Post pandemic – trends in philanthropy
June 2022
No one can argue that the recent roadway in philanthropy has been smooth. While Covid-19 created enormous fundraising challenges, what we have seen on the major gifts side was heartening. Those people that had the ability to give kept giving, and often at higher levels. But we are now entering new economic times. What might lie ahead?
Clearly the working environment for charities in 2022/23 will be challenging, with inflation both increasing costs and increasing demand for many services. Civil Society News reported that 71% of charity leaders are worried about managing an increase in demand on their services. Civil Society News says that 14% of people are planning to cut back on donations to cover their bills. It’s many of the front-line services that have already had to respond to the social crisis of the pandemic that will once again be called on to meet the needs of economic crisis. The question is, what can be done to secure philanthropic income and grow major gifts in the coming months?
History tells us that in the last recession, grant making trusts and foundations continued to give. The pandemic has shown us that HNWIs have continued to give and provide leadership. What can we see that might help us understand the future?
At the very top of philanthropy there continues to be true leadership giving.
The global giving giants
Mackenzie Scott powered 25% of the giving effort in the United States during the pandemic. She donated $4 million to 384 different non-profits in December 2020 with causes including the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator as well as Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) communities. But she hasn’t stopped with that. Her passion for supporting the needs of underrepresented people across the board has driven her continued giving.
Most recently in March 2022, Scott donated a further $3.8 billion to 465 charities including Ukraine relief efforts and Habitat for Humanity International. Over the past 3 years, she has donated an additional $12 Billion as part of the Giving Pledge (The pledge by a groups of , billionaire philanthropists to dedicate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes). Scott is pushing other billionaires to be bold and give more. Can she and others like her continue to provide the much-needed leadership in high level philanthropy?
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates continue to be powerhouse philanthropists. The Bill and Melinda French Gates Foundation initially contributed $2b to support funding and research towards vaccine development, surveillance and discovery, and translational sciences for Covid-19. They remain fully engaged committing funding throughout 2022 to help end the acute global COVID-19 crisis. They are working on strategic long-term initiatives, including barriers to gender equality and women’s empowerment. In January 2022, the foundation announced their plans to allocate US$770 million more funding to continue fighting Covid-19.
While Mackenzie Scott uses the Giving Pledge, Gates have ‘Gates Philanthropy Partners’ to encourage philanthropists to get on board to maximise impact. What’s Next? Are other wealthy donors going to follow in their footsteps and build on their Covid 19 response giving?
Closer to home?
What about at the more local level?
Despite the profound concerns about the financial impact of COVID, the pandemic presented an opportunity for charities to find new ways to generate major donations. Third Sector recently reported that virtual fundraising campaigns raised more than £39 million in 2021. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NVCO) Road Ahead Report (2022) says there is likely to be a sustained increase in digital and hybrid fundraising events, and social media will continue to be a critical space for awareness-raising and income generation.
The rise of virtual events is continuing to help many charities grow their major giving programmes. A hybrid approach is really taking hold; not losing the opportunities virtual created while making the most of in person approaches seems to be working.
At the top end in the UK, the evidence of continued growth in giving in the Sunday Times Giving List shows that philanthropy remains critical for many of the UK’s wealthiest. Local giving is no longer pandemic dominated- we see the long-term growth of eco-giving developing along with ongoing support for core causes such as education, arts, children, welfare, research and the like. This trend will, we hope, be reflected in the giving of those whose wealth is, while far from ‘top 250 in the UK’ significant enough to make a real difference to UK causes.
What might the future hold?
The BNY Mellon 2022 Charitable Giving Study, while US focused, shows some interesting results which may well translate to the UK giving market. 91% of the respondents agree that a charitable giving strategy is a part of their overall wealth strategy. Their research found that the Covid pandemic has appeared to have impacted giving, with 42% of these wealthy respondents reporting that their giving strategies have changed during the past two years; with many donating more than before. The 4 strongest factors influencing donors’ decisions to give, important two at least 2/3 thirds of respondents, were: Personal satisfaction – feeling good/happy sharing wealth; a Special cause i.e., personal, or emotional connection to a cause or organization; Impact – supporting sustainable change for causes that matter to them; Giving back – a duty to give back as they have “made it”.
Get In Touch
Did your organisation see an increase of donations during the pandemic, or did you suffer financially as a result of the crisis? Our team have over 25 years of experience in prospect research and can help you to generate more donations by identifying new names relevant to your cause, and carrying out a Wealth screening, to get extra value from your database. If you would like to know more then please email us at info@prospectingforgold.co.uk or give us a call on 01491 577311.
