Our Not-for-Profit Model
Our funding
Our Not-For-Profit Model
How we are funded to advance cardiovascular science
Our funding comes from a mix of revenue from across our activities, including membership fees, congress and event revenues, scientific publishing, educational and accreditation initiative. We also generate income through partnerships with life science and medtech sectors that align with our mission.
This diversified model ensures independence, sustainability, and the capacity to deliver trusted, evidence-based resources to the global cardiovascular community.
Learn more
Latest ESC Annual Reports
We publish annual reports to provide an overview of both our financial position and to highlight the activities delivered each year by our community of volunteers and supporting staff in pursuit of our objectives and mission.
Transparency and oversight
The ESC’s activities are driven by its volunteer community. ESC volunteers give their time, expertise and passion freely; they do not receive a salary or payment for the time they provide. When experts volunteer their time to ESC activities, they must comply with our Disclosure of Interest (DOI) policy by declaring any financial or in-kind relationships with industry or other third parties, ensuring that potential conflicts of interest are identified and managed appropriately.
The ESC Audit Committee ensures robust oversight of our financial and governance practices. This includes reviewing and approving annual financial statements, assessing organisational risks, managing financial assets responsibly and enforcing our Declaration of Interest policy.
Through these actions, the Audit Committee safeguards the checks and balances that underpin the ESC’s governance, reinforcing our dedication to integrity and the advancement of cardiovascular science.
The ESC’s financial statement is prepared in accordance with French GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and certified by the Statutory Auditors. The financial report is then approved by the Board before being submitted to representatives of all ESC Constituent Bodies at the annual General Assembly.
The ESC’s financial statement is publicly available in accordance with French Association statutes, and the key findings of this statement are summarised and published in our annual report.
More about our ethics and compliance
Our governance
Strong governance guides everything we do, ensuring all decisions align with our mission while providing accountability. Our robust governing framework is underpinned by our people through democratic elections and actively upheld by dedicated committees.
ESC Audit Committee
The ESC Audit Committee provides independent, expert oversight on our financial and business practices, ensuring that the appropriate declaration of interests and ethical conduct policy are implemented by the Board.
Ethics and Compliance
As a large and influential scientific society, trusted by clinicians, patients, policymakers and funders, what we recommend carries wide-reaching impact. We uphold the integrity of our work and the reliability of our content through robust ethics and compliance mechanisms, all designed to ensure the highest standards in everything we do.