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The Florimond Volckaert Fund is a very important membership benefit within Skål International.
However in spite of various efforts over the years it is evident from conversations with Clubs and members worldwide that awareness of the Fund remains a significant issue. If members are unaware of its existence, how can we provide help in their time of need?
We are grateful for the continued support of Skålleagues around the world and once again stress that without this continued stream of donations your Fund could not assist fellow Skålleagues in distress.
However, as per our reports over the past years, the fund continues to pay out more than it receives, resulting in the capital held being reduced. This cannot continue and we urge all Skålleagues to ask themselves is the price of a cup of coffee (€5) too much to help a fellow Skålleague who has found themselves in a time of need? If we can achieve this level of support the fund would grow by €50,000 a year!
Think of it – a fund that grows by €50,000 per year based on the price of one cup of coffee – imagine the help we can provide!
We, the undersigned 3 Past Presidents are the current Trustees of the Florimond Volckaert Fund named in honour of the founder of Skål and its first President.
To provide online donations or applying for assistance is very easy through an online form on Skål International’s website page. The grant and any further communications are strictly confidential between the applicant and the three Trustees.
If you are not familiar, please visit the Fund’s page on the Skål International website for more information.
Increase in Grants slight decrease in Donations
In 2025 total amount of donations received was € 11.228,44 compared to € 12.593,96 in 2024 which shows a slight decrease versus prior year. As to Grants, a total of 8 applications amounted to € 41.653,06 vs € 35.540,22 in 2024 with 11 applications.
We would like to sincerely thank all 59 Clubs and 4 individual Skålleagues for their most appreciated contributions. We are also very pleased to announce that Skål International Mexico is again the champion for providing the highest national contribution from 27 Clubs.
Financial Overview
In 2025, the Fund’s Profit & Loss Statement, as you will find below, shows a negative result of € 70.646,40 before taxes. This is mainly due to the exchange rate variation which is an accounting adjustment that ensures the year-end balance, expressed in euros, reflects the value of our US$ accounts at the exchange rate US$/€ at that time. The US$ has depreciated significantly since last year, which explains the negative variation.
Even without taking the negative exchange rate variation into account, the Fund’s income statement would have shown a negative result, as fewer donations were received than grants were awarded.
In any event, this US$/€ exchange rate change has no real impact on FVF’s finances, unless we convert the fix deposits into euros, since the funds remain in US$ and their value is still US$500,000
Please note that below provisional statement is being presented before audit, which we don’t expect to change as they have never been amended after the audit. The only outstanding item is the taxes, which will be calculated shortly and paid in July.
