Supporting individuals

By Theresa Lloyd

Some people like to include the support of individuals in the portfolio of their charitable giving. Making a difference to individual lives was one of the most rewarding aspects of philanthropy reported in Why Rich People Give¹, and the specific support of individuals among the most satisfying donations.

Such experiences ranged from the support of doctors from developing countries to train for a year in the UK to the funding of young sportspeople, usually those involved in activities in which the donor also has an interest. Examples included the backing of young riders in training for the Olympics and a young cricketer ambitious to play for his country. One refugee from Nazi Germany has established scholarships in his name at a leading university. These are aimed at tackling the causes and consequences of intolerance, and are intended for students who plan to explore the nature of religious, racial and cultural prejudices and to find ways of combating them.

Support of the arts may also feature; an example is the funding of a scholarship to cover the fees and accommodation of a young girl from the North East of England who had won a place at a ballet school. A few arts organisations, usually in the performing arts, encourage the involvement of individual donors by associating them with the training of young artists or the support of established musicians - whether singers or players. Examples include the Chair Sponsorship scheme at the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, which links donors, individual players and the orchestra as a whole, promoting strong networks between donors who enjoy sharing a passion for the orchestra and the music it performs.

Some donors may never meet the beneficiaries of their philanthropy. There is the example of child sponsorship schemes, such as that run by ActionAid, in which the money given is pooled for the benefit of the community as a whole, and the child is essentially an ambassador or representative of that community. One way to change the lives not only of individuals but also of whole communities is to support social entrepreneurs - extraordinary individuals with unprecedented ideas for change in their communities. An example is Ashoka, which identifies and supports "Fellows" who are "practical visionaries" committed to systemic social change in their field. Such entrepreneurs provide new opportunities and better lives for their fellow citizens.

Case study: Ashoka

Among the entrepreneurs Ashoka has backed is Rodrigo Baggio. With grant money from Ashoka, Rodrigo has trained almost one million at-risk children with computer and internet skills. His project, the Committee to Democratize Information Technology (CDI), initially created a network of more than 200 self-managed computer schools in the urban slums of 17 Brazilian states. Helping students who might otherwise have turned to drug trafficking or violence, Rodrigo is bridging the digital divide while providing important job opportunities to young Brazilians. His project is expanding exponentially as he opens schools in other countries, now with corporate support.

Another approach is to support people through microfinance. Microfinance, or microcredit, programmes provide credit and other financial assistance, as well as business training and networking opportunities, to economically active poor people. Such people typically are outside the banking system and at the mercy of money-lenders who charge exorbitant rates. Average loan sizes from microfinance organisations are small (sometimes as little as £40) and repayment rates as high as 97%. Most clients are women. Such loans create jobs and, crucially, help people to help themselves. A leading example in this field is Opportunity International. In the UK, one example is Prowess, a network of organisations and individuals throughout the country who provide financial and non-financial support to disadvantaged women seeking to start their own businesses.

Yet another way of having an impact is to offer expertise. A leading example is Voluntary Service Overseas which sends volunteers who have expertise and skills which are not available in the relevant developing country. VSO volunteers are skilled and experienced professionals with an average age of 38. They come not only from the UK but also are recruited worldwide through bases in the Netherlands, Canada, the Philippines, Kenya and India. The volunteers receive living expenses only, but there is a cost in supporting them and ensuring that their knowledge is transferred so that they leave a lasting legacy.

In virtually every case the money is not going directly to individuals without the intervention of an intermediary organisation that helps identify and select potential beneficiaries and monitors how the money is spent and accounted for. In some cases the donor will have no influence on the recipient - for example in choosing the women to participate in a microfinance scheme or the VSO volunteers or the Ashoka Fellows - or indeed the head of a woodwind section in an orchestra. However, with VSO or Ashoka there may be a list of possibilities from which the donor may choose a project that fires his or her imagination. But, in other cases the donor may initiate the process and help select recipients, as was the case with the scholarship established to look at the causes and consequences of intolerance - an opportunity rejected by the first university approached by the donor. The beneficiary of the ballet school bursary was identified because she was the daughter of the local postman.

Supporting institutions which are part of the fabric of our society is important and rewarding. Many changes in society can only be achieved by backing organisations and their leadership. People include the support of individuals in their philanthropic portfolio because they see that they are making a difference to individual lives and, sometimes, through them to whole communities. They may have an opportunity to share their passion and convictions with like-minded fellow donors, and, sometimes, see the results of their investment: the cricket match won, the riding medal achieved, the final year performance at the dance school. They may receive letters from the doctors they have supported telling them what a difference they have been able to make in their home countries. One person funded a place at a course in the social sciences for someone he has never met. Years later he saw her name on an influential paper: "I felt proud".

Following a City career Theresa Lloyd worked for 10 years for Save the Children and ActionAid. She is a leading consultant in strategic planning, fundraising and governance for the non-profit sector and also advises families on the development of their philanthropic strategy. She was Director of Philanthropy UK, a 3-year project set up in 2001, and wrote the first edition of A Guide to Giving and Why Rich People Give (2004). To learn more about Theresa's work, visit www.theresalloyd.co.uk.

1 T Lloyd (2004) Why Rich People Give, Philanthropy UK, Association of Charitable Foundations