See blog posts from our team, partners, founders and network, on topics affecting the philanthropy sector.
2020 In Review: What can we learn from the philanthropy sector’s COVID response? “2020 has been the most important year for philanthropy in recent times.” – Matthew Bowcock Throughout 2020, hundreds of millions of pounds in grants have been distributed to non-profit organisations throughout the UK. The purpose, to support those that found themselves […]
In 2007, Sir Alec Reed, founder of one of the UK’s best known recruitment brands, REED, saw a huge gap in the philanthropic and giving landscape: the opportunity for small, medium and large donors to join together to meet a charity’s needs for a specific campaign. From this realisation, Sir Alec has spent more than a decade to make giving easier for all kinds of donors.
Prism, the Gift Fund, recently launched The Philanthropy Paradox, a research report that suggests philanthropists are not held in particularly high esteem, especially among those who are most likely to have come into contact with their work. We argue that the solution lies not in the words, but in actions. Philanthropists must work to root their work in the communities they support. In parallel, society must recognise it will gain more by treating those who give thoughtfully in service of a better society with greater nuance and care.
The Environmental Funders Network have released an illustrated booklet of case studies to showcase pathways into environmental funding. The 27 stories of network members, including individuals and trust and foundations, demonstrate the transformative potential of philanthropy. This work not only showcases pathways to new and increasing philanthropy for those that wish to support environmental causes but also offers valuable insights into all philanthropic efforts and best practice in giving.
The COVID crisis should provide evidence of why philanthropy matters and why we need to take it more seriously than ever before in a society open to generosity. One cause for optimism during these bleakest of times has been a voluntary spirit and desire to help others, which emerged right from the start of the lockdown. Admonished to stay at home and protect the NHS, many instead found ways to help other human beings rather than stay still, immobilised by public mandate.
Guest Blog from Jasmine Awad from IG advisors on the need for making strong and lasting relationships between non-profits and donors even more obvious. To support the sector during these challenging times, I.G. Advisors partnered with the Ford Foundation to create the Field Guide to Relationship-Based Fundraising, a free and accessible fundraising toolkit designed to help non-profits build strong relationships with their donors.
There have been a number of reports looking at the barriers to giving among wealthy people in the UK in recent months. They provide a great deal of insight into what the wider philanthropy sector could do better to support individual donors, but what can an individual philanthropist learn from them to make their own good first step into giving?
When you start on your giving journey, one of the hardest questions to answer is: “how much is generous?”Giving is so personal, and traditionally so private, that there are not really any benchmarks for generosity. Talk to friends and neighbours and you may discover you are doing more than most.
Modern social media is a double-edged sword. It alerts us quickly to the presence of something new. But its very speed also creates a tendency towards knee-jerk responses rooted in our preconceptions and prejudices. Often it cuts out the need to actually consider the evidence. So it was with some concern that I heard that social media responses to my new book Philanthropy – from Aristotle to Zuckerberg had been the subject of unhappy comment among some philanthropists and philanthropy advisers after Twitter comments provoked by an extract from my book in The Guardian.
The Beacon Collaborative