UK charities keeping one eye on American elections
Howard Lake | 30 October 2008 | News
With both Presidential candidates promising to expand national service programmes, release money for innovative social projects and promote Federal grants to religious institutions and charities, the sector has never featured as heavily in recent American politics. However, many UK based charities will also be keeping one eye on the outcome of the election.
The opportunities for fundraising in the US are now huge: around £120 billion is donated to charity every year, compared to only £9.5 billion in the UK. However, for many small and medium UK based charities accessing this potentially enormous income stream is both legally complicated and expensive.
CAFAmerica, a registered US non-profit which is part of the Charities Aid Foundation international network, provides a solution in the ‘Friends of’ Charity Fund. This eliminates the expense, time and trouble in setting up a separate US charity. The ‘Friends of’ Charity Fund is only a fifth the cost of setting up a standalone US charitable entity.
Over 900 UK charities have been helped by CAFAmerica, and the ‘Friends of’ Charity Fund raised over $7m for UK charities in the last financial year. Susan Saxon-Harold, CEO of CAFAmerica said, “The ‘Friends of’ Charity Fund is a simple, cost-effective flexible solution to attract gifts from US donors. The fund is an ideal solution for UK charities wishing to start a state-side marketing and promotion drive.
“A charity can use their fund in a variety of ways such as launching a fundraising appeal, conducting a membership drive, or raising money from an event like a silent auction or dinner.”
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Contact: James Ketchell
E: jk*******@ca*******.org
T: 0207 832 3014.
Notes to editors:
The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) is a charity set up to help other charities by working with donors, companies and charities to encourage and facilitate a culture of giving. They do this by offering products and services that make giving easier, tax efficient and help charities to make the most of donations through their banking and fundraising support services.
Founded in 1992, CAFAmerica is a US 501(c)(3) public charity. CAFAmerica is part of the CAF International Network, which spans five continents and manages more than $4 billion in charitable funds.
Charities interested in growing their US fundraising can visit http://www.cafamerica.org for more information.
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.