Foundation FAQs

We are an independent charity with an expendable endowment. We were established by Lord (Jacob) Rothschild to maintain and promote Waddesdon Manor and to further the Rothschild family’s charitable aims. You can find out more in the ‘Who We Are’ section of our website.

A number of charities have been established by various members of the Rothschild family. Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe and Yad Hanadiv are separate charities to us, with their own dedicated administrations. More information on each can be found at: http://rothschildfoundation.eu/ and http://www.yadhanadiv.org.il/

The Charity of the Year is an internal programme for all staff and volunteers at Waddesdon to support a local charity benefiting the communities around the Manor and Estate. Charities can only be nominated by current employees and volunteers, and are then short-listed for a vote to select a preferred Charity of the Year. The chosen charity will benefit through events at Waddesdon to highlight the charity’s work and will also receive a grant from the Rothschild Foundation.

Our assets are derived from a number of charitable trusts inherited or created by Lord Rothschild, which were merged in 2010 to form The Rothschild Foundation. Our assets are a mixture of investments and fixed assets such as property and art. Lord Rothschild has gifted further assets in the form of land and art to the Foundation over recent years.