# Brexit – dealing with the fallout for fundraising

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/06/24/brexit-dealing-fallout/
- Published: 2016-06-24T07:54:35+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**So it’s goodbye to Brussels, but what are the implications for fundraising? Impacts
on charities will vary, depending on how they raise their money. However, if the
Remain campaign’s predictions are accurate, they will be dramatic and far reaching.**

 

## EU Funding

 

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What we know for certain is that EU funding (such as ESF, ERDF and various research
funds) will disappear. The timescales for this are still unclear, although it is
likely that existing commitments will be honoured in the short term. Brexit campaigners
have pledged to protect some EU payments until 2020, but as they are not in government,
in practice the jury is still out on this.

 

## Individual Giving

 

More clear is the impact on individual giving, which is likely to be severe, due
to the potential falls in Sterling and the stock market, which will affect pensions,
investments and – crucially – how donors feel, as sentiment is key. There may well
be a loss of consumer confidence, as in the last recession, so if your charity relies
heavily on cash appeals and discretionary donations, you may well be hit hard. Probably
less affected will be those charities with a stronger base of committed givers. 
They are likely to keep giving unless their jobs disappear or their pensions are
badly hit.

 

## Legacies

 

If the Remain prediction of a fall in house prices comes true (and obviously we 
will not know for some time), this will also have a knock-on effect on legacy values,
so your forecasting needs to err on the side of caution.

 

## Corporate Partnerships

 

For charities that rely significantly on corporate partnerships, the question is
whether these are companies that may decide to downsize or relocate to the EU as
a result of Brexit. In most cases, the impact will not be immediate, so any existing
partnerships will not be directly affected in the short term. However, it is likely
to impact on future corporate relationships, so longer term budgeting needs to be
conservative.

 

## Actions to take

 

So what should you do now on Brexit day one? The key action is to review your fundraising
strategy and identify the likely impact on each income stream in the short, medium
and longer terms. We are in unchartered territory, so you should probably consider
a range of scenarios, from no impact to severe.

 

## More Positively

 

On the brighter side, it looks like we will not have to face the new EU general 
data protection regulations, although it looks like this will be offset by increased
home-grown regulation of fundraising.

 

Another bonus may be that the media will be so fixated on the fallout from Brexit
that we may avoid further tabloid attacks on fundraising. Let’s hope so, because
we are all going to need to take something positive from this.

 

Welcome to the new era!

 * **[EU funding to be fast tracked](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/08/31/eu-funding-fast-tracked/)**(
   31 August 2016)
 * **[Final EU peace funding announced](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/11/03/final-eu-peace-funding-announced/)**(
   3 November 2016)
 * **[European Commission offers €150,000 in social innovation competition](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/02/28/european-commission-offers-150k-euros-in-social-innovation-competition/)**(
   28 February 2017)

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