Ever since its birth, Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation has always had the ambition of becoming a center of documentation and research of not only national, but international relevance, establishing contacts with cultural institutions in and outside of Europe. Since its early years of operation, it has developed a special bond with the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam. Today, the Foundation is part of numerous networks and associations of institutions, including the International Association of Labour History Institutions (IALHI). IALHI today includes 60 institutions, such as the Friederich Ebert Stiftung in Bonn, the Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine (BDIC) of Paris, the AMSAB-ISG of Ghent, the Fundação Mario Soares of Lisbon, the OSA of Budapest and the Senate House Library, which reports to the University of London. It is also a member of the Association of Italian cultural institutions, the European Foundation Center, the International Council on Archives, the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, the Human Development and Capability Association.

Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation carries out its research activities in collaboration with University centers, foundations and research institutes, including: Università degli Studi di Milano, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Libera Università Internazionale di Studi Sociali (LUISS) Guido Carli of Rome, Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori (IUSS) of Pavia, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) of Trieste, the Institut zur Zukunft der Arbeit (IZA) of Bonn, ISPI, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Fondazione Unipolis, Fondazione Reggio Children.