Donating Money

No article on how to give money to good causes is complete without the iconic quote:

“It is more difficult to give money away intelligently than to earn it in the first place.” - Andrew Carnegie (The Gospel of Wealth, 1889).

By 'intelligently', what the steel magnate and one of history’s greatest philanthropists meant is to give in a way that will do the most good, have the greatest impact and the least waste.

It may seem the easiest thing in the world to give money away – but when you take a moment, questions start to occur - How much should I give? To what? To whom? How? Where do I start?

And then the real questions start: how do I know my money is being used well? Could it be used better? Could I multiply the money I give? Should I give over a certain time period?... the list is pretty extensive.

Some of those questions are answered in our Getting Started pages.

City Philanthropy Coach Caroline Fiennes is also full of excellent advice on how to give effectively.

There are also books that can help.

And there are advisors who can provide practical support.

But here are a few basic principles that if you follow will help you make the most of your philanthropic pound.

Give tax effectively: The UK has a generous tax regime for givers. Make sure you take advantage of Gift Aid and if you give regularly do so through a payroll giving scheme. Setting up a charitable account means Gift Aid will be automatically claimed. Find out more about how to give tax effectively at HMRC
Multiply your money: Matched giving schemes are a good way to double your donations so look round for schemes: the government is currently encouraging giving to endowments with a matched giving fund. Find out more about Community First Endowment Match Challenge for London. The Big Give runs a Christmas matched giving scheme or The Young Philanthropy Syndicate uses a matched giving model.
Give time and money together: By giving time as well as money you can magnify your impact. There are many organisations who will be interested in using your talent and skills as well as your money, such as venture philanthropy organisations Impetus Trust.
Don’t ‘give away’ your money – invest it: ‘Giving away’ money is an old fashioned concept. Modern philanthropists take an investment style approach. They may still give money to organisations or individuals in grants or one off donations but they first check if they are giving it to effective organisations and they want to understand its ROI. An alternative to giving is to invest money through social investment organisations and funds that recycle the money you give through loans that are repaid.At the far end philanthropic investment spectrum are social investment opportunities that offer a financial, as well as a social return. Find out more about social investment at Philanthropy UK.