As a financial service provider, United is in business to earn a profit. But we also believe in investing in society: in music, art, sports and social development. This involves more than financial support: our people commit their knowledge, skills and time to the initiatives that we back.
Through United Foundation - or Fundashon Bon Intenshon as it is known on Curaçao - we provide (financial) support to a wide range of initiatives and organisations related to music, art and culture, sports and social development. As our name suggests, the essence of our corporate culture is uniting. And our services are consistently aimed at giving people the opportunity to realise their ambitions. As for our own ambition with our sponsoring activities, we wish to strengthen the initiatives and organisations that we sponsor, and to build a strong community around them that unites and connects them with our own people and our clients.
We want to do what feels right to us, what matters to us, what helps others, and – importantly – what gives us pleasure. Music brings people together. Art and culture increase social cohesion and improve the quality of life. Sports are a great unifier. And social development is necessary, given that not everybody is as privileged as we are. The values and activities of the foundation are fully aligned with those of United itself – except that profit is not part of the equation.
Mostly our sponsorship is about providing financial support, or material support bought with our money. But on top of this, our people offer their knowledge, skills and physical effort when necessary. Our contribution need not always be visible to all – as we said, we do not have a commercial goal in mind. Wherever we can, we try to involve our clients in our sponsoring activities. With a concrete contribution, or by just joining us now and then in ‘celebrating’ our good fortune in being able to do beautiful, important and enjoyable things in this world!
United: loyal sponsor to Neptunus
Through our United Foundation, we’ve sponsored Rotterdam’s elite baseball club Curaçao Neptunus since 2015, and we’ve now just signed up for another three years as their main sponsor. Since we started sponsoring, Curaçao Neptunus has won four national and three European titles, and now, as they celebrate their 80th anniversary, they’re again leading the Dutch major league. United Foundation supports initiatives (in sports as well as arts and education) that unite people, and this certainly applies to Curaçao Neptunus. In the colourful port city of Rotterdam, the club is an inclusive meeting place welcoming everyone with a common love for baseball and softball.
Woordnacht
United Foundation is a partner of Woordnacht (Word Night), an annual Dutch-language literary festival which was held for the sixth time on Friday 28 and Sunday 30 October 2022. This year’s theme, Blauw beleven in Woordnacht (Blue experience in Woordnacht), explored in a range of poetry readings interviews, and performances and art installations. The festival gave a platform to up-and-coming talents as well as celebrated figures from the Dutch literary scene (like Adriaan van Dis, Sanneke van Hassel, Lale Gül, Rodaan Al Galidi, Shantie Singh, Herman Brusselmans, Marcel Möring, Annelies Verbeke).
More info
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)
Since 2011, United Foundation has been a partner and sponsor of the International Film Festival Rotterdam. IFFR offers a high quality line-up of carefully selected fiction and documentary feature films, short films and media art. The festival's focus is on recent work by talented new filmmakers. The 51st edition is from Wednesday 26 - Sunday 6 February (online). United Foundation is also sponsor of the IFFR on Curaçao. This event, organised in cooperation with the International Film Festival Rotterdam, seeks to inspire cinema-goers and young filmmakers from the Caribbean region and to broaden the range of culture available on the island.
United keeping the blues alive – and how!
United Foundation will again sponsor the Holland International Blues Festival to be held in Grolloo, the Netherlands, on 9-11 June 2022. The festival editions of 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to COVID19.
http://www.hollandinternationalbluesfestival.com
United Foundation shirt sponsor for Team Kingdom of the Netherlands
At the WBSC Premier12, being held in Mexico City from 2 to 17 November and featuring the twelve best-ranked national baseball teams in the world, the United Foundation logo graced the shirts of Team Kingdom of the Netherlands. United Foundation was already a 2020 Partner of the Dutch baseball federation KNBSB, but has taken its partnership a step further by offering shirt sponsoring for the Kingdom team at this global tournament.
United hosts CapaBuild Training Seminars
United hosted a CapaBuild training seminar again on Wednesday 2 October, attended by representatives of the Ministry of Finance and of the Tax Authorities of Indonesia. Capabuild is a project aimed at helping developing countries to raise their tax revenues and thereby create more scope to expand and improve public services. To achieve this, Capabuild establishes local centres of excellence, so-called Tax Academies, within the revenue authorities of these countries. We support this initiative through United Foundation.
Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival 2019
United Foundation, working with Mojo Concerts, organised again the annual Curaçao version of the Netherlands’ premier annual music event, the North Sea Jazz Festival. The 2019 edition took place from 29 to 31 August. The international line-up was particularly impressive this year, with Pitbull, Kenny G., Inner Circle, Earth, Wind and Fire, Michael McDonald, Maxwell and Black Eyed Peas on Friday and David Sanborn, Third World, Mariah Carey, Gladys Knight, Aloe Blacc, Maroon 5 and NickyJam on Saturday. Curacao's inhabitants and many visitors thoroughly enjoyed themselves. United gave its staff from around the world the chance to reconnect with colleagues and enjoy the unique festival vibe.
Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival
Curaçao International BlueSeas Festival 2019
Initiated and sponsored by United Foundation (Fundashon Bon Intenshon), the fourth edition of the Curaçao International BlueSeas Festival took place in the streets of Pietermaai District in Willemstad on 19 and 20 April 2019. The free street festival gave a platform to young and internationally recognised talent that is “keeping the blues alive”.
