Researching local wealthy people – Local Councils

Howard Lake | 5 February 2008 | Blogs

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• Prospect research

Every now and again, when I am researching local wealthy/well-connected people, I look at local authority members interests. Sometimes local councillors are wealthy and well connected people.

A few years ago, I found some very useful information on Bristol City Councillors on the Council website (www.bristol.gov.uk), and then arranged to see the paper copy of the register of members’ interests, in the Council House. This search revealed further information, particularly on members’ philanthropic interests.

I have recently looked at the register of members’ interests for The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (www.rbkc.gov.uk). It is interesting to see how things are changing. The register for Kensington and Chelsea very helpfully lists substantial shareholdings.

It also looks like the online Bristol City Council register is more comprehensive now, but it might still be worth checking on the paper copy, in some instances.

I shall continue to visit these registers, and hope that they continue to develop as useful resources. It’s a slow, but occasionally useful way of uncovering useful information for local and regional fundraising.

• Top 20 most expensive streets revealed (26 February 2008)
  
• When is a Charity Register not a Charity Register? (26 February 2008)
  
• Searching older editions of the online Sunday Times Rich List (14 March 2008)
  

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.