Posted on 21st September 2011
The government has launched a £10m fund to support new ideas that use technology to encourage charitable giving and volunteering. Ideas could include the use of online platforms to connect donors and causes or smart phone apps to make giving easier.
The Innovation in Giving fund is part of the £34m Social Action Fund, which was announced in the Giving White Paper in May. It will be managed by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta).
Grants will be given to the private sector as well as charities and social enterprises to support innovative ways to promote giving and volunteering. Even the application process relies on technology, with applicants having to submit a three-minute video of their idea.
According to Nesta, the Fund aims to invest in ideas that bring about a ”step-change in levels of giving and exchange and which have a credible route to being self-sustaining in the longer term”.
However, some say that money should be invested in technology to modernise existing ideas such as payroll giving and Gift Aid. Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) head of policy, Hannah Terrey, says: “It is vital that there is also investment to modernise and transform important existing schemes such as Gift Aid and payroll giving so that their full potential can be realised and they are not left behind in a world of digital giving.”
Terrey suggests that Gift Aid should be processed online, otherwise it will not be compatible with new platforms and gadgets.
Co-director of the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy (CPAG), Professor Cathy Pharoah, welcomes the fund as an opportunity for piloting new ideas but warns that a lot more money will be needed. “It will be enough money to develop one or two prototypes but the private sector will have to step in to fund any further development.”
Professor Pharoah adds: “Research shows that technology alone does not increase giving. New methods of giving just substitute for older methods and there is a danger that new methods may raise less money.” She also believes that digital giving may have an impact on the way the mass affluent give but not HNWI giving large sums of money.
Geoff Mulgan, the new chief executive of Nesta and previously the Young Foundation, says: “We want to get the money to people doing the most imaginative work on the ground - but we also want to help them to be more ambitious about just how much impact their ideas can achieve.” The Fund is looking for “innovations that connect donors and recipients in sustained, more effective relationships”.
As well as nurturing new ideas, the Fund aims to: “Help bring about a wider transformation in the culture of giving across England, ” as outlined in the govenrment's recent Giving White Paper.
The deadline for applications is October 14th and videos will be publicly shown.
