What can philanthropy learn from the Silent Minute movement?

To end the year, here are the top seven reasons why I am cheerful heading into 2021

Because everyone will benefit if we can increase the rate with which guidelines are read and followed and time wasted on ineligible applications is reduced, here are 11 practical steps that funders can take to increase the chance that fundraisers read and follow their guidelines.

So what strategy to choose – spending down or giving in perpetuity? As with so many philanthropic dilemmas the answer is … it depends.

Giving circles are a growing global movement. Here I reflect on the achievements of Bath Women’s Fund and what we have learned from our first year of operation.

This short (16 minute) film sets out the trends in grant making pre-, in response, and post-covid 19.

Imaginiation is important in the everyday philanthropy practice of assessors and decision-makers and also when it comes to imagining the future of philanthropy and society as a whole.

As funders seek to respond to coronavirus, safeguarding should continue to be prioritised by both applicants and assessors. If anything, it is more important now than ever.

Benevolent funds and other individual grant makers who give money and goods to people in need get far less attention than funders of organisations. This short piece explains their value - including in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In these strange times, I have been watching the way funders and philanthropists are responding to the coronavirus pandemic. It is one way to keep some focus on more positive activities amongst the gloom. So, I have gathered some of what I have seen along with some of the questions this raises as we prepare for the coming months …

Jeff Bezos’ announcement of his £10bn Earth Fund is the latest high-profile example of a philanthropist committing new money to environmental causes. Will this shift keep growing? Will more resources continue to flow into environmental causes?

Although many people think it is simple, giving is no easy task. It is no wonder that some funders seek an easy way through to decisions. Here I set out a couple of recent examples and explain why I am not an advocate of these approaches that are more about luck than judgment …

Earlier in the year NCVO produced an ethical code that identified four principles that every UK charity should uphold. It made me consider whether it would be possible to develop such a code for all philanthropic individuals and institutions. Here I set out some contenders and my four choices. What would yours be?

It is difficult to give honest feedback to funders about their application processes. Nobody wants to risk criticising them – wouldn’t that be biting the hand that feeds you? But funders need feedback and here are some options for them to hear what applicants have to say.

In John F Kennedy’s speech in 1962 announcing America’s mission, the words he uses are: “we choose to go the moon”. The climate crisis is our challenge. In the UK less than 4% of Foundation’s funding goes to the environment. The money is not matching the rise in public profile and concern, or the size of the problem. Will we choose to fund the planet?