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Journal
V IC T OR M A G A ZINE
Give Back Better WITH AN ALMOST OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF OPTIONS FACING PHILANTHROPISTS TODAY, CLAIRE WRATHALL LOOKS AT THE STRATEGIES TO BEST OPTIMISE GIVING
During the pandemic, despite the uncertainty facing the world, global giving rose. According to the Giving USA Foundation’s annual IRS data-based survey, Americans gave a record $471 billion to charity in 2020, an uplift of more than 5 per cent on the previous year. And almost a fifth of this figure came from ultra-high-net-worth individuals – those with assets of at least $30 million – who between January and October 2020 pledged $7.4 billion to Covid-related and social justice causes alone.
But while the cataclysmic global events of 2020/21 boosted overall levels of giving – according to the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), more than 30 per cent of the world’s population have given money to charity during the pandemic – they have also diverted funds from causes donors may have decided were less pressing. Such was the fall in donations to Cancer Research UK, for example, that it is cutting its spending on research by £150 million and its staff by a quarter. So, how best to identify need in order to give back effectively? “We have been advising our clients to really think through their favourite charities and what they want to still be here when [the pandemic] passes,” says Mark Greer, CAF’s head of private clients, because not everything is likely to survive. CAF acts as both a consultancy and a bank for the non-profit sector operating in the UK and USA. Individuals can set up their own fund within the foundation, which takes care of all the administrative and compliance issues, out of which the donor is free to make gifts to the causes he or she wishes to support. Those seeking guidance
