Laura McCaffrey

At a worrying time for arts organisations affected by government funding cuts, the Art Fund is doubling its funding to museums and galleries and launching a new scheme to appeal to individual philanthropists.

Venture philanthropy organisation Impetus Trust is partnering with education charity The Sutton Trust to administer a new government backed £125m Education Endowment Fund (EEF). The EEF was established by the Secretary of State for Education and aims to boost attainment of some of the country's most disadvantaged children. The “one-off, arms-length“ grant was awarded through an open application process involving 14 other bidders.

Company giving in the UK remained steady as a percentage of pre-tax profits but fell significantly in value terms, with an increasing amount of donations being made in-kind, according to new research from the Directory for Social Change (DSC).

Consultation on the government’s Green Giving Paper closed on 9th March, with over 450 responses received. These will now be considered and feed in to the Giving White Paper, expected in May. The Paper itself has been welcomed by respondees as a recognition of the importance of giving and philanthropy, and some of its recommendations have been applauded. However, there is strong criticism that it does not address the call for more tax incentives or the need to provide means to measure impact.