Philanthropy: beyond the act of giving (part three)

Our head of private offices, James Wilcox, leads on Philanthropy.  He is highly involved in our clients’ philanthropic endeavours and serves on the boards of a number of charities, he is also actively involved with his local church.  

In a recent discussion with industry peer's PKF, James shares his thoughts on this specialised topic.  Here's the final part of this three-part series, which delves further and explores the impact of COVID, trends post-COVID and some final key takeaways. 

Missed part one or two? You'll find them here: Part one | Part two

Support in times of need and beyond

According to The UK Giving Report 2023 from the Charities Aid Foundation, the largest study of giving behaviour in the UK, it found that while people in the UK gave £12.7bn to charity in 2022, a £2bn increase compared to 2021, giving has still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. It found that although donations spiked in early 2022, in response to the war against Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis and the impact of inflation has held back the value of the public’s generosity overall. The result is that some charitable activity remains supressed from the pandemic.

Many families stepped-up during COVID: One British family made meals for the NHS. They own a very large restaurant chain, and they turned their clubs and restaurants into canteens supplying food daily to NHS workers, firemen and policemen etc. That hasn’t been continued because people have gone back to running their businesses, but I think COVID highlighted some areas for our foundations and families to focus on, and there seems to be three recurring areas of interest which feature in our conversations: food banks, mental health and climate change.

During COVID we supported an app that sent a daily activity to single mums. It was developed by a London-based charity who supported a smaller organisation. We thought this was a brilliant idea because single mums were stressed, stuck at home trying to manage children, and this app gave them daily suggestions of what to do, activities, or things that were free; designed to improve child development through increasing positive parent-child interactions. For me that was a really wonderful project and had a big impact on the day-to-day lives and mental health of single mums.

Supporting the next generation

Post COVID we have seen an increase in awareness of need. In one of the charities, we’ve moved on to look at reading and writing, because we think that one thing that seems to have slipped during the pandemic is education. People in our generation happily attended school, however the children have been learning online during this time and there is a noticeable gap in their education and their experiences. That’s something that no-one expected coming out of COVID.  

The families we work with are really looking to foster the disadvantaged youth and help to develop them and shape their lives with access to other facilities such as the modern-day youth clubs, by way of example. If you’re taking children off the streets, giving them other things to do, helping to educate them, then you are stopping that potential slide into crime.

Takeaways

What should families do to enhance the success of their philanthropic activities for both them and their designated causes?

1. Budget.

2. Select the charities that you want to support - focus your efforts with the right structure and framework in place.

3. Reviewing impact of donations and whether the charity is in line with your aims.

4. Follow through.  Be aware that this is a responsibility.  If you start giving and you start supporting a charity, then you have a responsibility.  That is why we define it by one-, two-, or three-year donation agreements, because they're relying on your support.

Missed part one or two? You'll find them here: Part one | Part two

read the full piece here

Interested in maximising your philanthropic impact? Reach out to explore our tailored private client services and expert advice today!