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Balean

Information about the Balean Foundation

1 - Support

The place for all your questions using the Balean platform

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of Balean?

Our purpose is to connect people with the ocean. You can read more about our purpose in our handbook.

How can I become a member of the Balean platform?

At the moment, the platform does not support memberships or accounts. If you are an organisation and want to have your ocean sustainability project on our platform, then please contact us via this form.

How can I support the Balean initiative?

The Balean foundation is also a non-profit, living from your donations. If you want to support the platform itself, you can do that on our project page.

What is the background of the founders?

Please read our founder story.

Who are the founders?

The founders of Balean are Bart Oor and Sander Brienen. Please read our founder story.

Is Balean an organisation with public interest?

Please check our ANBI page.

Can I also publish my story on the Balean platform?

We are happy to discuss the possibilities with you. Please reach out via this contact form.

Can I also have my project listed on the Balean platform?

We are happy to discuss the possibilities with you. Please reach out via this contact form.

What happens with my money?

One of the values of the Balean Foundation is transparency. With our donation process, we also want to be fully transparent. Since the Balean Foundation is also a non-profit, we are as dependent from donations as the projects on our platform. Therefore, we ask for a tip during the checkout process to support the platform itself.

In short, When you donate to a project, you will see the following items on the donation page: Donation, Tip and Processing Fee. Let’s explain each of these items below.

  • Donation: This is the amount that is actually going to the project you are donating to.
  • Tip: This is the tip that goes to Balean to keep the platform running.
  • Processing Fee: Every transaction costs money. Transaction cost are a significant part of our cost. If you want to make full impact, you can opt to cover the processing fee.

Why should I cover for the transaction cost?

Every transaction costs money. This is a significant part of the operational cost for the Balean Foundation. Balean is also depending on donations to keep the platform running. When you are willing to also cover for the transaction cost, you help Balean to stay operational so we can keep doing what we do.

How to get the Balean App on my phone?

The Balean App is a progressive web app that can be installed directly from your browser. It is not available in the app stores at the moment. Check how to install the app on your home screen.

How to install the Balean App on my home screen?

To install the Balean App on your home screen, navigate to https://www.balean.org in your browser.

Click on the three dots in the address bar of your browser to open the browser menu. From the drop-down menu, select the option “Add to Home Screen”.

2 - ANBI Status

Balean is a foundation that aims at the general interest. For that reason we publish our statutes.

Dutch text below

Details

The Balean foundation is legally registered under the following name and address:

Stichting Balean
Provincialeweg 21
5835 CZ Beugen
The Netherlands

KvK (Chamber of Commerce) registration: 95267565
RSIN number: 867065710

Public Interest Organisation

Balean is formally identified as an organisation for public interest (ANBI status) as of August 18, 2025. You can verify this status on the site of the Dutch tax services using the RSIN number.

Purpose

According to our statutes (in dutch), Balean has the following purpose:

  1. The aim of the Foundation is to connect organisations active in the conservation, protection and recovery of oceans and seas worldwide on the one hand and society, individuals, organisations, businesses and (semi-)governments on the other hand, as well as all anything that is related to the above in the broadest sense, is related to the above and/or can be conducive to the above.
  2. The Foundation tries to achieve its objective by, among other things:
    • raising funds;
    • providing information;
    • creating a dialogue between the parties mentioned above; and
    • all other legally permissible ways.
  3. The objective of the Foundation includes: accepting (or rejecting or not accepting) acquisitions by inheritance or gift, also if a charge or obligation is attached thereto.
  4. The Foundation aims at the general interest and has no objective of making profit.

The above mission statement is translated from the statutes. The Dutch version is the original text.

Statutes

A copy of the statutes of the Balean Foundation is publicly available for review via this link. The statutes are in dutch and provided as is. The formal copy is deposited at the notary (Notariskantoor Teeuwen in Boxmeer, The Netherlands).

Strategy plan

The Balean Foundation (Stichting Balean) wrote a strategy plan in Dutch with justification and policies around the goals of the Foundation and a multi-year plan from inception through 2026. If you are interested in this plan, you can download it via this link.

Dutch

ANBI

Balean is officieel aangemerkt als ANBI per 18 augustus 2025. Je kunt de ANBI status verifieren via de website van de belastingdienst met behulp van het RSIN nummer of naam en vestigingsplaats.

Doelstelling

Zoals beschreven in onze statuten heeft de stichting het volgende doel:

  1. De Stichting heeft ten doel het verbinden van organisaties actief in het behoud, bescherming en herstel van oceanen en zeeën wereldwijd enerzijds en de maatschappij, individuen, organisaties, ondernemingen en (semi-)overheden anderzijds alsmede al hetgeen in de ruimste zin met één en ander verband houdt, daartoe behoort en/of daartoe bevorderlijk kan zijn.
  2. De Stichting tracht haar doel onder meer te bereiken door:
    • het werven van fondsen;
    • het geven van voorlichting;
    • het creëren van een dialoog tussen de hiervoor gemelde partijen; en - alle overige wettelijk toegestane manieren.
  3. Tot de doelstelling van de Stichting is mede begrepen: het aanvaarden (of verwerpen dan wel niet aanvaarden) van verkrijgingen krachtens erfrecht of schenking, ook als daar een last of verplichting aan is verbonden.
  4. De Stichting beoogt het algemeen belang en heeft niet ten doel het maken van winst.

Statuten

Een kopie van de statuten van de stichting zijn te downloaden via deze link. Deze statuten zijn een kopie van de oorspronkelijk door de notaris opgestelde statuten. De officiële statuten zijn gedeponeerd bij Notariskantoor Teeuwen te Boxmeer.

Beleidsplan

Stichting Balean heeft een beleidsplan opgesteld met een verantwoording en het beleid rondom de doelen van de Stichting en een meerjarenplan vanaf oprichting tot en met 2026. Dit beleidsplan is te downloaden via deze link.