Is 2012 the unofficial year of doing more good?

By: 

Cheryl Chapman

Managing Editor, Philanthropy UK

Three major initiatives inspiring and celebrating generosity and giving, backed by major philanthropists, have announced themselves this week, perhaps making 2012 the unofficial year of doing more good.

The initiatives call for action now in response to the growing need in communities among charities serving the vulnerable and poor.

Mike Dickson, founder of Whizz-kidz, the action-orientated charity that has raised £75m to date to help 7000 disabled children become mobile, this week launched two initiatives: 

• A global generosity movement called Please Take One* (*Step), supported by a book of the same name,
• and the Rainmaker Foundation , that will provide networking and advisory services to “rainmakers” - philanthropists, donors, trusts and foundations, NGOs and charities who are changing the world. The Foundation has been launched with the help of individual donors and foundations and will generate income from the sale of books, films and other products as well as management fees for its services.

Dickson says of his movement to inspire a more generous world: “It’s one thing to talk about generosity – after all who isn’t in favour? But what we need to do is act, to be more generous – to live more generous lives.”

He adds: “The book Please Take One* is not a self-help book. It’s a help each other book. It looks at where we’ve gone wrong. And more importantly, it sets out how we can start to go right, in simple, practical, everyday ways. We can’t wait for change to happen. We need to take the initiative right now and help each other live more generous lives so together we can step towards a more generous world.”

The book lists 10  simple actions we can all take to improve our own lives and inspire others to be more generous such as spend time with friends or family. There are also plans for a Pay It Forward campaign next year that inspires generosity through generous acts.

The campaigns marks a departure from the trend for impact and measurement focussing on motivational  factors that connect with people's  hearts rather than their heads. The use of social media will be key to the movement's spread and the Facebook page can be found here.

Also this week details of the launch of Give More was announced. The campaign, launching fully in April this year, will encourage people from across the UK to share their passion for the causes they care about by making a public commitment to give more money, time or energy in 2012, and to get people talking more about giving.

It is funded by Pears Foundation with support from a number of individuals and other organisations and is a product of The Philanthropy Review held last year. It is being chaired by Trevor Pears CMG, executive chair of Pears Foundation, and supported by a steering group from across the sectors.

Pears says: “The fact is, need in our communities is going up while resource is going down. Give More has a very simple purpose – to celebrate the UK’s long heritage as a giving nation and encourage members of the public to pledge to give more in 2012. To this end, we want employers, third-sector organisations, media and opinion leaders to join us and promote the campaign by becoming Give More partners and helping to spread the word. If you’re interested in helping, we’d love to hear from you.”

A number of high profile businesses and charities are lending their support, with many more to follow, and the campaign is keen to get charities and foundations of every size and location across the UK involved. An interim version of the campaign website is already up and running at www.givemore.org.uk.