Philanthropy in the City: Breaking new grounds

This year the Beacon Fellowship's annual forum highlighted the growing role of the City in both wealth creation and philanthropy in Britain. Almost 200 people packed the room at the Woolgate Exchange - the London home of the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business - to hear four Beacon Fellows share their experiences and learning.

With an aim to reflect on the "culture of giving in the UK through the lens of philanthropy in the City", it was not surprising that 'leverage' emerged as a common theme. Indeed, a key objective of the forum, according to Beacon Chairman Martyn Lewis, was to "highlight individual contribution to philanthropy through leadership, innovation, passion and dedication" - role models providing leverage to attract new donors.

The speakers also picked up on this theme. Fred Mulder, founding chair of giving circle The Funding Network (TFN), talked about how TFN members pool resources from many smaller, individual donations to achieve a much greater impact by giving as a group. TFN's London group has raised over £1m for charity to date. Mulder also highlighted the benefit of shared learning: "I learned very early on that it was good to have a peer group of givers. And it saved me from a lot of problems and made my giving a lot more interesting and a lot more fun."

On the other end of the grant-giving scale, Jamie Cooper-Hohn, chief executive of The Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), explained that her £50m foundation is seeking a "very large degree of change". A critical factor is the opportunity for leverage beyond the direct investment: Is it replicable? Can it change policy? Who will co-fund the programme with CIFF?

Clare Mackintosh, founder and chief executive of ShareGift, talked about the leverage the charity offers its founders and supporters. ShareGift is a charity share donation scheme for small shareholdings that would cost more to sell than they are worth. The mechanism has already generated over £11m for charity, and is being replicated around the globe.

The Blackstone Group's John Studzinski emphasized the importance of role models in inspiring new philanthropists: "It's hard to explain to people who don't give money that charity is not about money; but that it's about a way of life and a way of looking at your commitment to humanity." Turning to financial parlance, he referred to philanthropy as a "permanent asset" to explain what inspires him: "When I see the market and asset values go up and down, when I see life changes and friendship changes, the one thing that no-one can take away from me are the things I've already given away to others."