Giving Thought

This is an interview with Carol Mack, CEO of the Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF).

This is an interview with Virginia Anderson, Head of Fundraising at Bobath Scotland.

This is an interview with Will Moy, CEO of the UK's leading fact checking charity, FullFact.

This is an interview with Rich Collins from Sortified.

This is an interview with Holly Piper, Head of CAF Venturesome

This is the interview with Nick Temple, CEO of the Social Investment Business.

In conversation with Savraj Kaur from United in Hammersmith & Fulham about the role they are playing as a place-based giving scheme in mobilising local generosity in response to the Covid-19 crisis.

In conversation with Rita Chadha, CEO of the Small Charities Coalition about the challenges the Covid-19 pandemic is posing for small charities.

A conversation with Clare Kiely, Senior Investment partner at Comic Relief about their response as a grantmaker to the Covid-19 crisis.

In conversation with Rob Williamson, CEO of the Community Foundation for Tyne & Wear and Northumberland about their role in responding to the Covid-19 crisis in the North East of England.

A conversation with Fran and Will Perrin, founders and trustees of Indigo Trust, on why they have ramped up their grantmaking in response to the Covid-19 crisis.

This is the fourth in our series of conversations with people across civil society about the challenges presented by the coronavirus crisis and how they are responding. In this episode, we speak to: -Will Moy, CEO of Full Fact -Virginia Anderson, Head of Fundraising at Bobath Scotland Carol Mack, CEO of the Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF)

This is the third of our series of short conversations with people from across civil society during the coronavirus crisis. In this episode we talk to: -Nick Temple, CEO of the Social Investment Business -Holly Piper, Head of CAF Venturesome (and my colleague!) -Rich Collins, Creative Director of Sortified

This is the second in a series of "voices from civil society during the Covid-19 Pandemic". Featuring: -Clare Kiely, Senior Investment Partner at Comic Relief -Rita Chadha- CEO, Small Charities Coalition -Savraj Kaur, CEO, United in Hammersmith & Fulham

In response to the Covid-19 crisis and the potentially unprecedented challenges it brings for civil society and philanthropy, we have been speaking to a range of people across the sector to find out how the pandemic has affected them so far and how they are responding. In part one: Fran & Will Perrin, founders and trustees of Indigo Trust, explain why they recently announced they are going to increase their annual grantmaking significantly to help address the short term impacts of the crisis. Rob Williamson, CEO of the Community Foundation for Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, tells us about the role they are playing in leading and coordinating the philanthropic response in the North East.

In episode 68 we talk to Danny Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive of Oxfam GB about philanthropy, inequality and power in global civil society. Including:   Philanthropy & Inequality What is the core role of philanthropy within society which differentiates it from either state or market provision? What should we make of arguments that philanthropy is a distraction from the need to focus on ensuring that the world’s elites are taxed appropriately, and may therefore be holding back efforts to address global inequality? Is there a danger that models of philanthropy are paternalistic, and too often about decisions being made about communities rather than by them? Are some philanthropist willing to challenge & seek change to the systems that made them wealthy in the first place?   Power & Structure There is a lot of focus in global philanthropy and civil society at the moment on “shifting power” ─ from funders to recipients, from the global north to the global south etc. –  by supporting grassroots org

In episode 67 we look at the recent announcement by the world’s richest man, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, that he is going to donate $10bn to tackle global climate issues. We ask: what do we know so far, what has the reaction been, and what does this story highlight about the key issues when it comes to philanthropy currently? Including:   Does Bezos use of his own Instagram channel to make the announcement reflect a desire on part of big donors to control their own narrative, much as populist politicians have harnessed Twitter etc. to speak directly to voters?) Is Bezos’ decision to focus on climate issues an easy one, because it is the obvious cause right now; or a brave one because he knows it will bring scrutiny of Amazon’s own environmental impact? Will this result in more big donors getting involved in climate issues, because it puts a marker down; or will they be crowded out by the scale of Bezos philanthropic resources? Given Bezos has previous pitched his interest in fairly radical ideas such as space

In episode 66, we talk to Fozia Irfan- CEO of the Bedfordshire & Luton Community Foundation (and trustee of the Association of Charitable Foundations). We discuss diversity, equity and inclusion in the foundation and charity world; the challenges of power dynamics in philanthropy and the role of place. Including:   Diversity, Equity & Inclusion What is the DEI Coalition? What is the difference between equality and equity, and what does this mean for funders and charities? Does the philanthropy/charity world in the UK have a diversity problem? What are the main existing barriers to greater diversity within the sector workforce, and how can we overcome them? Are funders more effective when they reflect more closely the people and communities they serve? In what ways can they achieve this?   Power & Participation What are we to make of criticisms that since philanthropy is to some extent a product of structural inequality, it can never truly be part of the solution? Is philanthropy paternalistic,

In episode 65, we chat to John Picton from the Charity Law & Policy Unit at the University of Liverpool about charity law and the ethical and legal challenges surrounding certain kinds of charitable donations. Including:   Charity Law What are some of the key principles of UK charity law? (e.g. public benefit, charitable threshold etc.) The “Dead Hand” & Cy Pres Why have some critics argued that perpetually endowed charitable institutions are problematic? What does legal theory have to say about the balance between respecting donor intent and avoiding “zombie” trusts? What is the practical process for freeing up money from an endowed structure whose purposes are no longer deliverable? How difficult is this? What is the legal status of charitable gifts made in wills? When heirs challenge donations, what issues does it raise? Tainted Donations Why are some donations seen as “tainted”? What is it about them that is “bad”? What powers and responsibilities do charity trustees have when it comes to ass

 In episode 64, we explore the philanthropic response to the ongoing bushfires in Australia and what it highlights about philanthropy issues and trends. We also give take a look at some of the other top philanthropy stories in the news. The Aussie Bushfires: How does the philanthropic response to the Aussie bushfires compare to the Notre Dame Cathedral fire last year? Does it tell us anything about the differences between our response to man-made vs natural disasters, or disasters affecting man-made heritage vs natural heritage? Does the fact that the Aussie bushfires are highly dispersed make a difference? Are environmental issues less likely to be perceived as “elite”, and thus philanthropy focused on them less likely to be criticised as “self-interested”? Is the response to the bushfires partly about people feeling a sense of agency over the issue of climate change, which often seems so huge that it can cause donation paralysis? Does the fact that animals as well as humans have been affected make a differ