Explore the history of The VELUX Foundations
In December, the foundations VILLUM FONDEN and VELUX FONDEN celebrated their 50th and 40th anniversaries, respectively.
Today, they are among Denmark's most significant non-profit foundations, and have distributed a total of more than DKK 10 billion for various non-profit purposes. But how did it all start?
Villum Kann Rasmussen and VILLUM FONDEN
During the 1960’s, the founder of the VELUX Group, Villum Kann Rasmussen (KR), started to consider how the generational change in the company could take place, so that the business could remain a well-functioning and financially independent unit, even after his time. KR therefore established a non-profit fund that could take over his role as the main shareholder in the company group - a form of ownership that allowed him to ensure the company's long-term survival and at the same time pay back to the community he felt had given him so much. The decision to establish the foundation was thus made with equal parts heart and brain. VILLUM FONDEN was founded in December 1971. In connection with the foundation work, KR also received great help from his older brother Aage Kann Rasmussen, who became the first head of the Foundation Secretariat. The idea of a foundation appealed to KR because the majority of the funds earned in the company were channeled to a philanthropic foundation, which could then reinvest the funds in society and support a number of purposes, of which technical science, social work, culture and the environment have since been the main areas.
Dr. Phil. Margrethe Hald receives DKK 25,000 as a gift of honour for her work and research into prehistoric textiles, 1973.
The very first grant was given to M.D. Carl Friderichsen, an international renowned pediatrician, who also served as Villum and Bodil Kann Rasmussen’s doctor during the war. Carl Friderichsen received DKK 25,000 as a gift of honour in October 1972.
VELUX FONDEN is added
As the VKR Group grew, it became clear to Villum that the opportunity had arisen to establish another foundation that focused solely on non-profit distributions. In 1981, this led to the establishment of VELUX FONDEN, which to a large extent took over VILLUM FONDEN’s original non-profit purpose and distribution of funds. VILLUM FONDEN, on the other hand, continued as the main shareholder in the VKR Group. After KR’s death, a construction was established with VILLUM FONDEN as the main shareholder and two of KR’s descendants as A shareholders. The ownership structure with three shareholders, two of whom have a majority of votes, has been instrumental in ensuring the company's stability over the years. It is not just a fund or a person who decides, but always at least two shareholders.
Learn more about the foundations
The VELUX Foundations’ year book 2021 has just been published. Read it here
