Founded by a generous endowment in 1987 by French Banker, Remy Schlumberger, with support from organizations in France, the UK and the US, the IAFP is an association of Members sharing the same goals and objectives:

- Promote networking and sharing of best practices among members country associations and employers worlwide through its Exclusive Directory of Financial Participation which provides also information and data from different countries on national laws and regulations of share programs, statistical data, case studies, news and trends.

- Assist in the organization of new country associations to promote share program sponsorship across borders.

- Encourage the development of national laws to the sponsorship of share programs.

In order to accomplish these goals IAFP maintains an information center at its headquarters and exchanges information among its national association members. It sponsors conferences and seminars in support of share programs and makes available its experts for consultation with national and international organizations, seeking information on share programs. IAFP offers financial support for major academic research studies on topics which relates to the benefits of share participation programs.

Regular membership meetings are held to further the above objectives of the association, which is managed by an Executive Committee supported by a President, a Secretary General and a staff located in Paris.