Delfina Foundation Targets New Generation of Philanthropists

London’s Delfina Foundation has today launched Next Gen Circle, a new initiative aimed at encouraging emerging international patrons to offer both financial and social support to artists around the world at a time of increasing geopolitical pressure.

The non-profit foundation, which supports creative practice through residencies, partnerships and public programming, believes that cultivating the next generation of philanthropists and cultural advocates will be vital to its own future, and to the future of similar artist-focused organisations. 

“A lot of our patrons are international, and obviously the world is at war, and so the first thing that goes is philanthropy,” Roshanak Afshar, the foundation’s patron manager told Ocula. “And that’s completely justified, and it’s beyond our control of course.

“However, it means that we have to expand our resources so that we’re not just reliant on one group of people, which is why we’re trying to target the younger generation now.”

The new, 20-person programme, aimed at philanthropists and future trustees aged approximately between 20 and 40, is populated by wealthy individuals working across the arts and beyond. This first cohort includes a finance professional and an orthodontist. All are unnamed.

Afshar explained: “What I’ve found is that this generation is not interested in that transactional, old-school form of philanthropy. They don’t want their name everywhere; they don’t want that much press about it. They just want to go to an institution or an organisation and see the impact that it makes.”

The circle is being launched at a time when some museums and galleries are struggling to secure meaningful support from a new generation of patrons, with traditional membership and event offerings failing to capture the imagination of wealthy prospective donors. 

According to Afshar, Delfina plans to combat this by doing away with impersonal drinks receptions and grand galas in favour of intimate artist studio visits and salon-style, research-focused events, the first of which was hosted recently by market expert and author Georgina Adam.

The organisation also plans to focus on the international element of its work, tackling what Afshar characterises as an unwelcoming economic climate for UK patrons following changes to “non-dom” tax laws in 2025, by focusing on the 100 other countries in which its supporters reside.

Since its formation in 2007, Delfina Foundation’s London-based residency programme has hosted 482 artists, 104 curators and 21 collectors, and has partnered with other institutions abroad to offer similar opportunities in Brazil, Syria, Spain and Palestine. The programme has produced 17 Turner Prize nominees, including four winners, and six Venice Biennale Golden and Silver Lion recipients. 

The formalisation of the foundation’s network of younger patrons (some based in London, others in the Middle East and across Europe) is intended to strengthen this ecosystem, and—alongside securing the organisation’s future—provide increased support to artists at a time of low funding and high political turmoil.

“It’s not just our residents who are benefiting [from the Next Gen Circle],” Afshar said. “It’s collectors who are looking for new talent; biennial curators who want to showcase people from a local community we’ve worked with already.”

She added: “We connect patrons with former residents, they become their collectors, and then they’re automatically in an international connection, which raises their profile and is really beneficial. I think connection actually is at the heart of everything we do.”