Ken Macdonald

New research has revealed that the value of legacy giving to charities fell by an estimated £57m in 2009 compared to the previous year, a 3% drop, despite an 8% rise in the number of people leaving money to charity in their wills in the same period.

Private bank Coutts & Co is subsidising five places for social entrepreneurs on the Cranfield School of Management’s Business Growth and Development Programme (BGP), recognising the value such corporate philanthropy can return to its business.

Impetus Trust, the venture philanthropy pioneers, used the platform of Volunteers’ Week earlier this month to call for more professionals to contribute their skills, not just their time, to charity.  The annual Volunteers’ Week celebrates the contribution of volunteers and promotes volunteering across the UK.

The new coalition government’s plans to strengthen civil society through its Big Society programme are beginning to take shape, though it is clearly no longer top of the agenda. This week, the Queen’s speech reaffirmed the commitment to implementing the Big Society proposals, while also recognising that the government’s first priority was to reduce the budget deficit as quickly as possible. This sets the stage for a possible clash: how can money be saved while the ideals of Big Society are made real?