A corporate donor has launched a “first-of-its-kind” £50,000 grantmaking scheme, in which charities that receive funding choose the next recipients of a donation.
The Benefact Group, which includes insurance firm Ecclesiastical and investment company EdenTree, will give an unrestricted £2,000 grant to five charities across the UK and Ireland.
It will then ask the first fundees to “pay it forward” by choosing five more charities to receive the next £2,000 each, with the scheme continuing until 25 charities are funded.
The first five charities in the chain are Kindness Homeless Street Team Glasgow, baby charity TinyLife in Northern Ireland, Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland, Welsh youth cancer charity Giddo’s Gift, and Perranporth Surf Life Saving Club in Cornwall.
The initial five charities were chosen as they had been nominated by the Benefact Group’s Movement for Good programme over multiple years but had never won, a spokesperson of the company told Civil Society.
Its Movement for Good programme invites the public to nominate charities throughout the year for the chance to receive a £1,000 grant.
A new charity in the chain will be revealed every two weeks, and all participating charities will be announced by 9 June.
Letting charities take the reins
Chris Pitt, group impact director of the Benefact Group, said: “Charities know their sector better than anyone.
“We’re excited to see where their insight leads and how this trust-based chain of giving plays out.
“It’s about community, collaboration, and curiosity – what happens when we give charities the reins?”
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