Looking over one of my researcher colleague’s shoulder this afternoon I learned that the average UK resident gives 0.5% of his or her income to charity i.e. £5 in every £1000. An amount which, in real terms, has doubled in the past [sic] thirty years. My colleague elaborated that the big givers are excluded from this statistic as there are so few who (can afford) to give hugely generous sums.
However, it is the hugely generous that I am interested in.
Having working in the Campaigns and Alumni Relations office at the University of Bristol (and dabbled with a spot of fundraising for Sustrans), I was always interested in the daily challenge faced by the Major Gift Managers, of extracting thousands of pounds from individuals. Did they flatter, charm and guilt trip their ‘prospects’ into donating their hard earned cash, or was it a more clever and controlled exercise of identifying those who wanted to give but were just waiting to be asked. After all, if my own experience is anything to go by, I’ve only ever given as a result of having been asked for a donation.
A recent study by Cass found that donations from family foundations in the UK are stuck at £1.4 billion, while American givers are three times as generous as the British. Trevor Pears of the Pears Foundation says the super-rich remain ‘reluctant’ to give and have to ‘step-up’.
This all fits in rather nicely with Cameron’s vision for the Big Society.
amandapondo 