There are hundreds of place-based giving schemes in the UK, with strong desires to grow this form of giving, according to a report published today.
The report, Place-based giving schemes: funding, engaging and creating strogner communities, is written by Catherine Walker, director of consultancy the Researchery, and was commissioned by the Office for Civil Society, which recently invested £750,000 in growing place-based giving.
“Place-based giving schemes in England currently include 21 London Borough Place-based Giving Schemes; 43 Community Foundations; 69 giving circles; plus a plethora of other forms,” the report said.
The research found that these schemes added value, but constantly struggled with seed funding and core funding, and worked best in areas where there was affluence as well as deprivation, such as the area which sparked renewed interest in the model – Islington, in London.
The model was seen as a solution to a growing difference between the haves and have-nots in different parts of the country, which has led to pockets of deprivation.
“One of the aims of this research was to investigate whether more place-based giving is possible and desirable in England,” the report said. “Among interviewees, there was a strong desire to see more place-based giving being developed, as long as that development is done sensitively and place-based schemes aren’t seen as a ‘magic bullet’ with which to solve all the country’s ills.
“The vast majority felt very strongly, however, that there isn’t and shouldn’t be a single model for place-based giving because by its very definition it needs to be tailored to the particular place it is based in. This means that each scheme has slightly different needs.
“Finally, the research suggests that there is far greater potential to harness people’s sense of identity and community to drive far more locally focused charitable giving around the country.”
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