This is a collaboration with the third sector which, over the 25 years of its history, has been adapted to the social needs and realities of the last quarter of a century.
To achieve this objective, the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation has allocated 502 million euros, distributed among the 214 calls for proposals created since 1999. With this endowment, 23,518 initiatives have been promoted, developed by 8,446 social entities that have been able to attend to 10 million people in a situation of vulnerability. The projects have been carried out in 1,640 municipalities in all Spanish provinces.
In Catalonia, 5,428 projects have been promoted, through which more than 2.9 million people in 275 municipalities have been assisted, with an accumulated contribution of more than 126 million euros.
Over these years, the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation's Calls for Social Projects have been characterised by their constant adaptation to the needs of people in vulnerable situations, a reflection of the social action of the third sector.
All of them have been structured around three areas of action: support and accompaniment for people in a situation or at risk of poverty, or in the process of social inclusion; comprehensive social and healthcare support, and community social action to promote social cohesion.
Around these three main areas, calls for proposals have been articulated whose vocation has always been to anticipate social challenges by supporting socio-occupational insertion, promoting community action and the inclusion of migrants or reinforcing prevention in situations of vulnerability.
Support has also been given to projects that promote personal autonomy, both for the elderly and the disabled, or psychosocial accompaniment, for example, as can be seen in the following graph.
Of the 30,000 social organisations in Spain, 80% have applied at some point in time. Of these, 8,446 organisations have received support from the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation to develop more than 23,000 projects.
Many of the organisations selected over the years are characterised by their local nature and the territorial capillarity of their initiatives. Moreover, the geographical distribution of the projects they have developed has been an example of the dissemination of the social action promoted throughout this time, with initiatives implemented in 1,640 municipalities in all the provinces.
In terms of the type of organisations selected since 1999, 66% have been associations and 20% foundations. The rest have been second-level groups, social economy organisations and religious organisations.
25 years of social impetus
The celebration of the 25th anniversary of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation's Calls for Social Projects is an opportunity to look back on the social action of the third sector. For this reason, CaixaForum Barcelona hosted an event on Monday that brought together, both in person and by streaming, representatives of organisations in Catalonia linked to the programme since its beginnings. The meeting was attended by the Deputy Director General of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation, Juan Ramón Fuertes, and the Deputy Director General of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation, Marc Simón.
‘The ‘la Caixa’ Foundation has always been characterised by its social commitment and its vocation to work alongside social organisations. The celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Calls for Social Projects is a good example of this. But it would not have been possible to reach this point without the invaluable work of the third sector. Together we have managed to accompany and support millions of people in vulnerable situations, and it is this raison d'être that drives us to continue working to respond to the challenges facing our society’, said Juan Ramón Fuertes.
The event was also attended by representatives of the Associació Casal dels Infants per a l'Acció Social als Barris; the Associació PROSEC, Promotora Social; the Fundació Prodis, and the Fundació Marianao.
The representatives of these organisations discussed the evolution of the third sector over the last 25 years. From their respective spheres of action, they explained that social action in 1999 was generally based on a welfare perspective, the provision of goods and empowerment. Today, the projects they promote respond to the multiple social vulnerabilities from a holistic and systemic approach to empower people towards the full exercise of their social rights.
The meeting also provided an opportunity to highlight the four pillars that, in a cross-cutting manner, have structured social action since 1999. Firstly, equal opportunities, fighting against poverty, empowering children and adolescents, welcoming migrants and attending to and accompanying the most vulnerable groups.
Secondly, comprehensive care for people has also been another fundamental approach from which initiatives have been promoted to respond to situations of multivulnerability.
Thirdly, the promotion of people's autonomy to give them the capacity to make their own decisions on how to carry out the basic activities of daily life.
Finally, the construction of a more diverse and inclusive society, promoting social action initiatives that improve citizen coexistence and foster community networks to promote social cohesion.
Constant evolution
The calls for proposals have adapted to the changes and needs of society by creating new lines of action or reformulating existing ones. The number of projects selected has also increased over the years to reflect and support the growth and consolidation of the social sector throughout the country.
In 1999, the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation presented its first calls for proposals, which responded to the social action of the third sector itself. At that time, the entities directed their initiatives from a more assistance-based approach, which over the years evolved towards a holistic approach that puts people at the centre and empowers them.
The calls for proposals, in their growth phase, supported projects with a hybrid approach that addressed multiple social areas such as health, employability, housing and community.
After a period of consolidation, 2022 was a turning point. The organisation of the calls for proposals according to areas of action was replaced by a territorial model with the aim of responding to the social needs in each of the provinces. To this end, 18 calls for proposals were opened, one for each autonomous community and another for the two autonomous cities. This new orientation was reinforced with a significant increase in the budget, which reached 39.7 million euros in 2022.
In 2024, the new call for Social Action in the Rural Sphere was presented, the main objective of which is to tackle the demographic challenge by promoting initiatives against rural depopulation. In addition, in view of the climate emergency caused by the DANA in the Valencian Community, the programme has urgently activated a new call aimed at Valencian social entities.
These calls reinforce and complement the lines of action that the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation develops in the social sphere, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the United Nations Agenda 2030.