Fundación Lealtad

Overview

Fundación Lealtad is Spain’s independent evaluator of non-governmental organisations. Founded in 2001, the Madrid-based non-profit foundation analyses Spanish NGOs against its 9 Principles of Transparency and Good Practices and awards the Dona con Confianza seal to those that meet all of them, publishing the resulting reports free of charge so donors can decide where to give with confidence (Fundación Lealtad).

It was the first entity in Spain to establish a system for analysing and accrediting NGO transparency and good practices, and it describes itself as still the only independent NGO evaluator in the country (Fundación Lealtad). At the end of 2025, 308 NGOs held the Dona con Confianza seal — 52.3% associations and 47.7% foundations — working in social action, development cooperation, humanitarian aid, health research and the environment (Fundación Lealtad; Fundación Lealtad). Its accreditation framework is the reason organisations such as the Asociación Española de Familias de Personas con Sordoceguera (APASCIDE) appear in its public register of accredited NGOs (Fundación Lealtad).

From a first guide to a national seal

Fundación Lealtad was founded in 2001 to build Spanish society’s trust in NGOs, so that donations and other collaboration would grow (Fundación Lealtad). Its founders brought experience from AB Asesores, a financial firm, and adapted the discipline of analysing complex structures to the third sector (Fundación Lealtad). The standards they built — the 9 Principles of Transparency and Good Practices — were defined with experts from the third sector and the audit world (Fundación Lealtad).

In 2002 it published its first guide, covering 40 NGOs analysed, and was talking about institutional transparency years before Spain approved its first Transparency Law in 2013 (Fundación Lealtad). In 2009 it joined Charity Monitoring Worldwide, the international network of NGO evaluators, of which its director general Ana Benavides is now president (Fundación Lealtad). A year later it helped create Confío, the Mexican evaluator, contributing its methodology and joining its board (Fundación Lealtad).

The model itself changed in 2015, when the foundation moved from an “ONG Analizada” model — under which an analysed NGO could still carry unmet principles — to the Sello ONG Acreditada, which requires full compliance with all 9 Principles (Fundación Lealtad). The same year it created the Comité Asesor, an advisory committee supporting the accreditation process (Fundación Lealtad). In 2017 it created Lealtad Instituciones to accredit corporate and patrimonial foundations, of which 11 are accredited today (Fundación Lealtad). The number of accredited NGOs reached 200 in 2019, and in 2021 the seal took its current name, Dona con Confianza — “donate with confidence” (Fundación Lealtad). In 2020 the foundation updated the 9 Principles and began turning its accreditation data into published studies (Fundación Lealtad).

By its 25th anniversary in 2026, the aggregate annual spending analysed through its evaluation processes had reached €2,000 million (Fundación Lealtad). Its president, Salvador García-Atance — a co-founder and former founding partner and president of AB Asesores, with a doctorate in economics from the Complutense University of Madrid — describes the model as one that “gives security to donors and strengthens civil society” (Fundación Lealtad; Fundación Lealtad).

How accreditation works

Accreditation is voluntary: the principles are not a legal requirement, and organisations adopt them to improve their management and inspire confidence (Fundación Lealtad). The process runs in three phases, the first two free and non-binding (Fundación Lealtad).

Phase	What happens	Cost
1. Training	The NGO attends a session, in person or by video, on the Principles, criteria and process.	Free
2. Diagnosis	The NGO completes an online questionnaire; analysts review answers and documents and issue a diagnosis.	Free
3. Analysis	On a positive diagnosis, the NGO signs an agreement and pays a fee; an analyst examines its documents via Espacio ONG.	Fee

Source: Fundación Lealtad.

If the NGO meets all 9 Principles in full, it receives the Dona con Confianza seal, valid for two years, with an intermediate review in the first year and a complete new analysis at two years (Fundación Lealtad). The foundation charges a fee for the analysis regardless of the result, but not for the seal itself (Fundación Lealtad). Not every applicant succeeds: an NGO that fails a Principle gets three months to remedy it, and if it does not, the process ends without the seal — though the foundation says this happens rarely (Fundación Lealtad).

The bar itself is substantive. The 9 Principles break down into 36 sub-principles covering the coherence of an NGO’s activities with its mission of general interest, its impact, the functioning of its governing body, the effective use of its resources, its sustainability and its communication, plus volunteering and legal compliance (Fundación Lealtad). In practice, a seal-holder has a clear public mission, an independent, active and public governing body, diversified and transparent funding, control over the use of its funds, financial sustainability, transparent communication, trained and insured volunteers, and legal compliance (Fundación Lealtad). The public can check the result — a summary file, the full report, and the NGO’s projects — through the foundation’s search tool, which lists only accredited NGOs (Fundación Lealtad).

Not every NGO can apply: applicants must work in social action, development cooperation, humanitarian aid, health-related scientific research or the environment, of general interest under article 3.1 of Law 49/2002, with at least two full financial years and externally audited accounts, constituted in Spain as an association or foundation — and associations must have been declared of public utility (Fundación Lealtad). Once accredited, an NGO commits to auditing its accounts every year (Fundación Lealtad).

