Wealthy buyers go online

"Luxury brands and retailers have recognised that their most affluent customers are enthusiastically using the internet", reports the Financial Times today.

The report from the US ties in with anecdotal evidence in the UK that high-wealth individuals are increasingly confident in using the web to inform their philanthropic decisions.

Oxfam are leading the high-end charity development with their Projects Direct site, which expands on the project outlines available on The Big Give. I spoke to another top UK charity that has recently received a substantial gift through their major donor page on their own website.

As these donors continue to develop their online research into charities and projects, charities can look forward to an increasing number of unsolicited approaches from some very exciting individuals.

Golden Age of Philanthropy Articles

There was a fantastic section in the New York Times Magazine (free registration) this weekend on philanthropy. I recommend making time to read What Makes People Give? - where Freakonomics meets charity - and For Good, Measure.

As the economy continues to slip and slide, I noticed a positive message from the latter article:

"...many billions of dollars, earned during the recent boom in the hedge-fund
and private-equity markets, will soon pour into the social sector. At a moment
of widespread economic distress, philanthropy is a growth industry, its golden
age, at least in terms of dollars spent, almost certainly yet to come."

Let's hope this forecast is mirrored this side of the pond...

The future is now?

A very interesting article in the US Financial Times - Sean Stannard-Scott looking forward to 2033, where "social stock exchanges" help donors find charities that they are interested in.

"While the cost to non-profits of conforming to the exchanges' information
disclosure requirements is steep, once listed they find grant dollars come
looking for them rather than the other way round."

The Big Give may not quite mirror the financial stock exchanges, but we do believe in a system that helps donors intelligently search for their ideal charity. We are also working hard to ensure that the cost of entry for charities is anything but steep.

Introducing £5k projects!

Following feedback from charities and philanthropists, we have expanded The Big Give to include charity projects seeking £5k to £50k in funding. This move means The Big Give will better reflect major donor department targets and help increase funding opportunities for charites.

The new funding amounts are £5k, £10k, £25k and £50k, and charities can upload their projects for these values now. The website will retain its current look and functionality, and the new donation amounts (including changes to the 'thermometer') will be promoted to donors in March.

Let us know what you think of the new amounts by adding a comment below.

Board of Philanthropists

Alec Reed has announced the The Big Give Board of Philanthropists. The Board comprises a group of twenty highly-experienced individuals, offering their exceptional talents from the private, public and charitable sectors.

Members of the Board include Lord Salisbury, former leader of the House of Lords; Lord Joffe, chair of the Government's Giving Campaign; and Simon Murdoch, who launched Amazon's online bookstore in the UK.

Their role will be to encourage other major donors to give intelligently and provide expert feedback on theBigGive.org.uk.

We ask that charities do not send unsolicited requests to Board members.

The full list is:

Lord Salisbury PC DL
- Leader of the House of Lords from 1994-7

Lord Joffe CBE
- represented Nelson Mandela at trial, 1963-4
- Chair of the Government's Giving Campaign, 2001-4

Lord Haskins
- Chairman, Northern Foods 1986-2002
- New Deal Task Force 1997 -2001

Lord Rana MBE JP
- Founder & Managing Director, Andras House

Lord Gavron CBE
- Chair, Guardian Media Group 1997-2000
- Director, Royal Opera House 1992-8

Lord Bell
- Chair, Bell Pottinger Communications
- MD, Saatchi & Saatchi 1970-85

Sir Peter Mason, KBE CBE DL
- Chief Exec AMEC 1996-2006

Sir Sigmund Sternberg KCSG JP
- Founder, Three Faiths Forum
- Chairman, Martin Slowe Estates

Peter Bottomley MP
- MP for Worthing West, 1997-

Simon Murdoch
- Founder, friendsabroad.com
- First head of amazon.co.uk

Martyn Lewis CBE
- Chair of Beacon Fellowship
- Co-founder & Chairman, Teliris
- Chair & Founder, YouthNet UK

Fred Mulder, Dr
- Founder of The Funding Network
- Beacon Fellow

Stuart Wallis FCA CTA
- Chairman, Protherics

John Spiers
- Founder, BestInvest

Frank Kirwan
- OSCR
- former trustee of Oxfam
- director of RBS; Grahma Tech

Larry Sullivan
- Chair and co-founder, COINS software house
- Founder, Stepping Stones school for children with hemiplegia

Trevor Yang
- Group Director
- Trustee of WWF Hong Kong

Bruce Jobling LLB
- Solicitor

Tim Partington
- Director, Chapman Taylor LLP

John Blaxland, Dr

Ian Watson

Alec Reed CBE
- Founder, Reed Specialist Recruitment
- Founder, The Big Give

New PR agency for The Big Give

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Carte Blanche Communications as PR agency for theBigGive.org.uk.

Carte Blanche are experts in the high-net-worth sector, and will help to drive awareness and increase the profile of high-level philanthropy on theBigGive.org.uk.

Look out for coverage of theBigGive.org.uk in the press over the coming weeks, or check back here to see the latest press updates and links to articles.

Dragon in the den

Duncan Bannatyne, star of BBC's Dragons' Den, popped into the office last week with his TV crew to have a look at theBigGive.org.uk and talk philanthropy with Alec Reed.

Duncan is presenting a documentary about giving amongst the rich for ITV1, and was very excited by the number and range of projects on the site. This is yet more great exposure - and high wealth feedback - for the website, and we look forward to seeing the full programme soon.

America's top donors

An interesting web discussion featuring Lorry Lokey, who has appeared on The Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of America's top donors every year since 2000.

Two of Mr Lokey's comments stood out for me:

"I am not impressed with fancy huge brochures, publications, CDs, and especially gifts. A one page letter will do along with a one or two page flyer."

"At least 99% of request made to me by mail or phone are not answered because I don't know them."

Magic Wand funding

I read an interesting article in the New York Times this Sunday discussing the balance between funding short-term projects and longer term operating support.

This ties in very neatly with the news that charities can now upload a "Magic Wand" funding proposal on theBigGive.org.uk. We define the Magic Wand as "the one greatest thing that would help support each charity".

While theBigGive.org.uk began by promoting discrete projects, we hope the Magic Wand section will give donors a chance to fund the long term operational support that can be so vital to the continuing success of the charity.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone. 2007 proved to be a huge year for philanthropy (and, coincidentally, the year of our launch!) and we are looking forward to an even more philanthropic 2008.

We have had some great feedback from high-wealth donors over the Christmas period, and a number have agreed to become Advisory Philanthropists to theBigGive.org.uk. I will have more information on this - and our first site improvements of 2008 - in later posts.

Good luck with your New Year resolutions, and all the best with your fundraising and philanthropy over the coming year!