Fondazione CR Firenze is a non-profit philanthropic foundation of banking origin. It uses income from its assets to fund contributions and projects addressing social needs and supporting development in its area of operation: Florence and its metropolitan area, and the provinces of Grosseto and Arezzo.39 Its current president is Bernabò Bocca, who has chaired the board since October 2023.12
The institution’s history reaches back to 1829, when 100 citizens established the Società della Cassa di Risparmio to encourage saving and provision among less-affluent people.4 The present foundation took shape in April 1992, when the banking business was transferred to a newly established joint-stock company under Italy’s banking reform.4 It later became a private legal entity under the 2000 implementation of the Ciampi law.4
Its work spans culture and the arts, heritage conservation, landscape and environmental protection, agriculture, scientific and medical research, technology, youth education and development, volunteering, and solidarity.23 The foundation operates in Tuscany, with particular attention to Florence and the neighbouring provinces named above.4
A recent example of its housing-related activity is its €15 million investment in the Abitaequo fund’s redevelopment of the former Lupi di Toscana barracks in Florence. The wider project, with an estimated investment of about €55 million, is planned to provide 236 homes at controlled rents, alongside public spaces and community facilities.11 The foundation’s headquarters are at Via Bufalini 6 in Florence, in a building designed by architect Giovanni Michelucci.5