10 Years of Commitment and New Ambitions for the Clermont SB Foundation

A Decade of Commitment to Revealing Talent and Supporting the Region

For almost ten years, the Clermont School of Business Foundation has been driven by a strong conviction: to enable everyone to fulfil their potential while contributing to the attractiveness of the region through education, entrepreneurship, and solidarity. Today, its work focuses on three complementary priorities: promoting social inclusion and equal opportunities, supporting the emergence of impact-driven entrepreneurial projects, and backing local initiatives that create value for the wider community.

Thanks to the support of its donors, corporate partners, alumni, and friends of the School, the Foundation has raised nearly €2.5 million since its creation. These resources have enabled the Foundation to support hundreds of students throughout their studies, assist entrepreneurs in developing their projects, and encourage solidarity initiatives addressing the needs of the region.

As the Clermont SB Foundation continues to grow, Robin Jund, its Director, shares his perspective on the changing landscape of philanthropy, the Foundation’s ambitions, and the opportunities ahead in the coming years.

What is your assessment of the Foundation’s latest fundraising campaign?

The 2025 campaign took place in a challenging environment for the philanthropic sector as a whole. Across France, foundations and charities are facing greater caution among donors, both individuals and companies. Despite this context, the Foundation was able to rely on the continued support of its donors and their commitment to our work. With more than €178,000 raised in 2025, we have maintained a significant level of support, demonstrating the confidence placed in our missions and the impact of our initiatives. This renewed confidence is a strong signal and an encouragement to continue our commitment to students, innovation, and social inclusion.

This campaign confirms a very encouraging underlying trend: equal opportunities remain at the heart of our donors’ priorities. Social inclusion continues to be the most strongly supported cause, demonstrating that students’ ability to succeed should never be determined by their financial or social circumstances.

What are the main areas of development you want to pursue in the coming years?

Our ambition is to grow the Foundation while remaining true to its purpose: revealing talent and contributing to the development of the region.

The first area of development naturally concerns strengthening our capacity to act. At a time when philanthropic funding is becoming more difficult to secure, we want to consolidate our long-standing partnerships, develop new forms of corporate philanthropy, and strengthen the engagement of our alumni community. Alumni hold a particularly important place in the Foundation’s history: they represent a significant proportion of our individual donors, several members of our Executive Committee are themselves alumni, and we work closely with the Alumni Association to maintain this spirit of solidarity.

The second priority is social inclusion and equal opportunities. Since its creation, the Foundation has worked to ensure that financial circumstances never stand in the way of pursuing higher education. We want to continue and strengthen this commitment by supporting more students facing financial or social difficulties.

Finally, we want to strengthen our contribution to entrepreneurial initiatives and regional solidarity. Supporting a student, helping an entrepreneur, or contributing to a local community project ultimately follows the same principle: investing in those who make a positive contribution to their region. The Foundation aims to serve as a bridge between the School, its alumni, businesses, and local stakeholders who share the ambition of building a more inclusive and sustainable future.

More broadly, our objective is to ensure that every donor can see the tangible impact of their support. Behind every donation lies a human story, an educational journey made possible, a project brought to life, or a valuable local initiative given the opportunity to grow. This close connection to impact is something we want to continue nurturing in the years ahead.

Looking back over ten years, which achievements are you most proud of today?

This is a difficult question to answer given the number of reasons to be proud. However, if I had to highlight just one, it would be the place that social inclusion and equal opportunities have come to occupy within the Foundation’s work. Over ten years, we have awarded 840 grants worth more than €1.1 million. Above all, this commitment has grown and become increasingly structured over time: what was one initiative among many when the Foundation was created has, since 2021, become the cause most strongly supported by our corporate donors. This means that students who might otherwise have been unable to continue their studies, or unable to do so under the same conditions, have been able to pursue their education.

I am also very proud of what we have built around student entrepreneurship with SquareLab. Some of the projects supported through our Startup Grants have since become fully fledged businesses, recognised in their respective markets. I am thinking, for example, of Acaz and Capillum, two projects supported from their early stages that have since received several innovation awards. In total, these grants have contributed to the creation of 42 jobs. This is tangible proof that support of just a few thousand euros, provided at the right time, can be decisive in turning a project into a reality.

Finally, I am proud of the Foundation’s ability to remain true to its commitments, including during more challenging periods for fundraising. The past few years have not been easy for philanthropy in France, yet we have consistently managed to reinvest almost all the funds entrusted to us into our missions, without ever interrupting our support for students, entrepreneurs, or, more recently, regional solidarity initiatives such as ESOPE 63, OTECI, and Article 1. This consistency, and our ability to honour our commitments over the long term, may be the most understated achievement of these ten years, but it is undoubtedly the one I am most proud of.

What message would you like to share with the alumni, corporate partners, and donors who have supported the Foundation since its creation?

The first message I would like to share with them is a heartfelt thank you.

Since 2016, the Foundation has raised nearly €2.5 million in support of the public interest. Thanks to the trust and generosity of our donors, corporate partners, and alumni, we have supported 770 students throughout their studies, awarded 56 entrepreneurial grants, and supported several projects benefiting the region. Behind each of these figures are human stories, journeys made possible, and projects that might never have come to fruition without this collective commitment.

I would also like to emphasise the essential role played by our alumni. They now represent the majority of our individual donors. Several alumni sit on the Foundation’s Executive Committee, alongside committed donors and partners who also contribute to its governance. We also work closely with the Alumni Association. The Foundation is a powerful illustration of what a community can achieve when it chooses to pass on what it has received.

Finally, I would like to remind them that their commitment is more valuable than ever. At a time when social vulnerabilities are increasing and philanthropic resources are becoming more difficult to secure, every contribution matters. The Foundation’s first ten years have demonstrated what collective mobilisation can achieve. The next ten years remain to be written, and we hope to continue building them with those who have supported us from the beginning, as well as with those who will join us tomorrow.