Philanthropy in the media

There is growing coverage of British philanthropy by the mainstream press - further evidence of increased interest in, and changing attitudes towards, charitable giving in the UK. We list some of the latest press coverage below.

06 September: The Financial Times ‘How to Spend it’ magazine highlights two organisations that allow investors to fulfil a philanthropic aim and make a return in remarkable way. The Stradivari Trust and the Fine Violins Fund loan valuable seventeenth century violins to promising young musicians so that they can fulfil their potential.

Summer 2008: The Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Newsletter includes an article by Melissa Burman, President and CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, originally featured in the June 2008 Philanthropy UK Newsletter.

02 August: Men are more likely to give money when in the presence of a woman they find attractive reports The Daily Telegraph. Research from Oxford and Kent Universities suggested that women’s giving is not affected by who is observing them. Philanthropy UK Director Susan Mackenzie said “women just tend not to advertise their philanthropy as much as men.”

30 July: A great variety of people, not just the super-rich, can be philanthropists, according to The Daily Telegraph. They give the example of Philanthropy UK as an organisation that can help donors tailor their charitable giving.

24 July: Vita Europe features an article written by Tony Blair for the Philanthropy UK Newsletter June 2008 which details his involvement in the third sector since he stepped down as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

22 July Rod Aldridge, one of the UK’s biggest philanthropists, is interviewed by Community Care. Comparing his involvement in the sector, and his involvement in business through his outsourcing company Capita, he says "I was a business entrepreneur now I'm a social entrepreneur.”

16 July: The Asian Foundation for Philanthropy (AFP) is a “quiet success story” reports Third Sector magazine. Director Bala Thakrar, who is also on the Philanthropy UK advisory board, says that “philanthropy has become very fashionable in the western world, but diaspora communities have been giving for years.” The article says that remittances, money sent to immigrant’s family in their country of origin, account for more than official overseas aid and that formalising them into structured philanthropy is an important step.

22 June: The new rich are giving away unprecedented amounts to charity, reports The Observer. Chris Hohn, who runs the Children’s Investment Fund, has donated £466m to the foundation run by his wife, Jamie Cooper-Hohn. Duncan Bannatyne, the entrepreneur, plans to hand over £300m to charity. More wealthy individuals are giving rather than allowing offspring to inherit huge sums of money, according to the article.

21 June: The Daily Telegraph reports that Chris Hohn has given away almost half a billion pounds to charity. Mr Hohn donates between 0.5 and 1% of the assets from his hedge fund, The Children’s Investment Fund, to the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, CIFF, run by his wife.

19 June: La Repubblica features a translation of an article written by Tony Blair for the Philanthropy UK Newsletter June 2008 which details his involvement in the sector since he stepped down as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

18 June: The Guardian features an edited version of Tony Blair’s article in the Philanthropy UK Newsletter June 2008. Blair details the work he has done in the voluntary sector since he left office recognising that even “where you can add value” there will be others in the same area and so he encourages “partnerships and synergy.” He concludes that “in philanthropy, unlike politics most of the time, you can genuinely welcome others alongside you.”

18 June: Women’s charities have been offered a lifeline by a new fund focused on funding women’s charities and promoting women’s issues say Professional Fundraising Magazine. The Rosa fund is the only fund in the UK devoted exclusively to supporting women’s charities and issues and has been set up by Maggie Baxter, guest editor of the Philanthropy UK Women & Philanthropy report and former WOMANKIND Worldwide executive director.

18 June: Tony Blair has warned founders of new charities not to think they have all the answers to problems, Third Sector Magazine report following an article written by Blair in the Philanthropy UK Newsletter June 2008.

28 May 2008: A profile of Bala Thakrar, founder and director of the Asian Foundation for Philanthropy in The Guardian covers some of the motivations and skills she thinks are pertinent to her success so far – as recognised at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards with a Social and Humanitarian Award. Thakrar talked about breaking down stereotypes: “Asian women are strong and have vision” she said “I like to think that we can be role models.”

23 May 2008: “The Mayor’s Fund may seem a bold departure but some would describe it as a political necessity” according to The Evening Standard in their profile of Boris Johnson and his new City Hall team. Youth crime, “the confederate of poverty,” is to be targeted and figures such as Bob Diamond, Barclays Chairman, and Ray Lewis, Deputy Mayor for Young People, within City Hall administration indicate the new London mayor intends to address issues in the voluntary sector.

May 2008: Women are underrepresented in this year’s Sunday Times Giving Index according to Third Sector Magazine. Quoting Susan Mackenzie, director of Philanthropy UK, the magazine says “women are often the major decision-makers behind major donations” but they get less recognition for philanthropy than men - throughout the press. They quote Beth Breeze, Publications Editor at Philanthropy UK saying that “fewer than two in ten philanthropists named in the press in 2006 were female.”

