‘Toward a New Social Contract’ is the theme of this year’s Global Philanthropy Forum, currently taking place in Washington, DC. But the real hand-to-hand fighting on the role that philanthropy plays in the rich’s responsibilities to society is being played out in Britain, where a government initiative to cut the tax subsidy to giving has […]
The 2011 edition of ‘Family Foundation Giving Trends’ is out, produced by the Cass Business School with support from the Pears Foundation. Now in its fourth year, the report is invaluable as a source of data on giving by the 100 largest family foundations in the UK, which together account for 7% of all charitable […]
When a group of British donors and charity chiefs announced at the end of last year their own independent review of how to make Brits give more to charity, we were excited at the possibility that the philanthropy community would come up with new ideas to promote giving. Indeed, since David Cameron’s government was engaged in […]
In the United States, the giving sector is up in arms about a proposal in President Obama’s budget bill to cut back the tax exemption for wealthy donors. In the United Kingdom, donors are complaining that the government’s desire to boost giving under its Big Society programme is not being backed up with new tax incentives. On both sides of […]
“[T]he call to social action needs to speak to individuals’ motivations and account for the obstacles to giving; to fit with people’s lifestyles and interests.” That this is the big idea in the British Government’s new Green Paper on Giving that was launched in London on Wednesday, shows the influence of so-called behavioural economists like Richard Thaler […]
Britain’s Coalition Government gave another hint today about its Big Society big idea that it hopes will win over the voters, with the launch of an £80 million ($130 million) match fund to get philanthropists to start giving to the arts. Though the fund is a good idea, the government is still tinkering at the edges and more major […]