Austerity hits major donors according to latest Giving List
May 2011
Charity donations from the UK's top 100 philanthopists have fallen - although there are more 'milliion pound donors'
While the UK’s super-rich have got a whole lot richer, achieving an 18 per cent rise in their collective wealth in the past year, charity donations from the top 100 philanthropists are down £818m on last year to a total of £1.67bn according to this year’s Sunday Times Giving List, compiled in partnership with the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)[1]. The figures, published in full in the recent Sunday Times Rich List (8th May), demonstrate the impact that the financial crisis has had on philanthropy.
Two years ago, the position was reversed, as our story in May of that year ‘The rich are not so different’ confirmed. Back then, Alistair McCall, the compiler of The Giving List observed: “Despite a 37 per cent fall in the wealth of the leading 1000 this year, the top 100 philanthropists have put £216m more into charity than last, bringing their spend to a record £2.817bn, up 8 per cent on last year’.
This year, McCall warns “Our findings challenge the expectation that wealthy philanthropists will plug the holes in charity funds being left by the withdrawal of central government support as the coalition attempts to balance the national budget.”
He explains: “Not since 2007, when our top 1000 donors distributed £1.2bn, has so little been given charitably. This year, our Giving List top 100 gave away £1.67bn, down from £2.49bn last year.”
More million pound donors
However, there seems to be a growing recognition of the importance of philanthropy in these difficult times with the number of £1m plus donors growing from 118 to 129 in the past 12 months – something picked up by Beth Breeze in the Beth Breeze in the Coutts Million Pound Donors Report 2010.[2] Also the top 30 philanthropists in the list gave away a bigger proportion of their wealth, donating at least 3.42 per cent compared to 3.22 per cent in the previous year.
Donor motivation
For the first time, the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and the Sunday Times asked those on the Sunday Times Rich List additional questions about their motivations to give and views on philanthropy. Answers provided by 29 respondents reveal the importance of impact, communication and advice on their giving.
Nearly nine out of ten (89 per cent) respondents claim that they only invest in charities which can clearly demonstrate their impact. Almost four-fifths (79 per cent) agree that it is important to give strategically and the same amount believe that they manage to give strategically.
However only 64 per cent of Rich List members who completed the survey are satisfied with the feedback they receive from charities. This message about better communication is echoed by the finding that 59 per cent of respondents feel that charities need to improve their communications in order to meet their potential. McCall makes the point that charities are recognising the need to thank thank big givers. He reports: “Last year, Unicef gave the 2010 Unicef Spirit of Compassion award to Olivia Harrison (23rd on this year’s Giving List) for her charitable work in Bangladesh. She set up the George Harrison Fund for Unicef in 2005.”
Only 42 per cent of respondents felt that advice on who and how to give was readily available. This however does not deter nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of philanthropists from spending a considerable amount of time researching their philanthropic decisions.
When asked why they give nearly all philanthropists (97 per cent) cited personal values. More than three-quarters (76 per cent) said that personal experiences had influenced them to be charitable. Just over two-thirds (69 per cent) said the enjoyment they get from giving is a big factor in their philanthropy, while 57 per cent said they did it in order to leave a positive legacy.
The top ten philanthropists in the UK:
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|
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2011
Wealth
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Charitable
donations
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Giving Index (see [1])
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1
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Anurag Dikshit
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£35m
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£172.4m
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492.70
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2
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Bart Becht
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£90m
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£80.2m
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89.08
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3
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Christopher Cooper-Hohn
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£85m
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£75.5m
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88.83
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4
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Richard Ross
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£58m
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£33m
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56.98
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5
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Dame Vivien Duffield
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£40m
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£19.4m
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48.48
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6
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Diana Ballinger
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£58m
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£25.6m
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44.10
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7
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Lord Fink
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£120m
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£33.1m
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27.55
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8
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Lord Sainsbury
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£960m
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£165.1m
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17.19
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9
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Sir Elton John
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£195m
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£26.8m
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13.72
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10
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David Potter
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£40m
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£4.9m
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12.18
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John Low, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation did not appear to regard these findings as any great surprise. He told the Sunday Times: "Charity is the ultimate discretionary purchase. These people are showing the same characteristics and approach in their philanthropy that applied to generating the wealth in the first place."
[1]The “Giving Index” is the proportion of total wealth donated, or pledged to charity in the most recent 12 months for which foundation/trust/personal accounts are available. It is based on a questionnaire sent to all those among the richest 1,000, from accounts lodged with the Charity Commission or its Scottish equivalent, or from other published sources. Donations are defined as money distributed by personal charitable foundations; funds generated for these foundations through investments, or personal donations; or money raised or distributed by broader-based charities which though not personal foundations are identified with a given individual.
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