Financial Times moves from seasonal appeal to charitable initiative
Howard Lake | 19 November 2020 | News
The Financial Times has moved from running an annual seasonal charity campaign in the run-up to Christmas to a new format of charitable initiative that focuses on financial literacy and inclusion.
The FT Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign will “deliver clear and compelling content on basic financial subjects, and work with partners to make sure the information reaches people who need it most in the UK and around the world”. The campaign will be run by a new charitable foundation which the FT will establish in the first half of 2021. This will work closely with partner charities and organisations to distribute materials, and with FT Schools, a programme which provides free FT.com access and curriculum support to secondary school students.
It will co-ordinate with FT journalists to produce accessible, non-academic educational material in video, written and interactive formats on the basics of finance. In particular FT deputy editor Patrick Jenkins, consumer editor Claer Barrett, contributing editor and educator Lucy Kellaway will help launch the initiative.
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This initiative replaces the FT’s Seasonal Appeal which has in the past launched at this time of the year. Over 15 years it has raised more than £19.5 million for charity partners. As well as fundraising from readers the FT would provide extensive editorial about the work of the charity partners each year, both during and after the campaign.
The FT has a paying readership of more than one million, three-quarters of which are digital subscriptions.
Patrick Jenkins, FT deputy editor and head of the new campaign, explained the need for the new approach. He said: “Too many people don’t have the basic financial knowledge to help them manage their own money and their lives, compounding the rift between the haves and have-nots that has caused such dislocation in our societies in recent years. The FT is uniquely placed to help bridge the gap in financial literacy.”
Roula Khalaf, FT editor, added: “Led by our journalists, this educational campaign will help decode the financial world and give people straight answers on crucial issues, from credit card interest and student loans to taxes and how to start a business. We hope that our readers, many of whom have expertise in this area, will also play a vital role in this effort.”
FT readers can register their interest in supporting the campaign by emailing fi****************@ft.com.
- Financial Times features charitable giving (16 October 2002)
- Financial Times chooses MSF as its 2016 Christmas appeal partner (5 December 2016)
- Financial Times’ Seasonal Appeal raises £3.3m for Sightsavers (6 February 2012)
- National newspapers’ Christmas charity appeals 2018 (12 December 2018)
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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.