May 2008: Roxanne Clark, Philanthropy UK’s newsletter and web editor celebrates women philanthropists in the May edition of Voluntary Sector magazine. Women’s philanthropy is under-represented in the media, something that Philanthropy UK’s ‘Women & Philanthropy’ seeks to redress. “As women become more influential in giving decisions, they are also becoming more engaged in the giving process” Clark says and the media must change to reflect the important of women philanthropists.

30 Apr 2008: The head of a charitable network helping people put something back into communities tells The Guardian that many wealthy donors are more than happy to discover a way of using their money to make a local impact. An interview with Stephen Hammersley, CEO of the Community Foundation Network on the rise and rise of community foundations and the large donations they are receiving from local, wealthy, philanthropists. They are growing fast not just because they are attracting rich donors such as Heselden but because they are favoured by government.

26 Apr 2008,: Britain needs to show more gratitude to wealthy philanthropists who give money to the arts reports The Times on the report Private Giving for the Public Good.  Philanthropy UK, which advises aspiring donors, believes that the wealthiest 10 per cent of the population could double their giving. At present the poorest 10 per cent of the population give about 3 per cent of their income while the richest 10 per cent give barely 1 per cent.

26 Apr 2008: Arts administrators have begun a campaign for a change in tax laws to encourage art collectors to donate more works, and cash, to the nation's public galleries reports The Independent. Private Giving for the Public Good report - Philanthropy UK, which promotes donations, believes the wealthiest 10 per cent of the population could afford to double their giving.

Apr 2008: “As an example of contemporary female philanthropy we are delighted to include a profile of J. K. Rowling by Sophie Radice which first appeared in the Philanthropy UK report Women & Philanthropy: inspiring women, inspired giving,” reports The Great Generation Journal 

02 Apr 2008: A sense of local commitment to philanthropic endeavours seems largely to have gone writes Magnus Linklater in The Times. He writes of the British resistance to giving and the loss of the “the badge of philanthropy that their Victorian ancestors wore as a matter of pride”. Furthermore, he argues ,we should encourage the rich to give and reward them, rather than hinder with new taxes.

28 Mar 2008: Third Sector Online writes: "Women philanthropists are under-represented in giving statistics, according to a new report by Philanthropy UK."  

27 Feb 2008: Corporate foundations must become less dependent on their parent companies for funding if they want to avoid the problems that have blighted the Northern Rock Foundation, according to the Association of Charitable Foundations, reports Emma Rigby in Third Sector magazine. David Emerson, chief executive of the ACF, said the relationships between companies and their foundations were increasingly difficult and that he knew of five foundations that felt they were under threat because of the attitude of their corporate founder.    

06 Feb 2008: In response to an FT article about the current status of the Northern Rock Foundation David Emerson, chief executive of the Association of Charitable Foundations, wrote a letter to the newspaper's editor citing recent Philanthropy UK research model of corporate foundations into the growth of corporate foundations and the risks this brings.

01 Feb 2008: Not leaving your children an inheritance has again become newsworthy with the celebrity Nigella Lawson announcing her children will not receive any of her millions. The Herald newspaper in Scotland takes up the topic and interviewed Susan Mackenzie Director of Philanthropy UK about the growing trend for the self-made wealthy to give their money away in their lifetime as well as encouraging financial independence in their children.

23 Jan 2008: In an article in Scotland’s Sunday Herald newspaper, "Have the UK’s rich lost the art of giving",  Susan Mackenzie, Philanthropy UK’s Director, and Beth Breeze, Publications Editor, respond to the question of the changing giving trends in the UK and US.

18 Jan 2008: Dame Vivien Duffield, who effectively raised the money to successfully refurbish the Royal Festival Hall, is now focusing the philanthropic energies of the Clore Duffield Foundation on the building of a new Jewish cultural community centre in north London, and furthering the Clore Leadership Programme, which is helping to train the future generations of arts leaders, writes the FT.

15 Jan 2007: In the BBC online magazine David Cannadine writes in A POINT OF VIEW on how a new generation of philanthropists is changing perceptions of the art of giving. Commenting on the historical and cultural trends he writes: “It's too soon to know what the effect of these new-style philanthropists will be. If you have enough of it, then giving money away is relatively easy - but giving it away so that it makes a significant and substantial difference has always been much more difficult.”

10 Jan 2008: A profile of Scottish billionaire Sir Tom Hunter in the Chronicle of Philanthropy cites him as the new 'Europe's Andrew Carnegie'.  It covers his business journey to giving, with Sir Tom stating “that despite whatever pleasure there may be in the high-rolling world of finance and business, charity has a lot more to offer.”

04 Jan 2008: “Wealthy individuals are increasingly enlisting advisers not just to manage their personal investment portfolios but also the funds they set aside to give to others” reports the FT on the growing demand for services offering philanthropy advice.

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