Tasks of a foundation board

The Board of Trustees is the supreme governing body of the Foundation. It is responsible for the Foundation's activities and acts autonomously. It does not administer the Foundation, but manages it. The core task of the foundation board is the realisation of the foundation's purpose. For it to be able to develop its promotional activities effectively, it must in particular perform the following tasks, which are in principle required by law:

1. strategic management of the Foundation and setting of objectives;
2. determination of the organisation, if not specified by the deed of foundation;
3. personnel planning at the level of the foundation board and management;
4. appointment and dismissal of the management and the persons entrusted with representation; supervision of them, in particular with regard to the objectives;
5. election of the auditors;
6. the organisation of accounting, financial control and financial planning, insofar as these are necessary for the management of the Foundation;
7. treatment of the audit report;
8. approval of the annual financial statements;
9. adoption of the annual or activity report;
10. approval of the budget;
11. compliance (overall foundation action in accordance with legal and other regulations)

 Source: Swiss Foundation Code.

The foundation board and its purpose

The foundation council or board of trustees is the term for an optional organ of a foundation, which is usually used to advise and supervise other foundation organs, in particular the board of directors. Often other designations such as board of directors or supervisory board are also used. Civil Code

Art. 83: The organs of the foundation and the type of administration are determined by the deed of foundation.