ThinkingGiving: Your journey to better charitable giving

Welcome to ThinkingGiving, helping you to give better.

How do I know my donation is making a difference?
What should I look for on a charity’s website?
Should I support a large, national charity or a small, local one?

Welcome to ThinkingGiving, an education course designed to help individual donors answer these and many other questions.

Whether you’re a long-time but frustrated donor or just starting on your giving journey, ThinkingGiving will give you the tools to maximise your impact and build meaningful relationships with charities along the way.

It provides straightforward, practical guidance to make thoughtful, effective and ultimately more satisfying charitable decisions.

ThinkingGiving is specifically designed for UK-based individuals who make their own giving decisions. Below you’ll find the course trailer and a link to sample the ThinkingGiving course for free!

Visit ThinkingGiving Sample the Course

^{ThinkingGiving is a 3-hour virtual course created by SylviaBrownSmartDonors and the Beacon Collaborative.}

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16 May 2022

Philanthropy Right Now: Agreeing to disagree

“Philanthropy is a curious and complex thing,” starts Pears Foundation’s Rhodri Davies. In this edition of our monthly column, he sits down to share his thoughts with us on why the topic is sometimes controversial. In the age of Twitter-style point scoring, Rhodri implores us to approach the subject with more nuance and realise the public good that can be achieved from private means.

6 May 2022

Getting Started: Why Taking a Considered Approach Towards Philanthropy Matters

What does it take to be an effective charitable giver? Kate Symondson began running her family’s foundation just last summer and has grappled with various hurdles and challenges since. In this article, she details these challenges and explains the effective methods she has been applying to overcome them and to give well.

3 May 2022

Time, Talent and Treasuring donor relationships

What makes for a good relationship between a charitable donor and the person helping them to make change? This is the question at the centre of Jessica Maybanks’ new article for Beacon. Based on her extensive experience in fundraising, Jessica explains how many fundraisers are losing out by not engaging philanthropists beyond financial donations.

28 April 2022

Alastair Stewart | Connectivity, competence and philanthropy.

Alastair Stewart is one of the nation’s most recognisable prime time faces. From wars to elections, millions have watched him break news headlines across the decades. Lesser known, though, is Alastair’s engagement in charity. We sat down with the journalist to learn about his philanthropy.

20 April 2022

Government, Community, Philanthropy: a three-pronged relationship for social good.

“Partnerships between philanthropy, government and community are complex, but when successful, transformational.” In this article, Andrew Watt – an expert on policy, communications and strategy within the social sector – explains how taking a partnership approach can lead to huge benefits for UK society.

7 April 2022

Philanthropy Right Now: Ethical Coalition

What is an ethical coalition? How can it lead us to a sector which embraces communities of all sizes, backgrounds and demographics? In this edition of Philanthropy Right Now, Marie-Louise Gourlay considers whether shared goals can help us to recognise our potential as a non-homogenous group.

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