Good giving principles

There are several principles you can follow to make the most of your charitable giving. For more information, read our report Granting success.

• Choose charities based on results: Support charities that are achieving excellent results for the people they help, rather than charities that have the best fundraising teams or the lowest administrative costs. All organisations need administrative costs in order to be effective.
  
  
• Keep your engagement with charities ‘light touch’: A range of different levels of engagement may be appropriate, depending on your objectives. But as far as possible, minimise the demands on the time and resources of the charities you fund. This means not imposing arduous reporting requirements and limiting the number of times you visit.
  
  
• Fund whole organisations rather than projects—give unrestricted funding: It is tempting to stipulate that a grant can only be used for a particular project, because this makes it easier to see the direct impact of the donation. However, we believe that this can limit the impact of the donation. Firstly, it may cause charities to propose projects that meet the donor’s objectives but stray from their core mission. Secondly, it limits the charity's flexibility to respond to needs as they arise. Good charities should be trusted to make decisions in the best interests of the people they help.
  
  
• Make your donation the right size—not too big, not too small: Judging the right size for a donation is an art, not a science. If a donation is too big, there is a risk that rapid growth will create organisational problems, particularly when the donation runs out. If it is too small, the administrative burden of applying and reporting may outweigh the benefit of the donation. Of course, small donations with no strings attached are always welcomed by charities. In general, we work on the assumption that contributing more than a third of an organisation’s annual income may create problems. However, if a charity has a robust strategy for significant growth, a larger grant may be appropriate.
  
  
• Provide multi-year support, rather than giving a one-off donation: Choosing the right length for a grant depends on the specific case—as a guide, grant-making trusts often give grants for three years. Multi-year support gives charities the opportunity to make long-term plans. They can build projects that create and sustain improvements in the lives of the people they help. Longer-term grants also allow donors and charities to build more lasting relationships.
  
  
• Fund measurement: Because of the widespread lack of funding for measurement and performance management, you should consider allowing a proportion of your giving to be dedicated to building the capacity of charities to evaluate their results.