Who benefits from million-pound charitable donations?
Howard Lake | 9 November 2008 | News
Analysis of the largest charitable donations made in the UK shows that health charities, international aid/development organisations and higher education institutions were the main beneficiaries in 2006/07.
The Coutts Million-Pound Donors Report, published to mark the launch of the new Centre for Philanthropy, Humanitarianism and Social Justice (CPHSJ) at the University of Kent, reveals that 193 gifts of £1 million or more were made in 2006/07, totaling £1.6 billion.
Of these, 64% were under £3 million but 12% were for £10 million or more. The five largest donations, worth £100 million or more, were all placed into trusts and foundations for distribution at a later date, rather than given directly to charities.
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The Coutts Million-Pound Donors Report was written by Beth Breeze of the CPHSJ. Described as “the first [report] to focus on million pound charitable donations”, it includes case studies of million pound donors and of charities that have received donations of this size.
Beth Breeze said: “Million pound donors talk about the ‘exhilarating’ feeling of being able to transform lives, and recipients say gifts of this size bring a psychological boost that lifts the spirit of staff and volunteers.”
She added: “This research is important because there’s very little reliable information about giving by the richest members of our society… Now we know that ‘million pound donors’ differ [from average donors] not just in the scale of their gifts, but in what they choose to support and how they go about making their gifts.”
A copy of the Coutts Million-Pound Donors Report may be downloaded.
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.