Mining projects in developing countries are increasingly expected to deliver sustainable benefi ts to local, regional, and national stakeholders. With high mineral prices generating windfall profi ts and focusing grow ing attention on compensation payments and the necessity of earning and retaining their “social license to operate,” many governments and companies have been considering the use of foundations, trusts, and funds (FTFs) as vehicles for sharing the benefi ts of mining operations with the surrounding communities. If conceived as independent enti ties they can provide opportunities for shared governance that can be sustained long into the future. To achieve sustainable benefi ts, however, mining FTFs need to be integrated into the local context with a level of complexity proportionate to their vision, funding, and capacity. The choice of a dedicated instrument, such as an FTF, can bring par ticular value where local capacities are limited, public services are absent or weak, and there is a need to demonstrate continued benefi t from min ing after operations have closed. FTFs can be used to deliver community investment programs for companies, facilitate the use of government payments derived from mining for development, and manage compensa tion funds. Comparing the experience of mining FTFs is made challenging through the varied defi nitions of foundations, trusts, and funds around the world. In order to conduct any form of comparison it is necessary to focus on the key attributes of the FTF, which typically have little connec tion to their formal legal structure. The research conducted for this study identifi ed six sliding-scale criteria that facilitate comparison and analysis of FTFs. The six criteria are as follows: • Programming approach—from grant making to fully operational approaches. • Financing structure—ranging from fully endowed funds to annual bud get allocations from a single source or multiple donors. • Geographic focus—extending outward from the project’s direct area of infl uence to national and international programs. 2 Sharing Mining Benefi ts in Developing Countries • Community participation in governance—from no participation through to advisory committees and boards that include community representatives. • Infl uence of mining company—moving from full ownership and control by the mining company through to complete independence from the company. • Infl uence of government—from minimal governmental infl uence over the FTF’s activities through to a legal requirement to establish an FTF and control over the nature and location of development activities. There is no standard approach to mining FTFs—experience around the world is varied and diffi cult to compare. Nevertheless, one critical condition for success is evident: adaptation to the local context. Adapta tion is presented in three distinct components: complexity, context, and integration. The complexity of the FTF should be proportionate with the funding and capacity of the operating environment. The context needs to be well understood through extensive social assessment in order to ap propriately defi ne the vision, benefi ciaries, and projects to be supported by the FTF. Wrapping this together is the integration of the FTF with local and regional development plans. Brief case studies that illustrate the in terplay of these components appear in Chapter 4 of this publication. In addition to presenting conditions for success, the case studies high light three principles of leading practice for mining FTFs. Those principles can be expressed as follows: • Higher levels of stakeholder participation are likely to lead to more grounded, sustainable development activities in a region, thereby justifying the additional time and resources that greater participation requires. • Attention to the detail of governance structures and appropriate management of administrative responsibilities can greatly increase the performance of an FTF and the likelihood that it will attract external fi nancing. • Planning for the sustainability of an FTF, whether by endowing funds or expanding stakeholder participation in the governance structure, improves the likelihood of delivering long-term benefi ts from mining projects in developing countries