Curaçao International Blueseas Festival
International Film Festival Curaçao 2019
Since 2011, United Foundation has been one of the main sponsors of the International Film Festival Rotterdam and IFFR on Curaçao. IFFR offers a high quality line-up of carefully selected fiction and documentary feature films, short films and media art. The festival's focus is on recent work by talented new filmmakers. The 8th edition of IFFR on Curaçao took place from Wednesday 10 April till Sunday 14 April 2019. This event, organised in cooperation with the International Film Festival Rotterdam, seeks to inspire cinema-goers and young filmmakers from the Caribbean region and to broaden the range of culture available on the island.
Neptunus Rotterdam
United Foundation sponsors the successful Rotterdam baseball and softball club Neptunus. Neptunus offers children, teenagers and adults, from amateurs to internationals, of either sex and from a range of cultural backgrounds, an excellent environment in which to compete, develop their skills and grow personally. Neptunus has won the Dutch national championship many times over, and has numerous European cups to its name. Neptunus plays an important unifying role in the multicultural city of Rotterdam. Of its members, 60% have roots in immigrant communities from the Caribbean, Central America and East Asia, regions where baseball is far and away the most important sport. The baseball club is a place where players and volunteers learn and practise the values of respect and fair play.
Coming in third in the European Cup in June 2019, in September's Holland Series Neptunus surrendered its top position to L&D Amsterdam Pirates. This is Amsterdam's 5th Holland Series victory, against 19 for Neptunus Rotterdam.
2000 drummers by the sea
On 9 September 2018, in what was probably the biggest drumming event in the world ever, Cesar Zuiderwijk, drummer of Dutch superband Golden Earring, conducted a concert uniting a whopping 2000 drummers on Scheveningen beach near The Hague. Participants included the Netherlands’ best-known drummers, percussion groups and bands, with Golden Earring playing their iconic Radar Love to the massive beat of 2000 drums. Over 40,000 people came to enjoy this spectacular show, which was main sponsored by United Foundation.
Community Links
For the past 40 years, British frontline charity Community Links has been active within East London communities where people are unable to fully develop their individual and collective potential due to poverty and lack of opportunities. Community Links, like United Foundation, believes in supporting people in coming together, overcoming diversity and building solidarity. In other words, uniting. The charity works for social change through a wide range of projects, ranging from a music studio for community youth to job training, traineeships and real jobs, and from financial and legal advice to health support. In 2017, a strategy was launched to help the people develop “Ready For Everything Communities”: communities with ambition, resilience and influence, supported by an effective network of voluntary, private and public sector partners.
Capabuild
Capabuild is a project aimed at helping developing countries to raise their tax revenues and thereby create more scope to expand and improve public services. To achieve this, Capabuild establishes local centres of excellence, so-called Tax Academies, within the revenue authorities of these countries. These Tax Academies provide local staff with the knowledge and skills they need to levy and collect taxes more effectively. The Capabuild project was developed and is financed by the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD), the world’s leading centre of expertise on cross-border taxation, in cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and business partners, including United. United’s role in Capabuild goes beyond funding. We also contribute expertise and support to management of the IBFD Capabuild foundation set up for this project. More information
Curaçao Soccer Academy
United Foundation sponsors the Curaçao Soccer Academy, which is all about talent development. It is not a soccer club, as the selected players remain with their local clubs and train and participate in the youth competition. It is an after-school project: the selected youth players are picked up at school and transported to the training center four times a week. After a balanced meal, the players do their homework or join in social sessions. When all is done, soccer training begins under the guidance of director Hans van Elden, an experienced player and former Dutch Football Association instructor. Van Elden works with a team of trainers, homework supervisors, a social education specialist, a nutritionist, and a medical team.
Ndlovu Care Group, South Africa
United Foundation supports Ndlovu Care Group, a non-profit organisation focused on community development and healthcare services, particularly for children. United Foundation largely financed and helped realise the building of two homes, one for HIV-infected children and one for homeless children in two suburbs of Johannesburg. The homes are managed by Dr. Hugo Tempelman and his wife Liesje. They combine arts, drama, sports and culture programmes to support the children under their care in becoming healthy, responsible and employable South Africans. One of their most impactful initiatives is the Ndlovu Youth Choir, where underprivileged and scarred children gain self-esteem and a sense of belonging. The choir performs successfully in South Africa and around the world. To raise money for the choir, Hugo and Liesje participate in the annual Cape Town Cycle Tour.
United States
The University of Central Florida is one of America’s largest and most innovative universities, and Rosen College, which organises its hospitality management programmes, has earned a stellar number 2 position in international rankings of hospitality and hotel management schools. United Foundation is a benefactor of the college, where the Gregory Elias Entertainment Management Program is named after our founder. United believes the entertainment industry needs educated, creative individuals prepared to tackle tomorrow’s challenges and create a better, more harmonious world through the arts. The programme is now in its second year and student numbers have surged to 385. A great success.
Surinam
In Surinam, which has strong historical ties to the Netherlands, United Foundation is the main sponsor of the country’s largest school for music in the capital Paramaribo. The patron of the school is Dutch comedian Jörgen Raymann. Together with foundation DOEN, United Foundation also sponsors the first professional youth theatre school in Paramaribo, which is managed by actress Helen Kamperveen.