What to support?
You can now move on to identifying and evaluating potential recipients. Advisors can assist in screening proposals from charities against specified criteria.
As with any investment, it is good practice to know as much as you can about the charity and its field of work when making a contribution. When evaluating a charity, essentially you want to know three things: what it does, how effective it is, and how your client can make a difference. Consider the following questions:
- What are the mission and aims of the charity?
- What specific need is the charity addressing and who are its beneficiaries?
- How does it meet this need and what is unique about its approach?
- What is the calibre and experience of the organisation's leadership?
- What is the financial health of the organisation? What are its existing funding sources? How might this change?
- Are there any organisational or environmental constraints?
- What impact has the charity had and how is this monitored?
- What difference can your client’s gift make to the charity and to the lives of its beneficiaries?
- Is there an opportunity for your client to get personally involved, by contributing their time and expertise?
- Can your client leverage their giving with the financial resources and expertise of other funders?
In defining a decision-making process, consider how your client wants to be involved in the giving decisions, as well as any administrative or regulatory requirements. If they want to establish a formal process, then you might ask them the following questions:
- What criteria – based on your giving strategy statement – will you use?
- Will you accept unsolicited proposals?
- What information, and in what format, will you request?
- Who will you involve in the decision-making?
- How will you respond to proposals?
- What is your preferred method of contact?
If, on the other hand, they prefer to have a more informal process, then you will likely want to establish, at a minimum, some giving criteria and a preferred method of contact.
