# Royal patronage helps charities boost awareness, says research

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/07/11/royal-patronage-helps-charities-boost-awareness-says-research/
- Published: 2017-07-11T12:18:16+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**The Queen’s patronage helps charities raise awareness of their work and is seen
as having great value by the organisations she is associated with, research from
The Patron’s Fund has revealed.**

The new research report[, “A Feast of Thanks: the Patron’s Lunch and the Value of Patronage”,](http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/365686/Patrons-lunch-and-the-value-of-patronage.pdf)
launched today by [The Patron’s Fund](http://www.thepatronsfund.org.uk/) and undertaken
by [Cass CCE](http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/faculty-and-research/centres/cce) and [BWB](http://www.bwbllp.com/),
looks at the impact of the Queen’s patronage on charities. It is the first time 
the value of royal patronage has been evaluated, according to the Fund.

Cass and BWB surveyed 220 UK-based charities (all beneficiaries of the Queen’s patronage)
who attended [The Patron’s Lunch](http://www.thepatronslunch.com/) by questionnaire
and telephone interview.

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

The findings show:

 * The Queen’s charities consider her patronage to be ‘unique.’ It is a ‘seal of
   approval, ‘a gold standard of trust, inspiration and recognition’
 * Organisations are immensely proud of the patronage – pride is felt amongst the
   charities’ staff, volunteers and beneficiaries
 * The Queen’s role as a volunteer is inspirational and sets a standard for UK volunteering.
   The Scouts Association said The Queen’s own dedication to community service ‘
   inspires the next generation of 573,000 UK members to a lifetime of service and
   volunteering’

In addition, organisations saw The Patron’s Lunch as a chance to thank their Patron,
invite and thank donors and volunteers, to fundraise and to make valuable connections
with other organisations.

 * 69% used The Patron’s Lunch to produce content for their own communications while
   the same percentage viewed the event as a chance to power their social media 
   content strategy
 * 52% of those charities attended The Patron’s Lunch and invited their donors, 
   while 87% invited volunteers and said that the opportunity to thank volunteers
   was very important

The report also includes recommendations for the future, such as:

 * Charities need a more proactive approach to build the patronage
 * To harness the value of their patronage, charities should pass their annual reports
   to the royal patron to keep her informed
 * To drive more active engagement, charities should select opportunities to provide
   relevant information, seek letters of support and even attendances and hosting
   opportunities
 * Buckingham Palace should consider what can be gained from convening the community
   of patron’s charities, whether virtually or in person as there are many benefits
   to be gained from collaboration

Sir Stuart Etherington, Chairman of the Patron’s Fund, said:

> “The report shows what an amazing difference having the Queen as Patron can make
> to charities and volunteer organisations. It is clear royal patronage is invaluable
> and the report contains several important recommendations about developing this
> in the future.”

 * **[Queen’s charities raise £14 billion according to CAF](https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/06/07/queen039s-charities-raise-14-billion-according-caf/)(
   7 June 2012)**
 * **[Queen to step down as patron of 25 organisations](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/12/24/queen-step-patron-25-organisations/)(
   24 December 2016)**
 * **[Patrons, presidents and personalities: working with high level volunteers](https://fundraising.co.uk/books/patrons-presidents-and-personalities-working-with-high-level-volunteers/)**