Five ways in which the BBC helps charities

Howard Lake | 22 January 2014 | Blogs

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• BBC
• corporate
• funding
• Volunteering

The BBC is well known for supporting the large national appeals of Comic Relief, Sport Relief and BBC Children in Need. It has been broadcasting appeals for particular charities since 1923.
It also hosts the annual BBC Radio 4 St Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal which helps supports work with homeless and vulnerable people across the UK. In times of disaster it promotes the Disasters Emergency Committee appeals on behalf of its 14 charity members.
But the Corporation offers other services and opportunities that a much wider range of charities can benefit from.
 

Broadcast appeals

Throughout the year the BBC broadcasts monthly appeals on behalf of charities through national, regional and local broadcasts. These appeals raise funds and awareness for a wide range of charities.

• The weekly BBC Radio 4 appeal and the monthly BBC Lifeline appeal both welcome applications from eligible charities.
• Blue Peter has a long history of launching an annual charity appeal at Christmas.
• BBC Cymru Wales periodically broadcasts charitable appeals for organisations working within the nation. In collaboration with Children in Need in Wales it allocates radio broadcast opportunities to local charities and groups with whom they are working.
• BBC Northern Ireland television and radio also broadcast charity appeals for local charities.
• BBC Scotland has not made any charity appeals since 2000, following consultations with the charity sector. But in theory they are still open to being approached about this.
• Local radio stations in England make occasional charity appeals.

Funding

There are a number of grantmaking funds related to the BBC and its work and programmes.

• BBC Children in Need makes grants to organisations supporting disadvantaged children and young people in the UK.
• Comic Relief makes grants for work in the UK and internationally.
• The BBC Performing Arts Fund uses revenue from voting lines on BBC entertainment shows like The Voice to support performing arts individuals, community groups and organisations with grants, mentoring and advice. The Fund was established in 2003 and has given over £4 million in grants. Since early 2008, calls to BBC programmes using premium rate telephony have been capped at 15p.
• The BBC Wildlife Fund closed at the end of 2012, having raised £3 million for 86 projects.
• The Grace Wyndham Goldie (BBC) Trust Fund provides assistance for people currently or previously in broadcasting, their children and dependants. It was set up in memory of the television trainer and creator of BBC programmes such as Tonight and Panorama.

Free BBC tickets for charity rewards

BBC Outreach offers a small number of tickets for BBC TV and radio show performances and recordings to any registered UK charity. Given demand outstrips supply, charity tickets are selected by ballot. There are two draws a year.
The selected charity will be offered a pair of tickets to some of the Corporation’s most popular recordings. Currently these include The Graham Norton Show, QI, Would I Lie to You, Just a Minute, and Later with Jools Holland.
Applications must be made by a charity employee, whether full time or part time. However, the tickets must be used only to reward volunteers or service users.
 

Access BBC staff as volunteers for a particular project

The BBC Community Doorway scheme invites eligible charities to apply to access the skills and expertise of our BBC staff volunteers to help deliver a one-off project.
The scheme is only available to organisations near to the BBC’s main offices in West London and Salford. So applications are invited only from charities and community groups in Hammersmith & Fulham, Westminster, Salford and Greater Manchester. To qualify for consideration, charities must work with 16-24 year olds and/or groups that are considered to be disadvantaged or socially excluded.
Application rounds close at midnight on 31 January, 30 April, 31 July and 31 October.
 

Volunteering

The BBC encourages its staff to volunteer “on a range of initiatives that connect us with our audiences and which make a difference to our communities.”
Staff volunteer on national programmes like BBC News School Report, and with national and local charities.
 

Other opportunities

The BBC does from time to time offer other opportunities for charities. For example, last summer local charities had an opportunity to promote themselves on city centre Big Screens. Unfortunately the BBC is no longer involved in the Big Screen partnership.
Nor should the value of the large national appeals to all charities should not be underestimated. They, together with initiatives by ITV such as its Text Santa campaign, help raise public awareness of issues tackled by many charities, promote the notion of charitable giving, drive up awareness of tax effective giving by Gift Aid, and help embed new and effective methods of giving such as online and SMS giving.
You can find out more about the BBC’s Corporate Social Responsibility and Editorial Policy Guidelines.
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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.