Difference between Public Trust and Foundation?

Which foundation? If the foundation is having religious activities as a Trust, it will also come under the Trust Act.

The differences between the two can be simply summarized as follows: a foundation is mainly started by a single entity and funded by one primary, private entity. On the other hand, a charity mostly depends on the government and the general public to provide funds then uses the funds to support a cause..

A trust is formed when the legal owner of assets transfers legal ownership of the assets to individuals or a corporation for the benefit of family or friends. On the other hand, foundations are considered a hybrid between a trust and a company. A foundation is a body corporate without shareholders and is governed by a council in accordance with the foundation’s constitutional documents.

The significant difference between a foundation and a trust is that the former needs to be registered for it to exist, while a trust is an agreement between two parties and does not need to be registered to be effective. Another difference is that there is a split between the owner of the assets that the trustee oversees for a trust. However, foundations don’t implement such splits since they fully own all of their assets.

In my considered view, mere names does not matter; what really matters is how the body has been constituted and registered.