Supercharging Philanthropy

This is the moment for Government to set a bold vision for philanthropic giving across the nation. Supercharging Philanthropy is drawn from conversations with over 220 philanthropists, trusts and foundations, and grant givers from across the country, with the foundations alone representing a combined annual giving power of at least £1.6 billion. They were clear: philanthropists stand ready to give if the Government will set a clear vision of what can be achieved and the road map of how to get there.

Without clear leadership from Government about the power, purpose, and potential of philanthropy, charitable giving is in danger of tailing off. Last year, the number of non-Government grants¹ fell to just over 31,000, down from nearly 100,000 in 2023.² Corporate giving from the FTSE100 has dropped leaving an estimated £164 million in lost charitable contributions.³ The UK’s wealthiest collectively dropped their donations by £200 million last year⁴ and there are a record number of millionaires leaving the country.⁵ At the same time many foundations and grant givers have paused giving or are spending down their endowments.⁶

There is also clear regional inequality in giving. London receives £18.11 per capita in grants, with the next highest, the South West, coming in at about half of London at £9.34 per capita.⁷ London receives over a tenth (11.5 per cent) of non-Government grants across the country⁸ and if London is removed from the national picture philanthropic grant funding per capita falls by almost a third.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed a clear appetite for Government led match funding. Through the Community Match Challenge, the Government pledged to match up to £85 million of funding to support the most vulnerable.⁹ Givers responded on mass and the fund was more than oversubscribed.¹⁰ Matched donations are, on average, 2.5 times higher than unmatched donations.¹¹ As one philanthropist told us, “When there is a match funding opportunity, I tend to give more…It’s amazing to see how deep people dig when there is that opportunity.”¹² This report calls on Government to increase its match-funding activity and we have identified £3.87 billion – a funding pot drawn from existing Government spend across this Parliament utilising unclaimed gift aid, dormant funds and dormant assets to provide the pot for this match funding.

This report recommends that £3.27 billion of the pot be released into match funding initiatives. If the average of 1 to 2.5 is achieved, then match funding from a willing group of philanthropists could release an additional £8.22 billion of philanthropic funding into the UK.¹³ It lays out 35 recommendations on what Government can do to unlock a new generation of philanthropic giving and also lays out how grant givers and enable their giving to stretch further through good practice and collaboration.

If the Government is bold in setting clear ambition, direction and policy parameters, philanthropists up and down the country are poised ready to respond.

1. CSJ analysis of 360Giving data. Analysis covers only grants captured by 360Giving dataset and excludes Government grants. Grants of £0 are included in totals, but not in regional breakdowns (and mainly consisted of crowdfunding efforts or PhD studentships). Negative grants were removed. Grants benefitting organisations or individuals that were clearly outside of the UK or issued in currencies other than GBP were excluded although undetermined beneficiary locations were included.
2. CSJ analysis of non-zero GBP grants on 360Giving data. See note above for methodology.
3. CAF, Corporate Giving Report 2024: The FTSE 100 and Beyond, September 2024
4. The Sunday Times, The Sunday Times Giving List, 2023
5. Henley and Partners, The Henley Private Wealth Migration Dashboard. Accessed via: https://www.henleyglobal.com/publications/henley-private-wealth-migration-dashboard/top-10-country-outflows
6. Jo Jeffrey, The List – Changes to Trust and Foundations in the UK. Accessed via: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rjf-OU1NzBdOw_rNsDH0KLANpaWHuYtX3KB46qZAkes/edit?usp=sharing
7. CSJ analysis of 360Giving data. Excludes Government grants.
8. CSJ analysis of 360Giving data. Excludes Government grants.
9. UK Parliament, Hansard, Community Match Challenge, Commons, Written Statements, 20 July 2020
10. National Audit Office, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Investigation into Government Funding to Charities During the COVID-19 Pandemic, March 2021, p.22
11. A Great Match: How Match-Funding Incentivises Charitable Giving in The UK and Unites Funders and Donors in Tackling Social Issues, Commissioned by the Big Give, Charities Trust and RBS, May 2016, p.3
12. Funder, Big Listen Edinburgh
13. See methodology on page XX.