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Published every three years by Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Phil­an­thropy, the study is the world’s largest and most compre­hen­sive initia­tive to map the global phil­an­thro­pic ecosys­tem. For the GPEI 2025, 95 count­ries were analy­sed and asses­sed on the basis of six key factors: legal frame­works, tax incen­ti­ves, cross-border dona­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties, poli­ti­cal envi­ron­ment, econo­mic stabi­lity and socio-cultu­ral envi­ron­ment. The results can help poli­ti­ci­ans and civil society insti­tu­ti­ons under­stand how to stimu­late phil­an­thro­pic acti­vi­ties and how phil­an­thro­pic enga­ge­ment can most effec­tively be used to over­come the chal­lenges of our era.

Top marks for Liechtenstein

As in the last survey in 2022, Liech­ten­stein recei­ved top marks in all areas of the GPEI 2025, putting it just ahead of Switz­er­land (which took second place). Profes­sor Marc Gott­schald, Direc­tor of the Center for Phil­an­thropy at the Univer­sity of Liech­ten­stein, says of the results: ‘It shows that Liech­ten­stein is not only a relia­ble finan­cial centre, but also an inter­na­tio­nally renow­ned loca­tion for chari­ta­ble work. This makes us attrac­tive to foun­ders around the world who are looking for a trust­wor­thy, legally secure and profes­sio­nal envi­ron­ment.’  Liech­ten­stein, like Switz­er­land, is still some­what asso­cia­ted with being a haven for tax evasion – despite reforms and strict inter­na­tio­nal stan­dards. But this is no longer the reality, says Gott­schald: ‘Foun­da­ti­ons face strin­gent gover­nance requi­re­ments. Nevert­hel­ess, the very attrac­tive frame­work condi­ti­ons have to be evalua­ted on an ongo­ing basis, of course. So, we still need trans­pa­rency, clear commu­ni­ca­tion and credi­ble standards.’

A small number of key differences

The biggest diffe­rence to Switz­er­land, in second place, lies in cross-border dona­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties. Liech­ten­stein offers more attrac­tive condi­ti­ons in this area, espe­ci­ally from a tax perspec­tive. Gott­schald also sees cross-border dona­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties as one of the most important aspects of phil­an­thropy: ‘Being able to donate cross-border is parti­cu­larly rele­vant, as phil­an­thro­pists want to decide for them­sel­ves where and to what extent they want to get invol­ved.’ Another diffe­rence from Switz­er­land is Liechtenstein’s private foun­da­tion model, which gives donors grea­ter free­dom to shape their acti­vi­ties: ‘If foun­ders reserve the right to amend a foundation’s statu­tes, they can change its purpose during their life­time – irre­spec­tive of dead­lines or amen­ded frame­work condi­ti­ons that have an impact on the purpose’s meaning or effect,’ explains Gottschald.

Not rest­ing on its laurels

Although Liech­ten­stein has long offe­red the ideal condi­ti­ons for phil­an­thro­pic enga­ge­ment, Gott­schald has iden­ti­fied areas that should conti­nue to be addres­sed: ‘Firstly, we can shar­pen our posi­tion even further in the socio-cultu­ral context by raising aware­ness of phil­an­thropy across society. By contrast, trans­pa­rency and inter­na­tio­nal networ­king are still important to ensure that Liech­ten­stein is percei­ved not only as an effi­ci­ent loca­tion, but also as a credi­ble one.’ Taking the top spot has a moti­vat­ing effect: ‘It is a testa­ment to the work of ever­yone who is commit­ted to phil­an­thropy in Liech­ten­stein – from the admi­nis­tra­tion and advi­sers to foun­da­ti­ons themselves.’