The seal is also enforced. In 2025 the foundation produced 153 Transparency and Good Practices reports and carried out 186 intermediate reviews; three NGOs left the register by choosing not to renew, and three more had their accreditation revoked at renewal for failing to meet all 9 Principles, despite a remediation period and analyst support (Fundación Lealtad). The Fundación Secretariado Gitano, renewing its accreditation in September 2026 after 14 years in the foundation’s analyses, notes the seal is valid for two years and may be used in its fundraising (Fundación Secretariado Gitano).

What the accredited sector looks like

The 308 accredited NGOs at the end of 2025 are not a small club. Together they manage around €1,957 million, their activity benefits 25.4 million people inside and outside Spain, and they count 2.7 million members, 34,880 employees and 111,870 volunteers (Fundación Lealtad). Most work in social action (86%), with 22% in development cooperation and humanitarian aid and 10% in health-related scientific research (Fundación Lealtad). In 2025 the foundation also supported 585 non-profits, including 277 non-accredited ones given free pre-analysis help (Fundación Lealtad).

Because every accreditation generates audited, comparable data, the foundation has become a source of sector research in its own right. Its annual study on women’s presence in the third sector found in 2026 that women lead 61.2% of accredited NGOs — up 12 points in five years — and hold 50.9% of governing-body seats, reaching parity for the first time (Europa Press). The same study found a persistent economic gap: women-led NGOs manage €5.7 million on average against €8.9 million for men-led ones, and women-chaired NGOs spend €5 million against €7.5 million (Europa Press). Ana Benavides, the director general, put it plainly: “Although female leadership is advancing in numbers, the challenge now is for large organisations to also have women at the helm, both in management and in the presidency” (Europa Press).

A second study of 284 accredited NGOs found a consolidated governance model: 100% publish their governing body’s composition online, boards average 10 members, 77% of members hold university degrees or higher, 49% are women and 43% of NGOs are chaired by women (Corresponsables). The same study named generational renewal as the weak point: the average board member is 61, only 10% are under 45, and 28% join aged over 60 (Corresponsables).

The work extends beyond Spain. Fundación Lealtad is the Spanish partner of Charity Monitoring Worldwide (formerly ICFO), the international association of NGO evaluators founded in 1958, whose members in 19 countries jointly evaluate more than 7,000 NGOs managing over €99,000 million (Fundación Lealtad). Ana Benavides chaired that network from 2020 to May 2026 (Fundación Lealtad). In Mexico, Confío — which Fundación Lealtad helped to create — has run 2,800+ diagnostics for 1,800+ entities and produced 1,073+ reports for 10.5 million+ direct beneficiaries (Fundación Lealtad).

The foundation itself is governed by a Patronato (board) of seven individual members and three institutional patrons — Fundación Mutua Madrileña, Banco Santander and PwC España — with Salvador García-Atance as president (Fundación Lealtad; Fundación Lealtad). The Comité Asesor that supports accreditation brings together the president, the director general, the director of Analysis and four external experts, among them Yolanda Pérez of KPMG and Cecilia Plañiol (Fundación Lealtad). The executive team numbers 14 to 15 staff, and its 2025 accounts were audited by Atenea Auditores (Fundación Lealtad; Fundación Lealtad).

Frequently asked questions

What is Fundación Lealtad? It is an independent, non-profit Spanish foundation, founded in 2001, that analyses and accredits NGOs for transparency and good practices. It awards the Dona con Confianza seal to organisations that fully meet its 9 Principles, and publishes the results free of charge (Fundación Lealtad).

What does the Dona con Confianza seal mean? It means the NGO voluntarily submitted to independent analysis and meets all 9 Principles of Transparency and Good Practices in full — clear mission, sound governance, controlled use of funds, financial sustainability and truthful communication — and that the seal is valid for two years with an intermediate review (Fundación Lealtad).

How does an NGO get accredited? Through three phases: free training, a free diagnosis, and then a paid analysis by an assigned analyst. If the NGO meets all 9 Principles it receives the seal; if it fails one, it has three months to remedy it, and the process ends without the seal if it does not (Fundación Lealtad).

How many NGOs does it accredit? At the end of 2025, 308 NGOs held the Dona con Confianza seal in total, 24 of them newly accredited — up 6.2% on the previous year’s 290. The foundation’s president later put the figure above 315 in 2026 (Fundación Lealtad).

What this profile does not claim

• It does not state the exact day and month of the foundation’s founding in 2001; only the year was verified.
• It gives the executive team as 14 to 15 staff because the FAQ and the 2025 annual report disagree, and neither dates the figure.
• It states no annual income or expenditure totals for the foundation; the financial-statements section of the 2025 annual report was not read in full.
• It uses 36 as the current number of sub-principles under the 9 Principles, while noting that older texts cite “more than 40” or 43 indicators.
• It does not repeat the Fundación Secretariado Gitano page’s claim that Patricia de Roda is director general; all 2025–2026 sources name Ana Benavides.