History of the foundation
Villum Foundation was founded in 1971. However, the story begins as early as 1941, when the young, inventive Villum Kann Rasmussen founded in 1941 the company we know today as the VKR Group.
The vision behind the company was as simple as it was groundbreaking. The starting point was glass roofs, but soon the idea arose to create a skylight that was in every way as good as the best facade window. The VELUX skylight, which saw the light of day in 1942, was a groundbreaking achievement which has since been the focal point for many innovative products and initiatives.
The idea of a skylight stood the test of time. With quality at the forefront and with the improved conditions provided by central heating and insulation, the dark, damp attics of the time were transformed into bright, affordable and comfortable rooms. The VELUX skylight was launched on the market at just the right time, and the VKR Group has grown significantly since then.
Over the years, the massive growth transformed the VKR Group from a small sole proprietorship to an international business, which today employs almost 20,000 employees all over the world.
The VKR Group is now foundation and family owned with an unwavering purpose of with the aim of enhancing people’s daily lives with more daylight, fresh air and a better environment.
Today, most companies talk about visions and values, but already in 1965, Villum Kann Rasmussen explained how he thought his company should behave.
In many ways, Villum was ahead of his time including his description of what he called the ‘model company objective’. The aim was to ensure good relations with the VKR Group’s surroundings and is best explained in Villum’s own words:
The establishment of Villum Foundation as a philanthropic foundation was a crucial step for Villum Kann Rasmussen. However, the idea of giving something back to society was far from alien to him, as he was already co-founder of a small foundation for supporting the development of the local area on his native island, Mandø.
During the 1960s, Villum started considering how he could ensure a succession so his life’s work – also in the future – could continue as a well-consolidated and successful business.
Villum therefore established a philanthropic foundation that could take over his role as the majority shareholder in the corporate group – a form of ownership that allowed him to ensure the long-term survival of the company while paying something back to the society he felt had given him so much.
The decision to establish Villum Foundation was thus made with both heart and mind. A character trait that followed Villum throughout his life.
After ceding all his B shares in the company to Villum Foundation, Villum Kann Rasmussen continued in the role of chair of the foundation. A role he also assumed in VELUX FOUNDATION when it was founded ten years later.
As the VKR Group grew in size, it became clear to Villum that the opportunity had been created to establish yet another foundation focusing solely on philanthropic grants.
In 1981, this led to the establishment of VELUX FOUNDATION, which to a large extent continued Villum Foundation’s original philanthropic purpose and distribution of funds. Villum Foundation, on the other hand, continued as the majority shareholder in the VKR Group.
Today, both foundations actively support philanthropic purposes through their distribution of funds.
In the early years, the grants were, as expected, relatively modest. However, that was soon to change.
As the VKR Group grew, more and more funds were naturally accumulated and could be distributed. A fact that enabled the award of larger grants and later on, supporting projects
abroad.
Since 1971 and 1981, Villum Foundation and VELUX FOUNDATION have together awarded more than DKK 17 billion to various philanthropic purposes.
With his visionary ideas, Villum Kann Rasmussen in many ways laid the foundation for the development that has made the foundations what they are today. He passed away on 24 August 1993.
- The period after Villum Kann Rasmussen was marked by the great loss of the founder of the foundations. However, true to his great leadership, Villum left a legacy that was future-proof – best exemplified by the fact that since his passing there has only been one significant addition to the two foundations’ trust deeds.
Thus, in 2008, an opportunity arose to also support larger tasks with philanthropic environmental purposes as a result of the global attention to ensuring a sustainable society.
- Before his death, Villum also made sure that there would always be a family member like himself on both boards, so his descendants would also be able to contribute to the foundations’ philanthropic purposes in the future.
Since the foundation of Villum Foundation, we have supported a wide range of philanthropic purposes, all with the aim of developing society.
We do not take credit for the many projects that have been implemented, but we are proud to give others the opportunity to contribute actively to the development of society.
In this sense, we see the foundation as part of something bigger. Something that, true to the spirit of Villum Kann Rasmussen, shows that self-interest and social interest are not mutually exclusive.
Villum Kann Rasmussen – in brief
