April 2011

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.

The Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards to encourage London organisations to increase their in-kind giving as a means of engagement with local communities is now open for nominations.

BT is hoping to expand the online giving market via the launch of its web fundraising offering myDonate, which joins the growing number of online marketplaces such as JustGiving and Virgin Money Giving, but is the first to offer the service for free.

One hundred of the world’s top industry leaders have this week signed up to ‘The Palindrome Pledge’: a public commitment to donate their skills and knowledge to the boardrooms of the global non-profit sector with the aim of addressing pressing business and management needs. Palindrome Advisors' founder and chairman, entrepreneur, angel investor and philanthropist Zaw Thet says this new initiative “will disrupt the non-profit sector and create new, innovative ways for business leaders to contribute.”