Hands Up Anyone Who Knows How To Double Philanthropy

The Beacon Collaborative believe they have some of the answers.

 If you haven’t seen it already Beacon Collaborative now have a draft of their National Strategy for Philanthropy. It’s a robust attempt to draw together new thinking from across the sector with the goal of developing a renewed culture of charitable giving across the UK. They have set an ambitious goal for the doubling of philanthropy up from 1% to 2% of GDP over the coming 10 years.

Why should you care?

Well because this will shortly become a highly influential strategy document, offered to government as a cornucopia of ideas for how they could facilitate philanthropy and bring forth meaningful change.

 For fundraisers, their strand of work on “Supporting More Giving by Individuals” (Priority 4) will be immensely important. Beacon are concerned that “more needs to be done to spread norms of giving and democratise giving throughout society” (P18). They have two suggestions that we particularly applaud. The first is to offer training in philanthropy and social investment for all financial advisers and to consider making such training mandatory. The report suggests that the Financial Conduct Authority (the regulatory body for that sector) could use its powers to add these topics to the curricula for industry qualifications and ongoing CPD. Beacon conclude that “financial advisers should be equipped to discuss charitable giving alongside wider tax and spending decisions.”

We applaud this suggestion. Any move that heightens the likelihood of conversations about giving occurring as people consider their estate planning and wealth can only be to the good.

 But how much greater the impact if a similar idea were to be applied to the profession of fundraising. I used to joke at sector conferences in the early 2000s that fundraising was still about the only profession one could join without needing to know anything. That would never be true for financial advisers, but it seems acceptable in fundraising. Of course things have moved on a pace. The early 2010s saw the introduction of formal Certificates, Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas in fundraising with the (now) Chartered Institute of Fundraising leading the charge. But take up rates have remained disappointingly low, especially among the larger charities.

 Imagine the difference it would make to philanthropy UK if every fundraiser were equipped with a base level of knowledge and then required to keep themselves up to date with a rigorous program of Continuous Professional Development. There are presently moves to create Chartered Fundraisers in the same way that other professions have their own Chartered Professionals. So we are faced with a once in a generation opportunity to change things for the better and expose everyone to emerging best practice and research. Would that double philanthropy? Well maybe not – but it would certainly make a meaningful contribution.

The second idea Beacon are proposing is the introduction of US style planned giving products and notably a Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT). This is a trust that pays a specified annual amount to one or more people for a fixed period of years (usually the lifetime of the donor). At the end of the term, the remaining assets are distributed to a charity or charities. CRTs can be funded with cash, but are often created with assets as real estate and securities. Donors can claim an income tax deduction for the present value of the assets they hold in the trust. Assets placed in the trust are removed from the estate of the donor and hence also avoid estate tax. There is presently no UK equivalent and Treasury rules would have to be reinvented for CRTs to operate.

 IFSP believes this is another idea to be applauded and for similar reasons to the first. It would stimulate many more conversations about philanthropy. It could also add considerably to the philanthropic pot. For the sake of argument, let’s suppose for a moment that if they were introduced in the UK they would eventually achieve the same level of penetration as in the US – say around 0.03% to 0.036% of the population. That would mean an estimated number of CRTs in the UK of 20,000 to 24,000. We might further suppose that the value of these CRTs would be broadly the same as in the US so perhaps a median value of $300,000–$400,000. That suggests that the potential value added for our sector could be as high as £9.6billion GBP. Well of course, the maths here are creative and some of those resources may have found their way to our sector anyway. But it underscores how worthwhile the Beacon suggestion could be. And with a decade of effort we may perhaps grow the philanthropic pie.

The report goes on to consider changes to Gift Aid, financial sector regulation and efforts to boost legacy income. But for us the initiatives outlined above are the most exciting.

You can read the whole policy document at Beacon Collective website.

I will share some of IFSPs’s thoughts in respect of how to grow philanthropy in a later blog.

 Prof Adrian Sargeant – June 2025