Private Family Foundation · Geneva
Geneva · London · Established 2006
A private grant-making foundation supporting Jewish child welfare, education, and cultural preservation in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Israel.
About the Foundation
The Saffran Foundation was established in Geneva in 2006 by Daniel Saffran (1930–2015), a Swiss financier with business interests across Europe and Africa. Mr Saffran's vision was to create a structured vehicle for the family's long-standing private philanthropy, consolidating a tradition of giving that had operated discreetly for decades.
The Foundation's mission is to support Jewish child welfare, education, and cultural preservation in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Israel. It focuses on early-childhood healthcare, educational access for children at risk, and programmes that document and preserve Jewish heritage.
Since 2015, the Foundation has been chaired by Mr Saffran's daughter, Lena Rausing (née Saffran), who divides her time between London and Geneva. Her brother, Arno Saffran, serves as a trustee, alongside independent advisors from the legal, medical, and philanthropic sectors.
We do not seek publicity. Our work is conducted quietly, in partnership with established charitable organisations whose effectiveness has been demonstrated over decades.
"Private wealth carries a responsibility to the communities and histories from which it was formed."— The Foundation's guiding principle
Grants & Programmes
The Foundation does not accept unsolicited applications. Grants are made to institutions whose work the trustees have followed for many years and whose effectiveness is personally known to the family.
Switzerland — Geneva
Child healthcare services, neonatal equipment, and family support programmes at Geneva's principal university hospital.
United Kingdom — London
Educational and social care services for children and families in the Jewish community across East London and beyond.
Israel — Jerusalem
Early-childhood intervention programmes for children with disabilities, delivered across Jerusalem and the surrounding region.
Switzerland — Basel
Educational outreach programmes and the conservation of archival collections documenting Swiss Jewish heritage.
Switzerland — Geneva
Scholarships and learning support for children from low-income families attending the Geneva Talmud Torah school.
Applications
The Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications.
Annual grant expenditure is not published, consistent with the practice of Swiss private foundations.
The Saffran Foundation · Geneva, Switzerland
Trustees & Advisors
Born in Geneva, Lena Rausing studied art history at the Courtauld Institute before settling in London. She has served as a trustee of the Royal Academy of Arts and as a patron of the Norwood Charity. She chairs the Foundation following her father Daniel Saffran's death in 2015. She is married to Lars Rausing; the couple reside in London and Suffolk.
Arno Saffran is a Geneva-based investor and the managing partner of Unamine, an investment firm focused on responsible mining in Africa. He previously worked in extractive sector client development at KPMG and on strategic commercial assignments with Hakluyt & Company. He holds a degree in Law and Political Science from the University of Strasbourg. He oversees the Foundation's European grant-making.
Senior partner at Dreyfus & Associés, Geneva. Mr Dreyfus has advised the Foundation since its founding and provides pro bono legal counsel on grant structures, Swiss foundation law compliance, and fiduciary matters.
Professor of Modern European History at the University of Geneva. Professor Weiss advises the Foundation on its cultural preservation and archival programmes, bringing academic rigour to its heritage grant-making.
Founder
Daniel Saffran was born in Geneva in 1930, the only son of Helmut Saffran. After studying economics at the University of Lausanne, he built a career in international finance, with interests spanning Europe and Africa.
His charitable activity dates to the 1970s, when he began making private donations to hospitals and schools in Geneva and London. In 2006 he formalised this giving through the creation of the Foundation, consolidating the family's contributions into a single grant-making operation and ensuring the work would continue beyond his lifetime.
Under his leadership, the Foundation focused on three areas: paediatric healthcare at Geneva's Hôpitaux Universitaires, educational scholarships for children in East London, and cultural programmes at the Jewish Museum of Switzerland.
Daniel Saffran died in Geneva in 2015 and is buried at the Cimetière de Plainpalais. The Foundation passed to his children: his daughter Lena Rausing assumed the chairmanship; his son Arno became a trustee. The family's commitment to the Foundation's mission has continued uninterrupted.
A portrait of Daniel Saffran by the Swiss artist Miriam Cahn hangs in the Foundation's Geneva offices.
Daniel Saffran with Lord Jacob Rothschild
Daniel Saffran, c. 1990s — from the Foundation's private archive
History
Daniel Saffran begins making private donations to hospitals and schools in Geneva and London. The giving is discreet, directed personally by Mr Saffran without institutional structure.
Daniel Saffran formalises decades of private philanthropy through the creation of the Saffran Foundation in Geneva, registered as a private non-profit under Swiss law (IDE: CH‑660‑0456012‑7), with a mandate focused on Jewish child welfare, education, and cultural preservation.
Under his leadership the Foundation establishes grant partnerships with Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève, the Norwood Charity in London, and the Jewish Museum of Switzerland in Basel. Yad b'Yad in Jerusalem is added to the programme.
Mr Saffran dies in Geneva at the age of 84. He is survived by his daughter Lena Rausing and his son Arno Saffran. The Foundation passes to his children in accordance with its charter.
Lena Rausing (née Saffran) takes over as Foundation chair. Arno Saffran serves as trustee. The Foundation's grant partnerships continue uninterrupted and its mission remains unchanged.
Contact & Correspondence
The Saffran Foundation is a private family foundation. It does not maintain a public reception office. Correspondence is handled through its Geneva legal representatives at Dreyfus & Associés.
The Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications. It does not engage in public fundraising.