Key points from the Autumn Budget
Read Paul Winyard’s blog for the key points for charities from the Chancellor’s most recent budget announcement and the economic headwinds that influenced the Chancellor’s thinking. Pertinent to this funding round-up, news includes significant funding to reduce homelessness, simplification of the Gift Aid Donor Benefits regime, extra cash for the NHS, a reduction in the waiting time for Universal Credit, as well as the announcement that LIBOR banking fines over the next three years will support armed forces and emergency services charities and other related good causes. Civil Society have summarised reaction from of charities.
Facebook announces fundraising developments
Facebook has announced that 100% of donations made through Facebook payments to nonprofits will now go directly to those organisations. In addition, the Fundraisers API tool gives fundraisers the ability for people to sync their off-Facebook fundraising to their Facebook fundraisers.
Coutts Million Pound Donors Report published
The 2017 Coutts Million Pound Donors Report shows that a record high of £1.86bn was donated in the UK in 2016, with an increase in corporate giving. The number of £1m+ donations rising by two-thirds over the past decade, as reported by UK Fundraising.
The fundraising blogs
- How will GDPR affect prospect research? Andrew Cross
- #GivingTuesday 2017 – a summary of charity activity by Madeleine Sugden
- Build a community and fundraise from it: mobile fundraising principles from IFC 2017 – Paul de Gregorio and Jo Wolfe
Other fundraising and sustainability news
Helping the voluntary sector to work with change
Commissioned by Big Lottery Fund and the Office for Civil Society, NCVO published An Evidence Review of Organisational Sustainability in November, which analysed the support available to voluntary and community sector organisations. Nick Ockenden has written a helpful summary of the report outlining a number of the key themes.
Government releases £100bn of grant data
The government has published information on £100 billion worth of grants in 2016 and 2017 in line with the UK’s Open Government National Action Plan. Grants range from government funding for schools, to UK Sport grants, to funding for bus service operators.
Creating a successor fund to ESF post-Brexit
Research published by DSC has revealed that UK charities risk losing over £250m in EU funds because of Brexit. NCVO and ERSA have published a paper calling on the government to create a successor fund to the European Social Fund (ESF) following Brexit. The paper proposes a set of design principles for a new fund to follow, including the use of grants as a preferred method of procurement. If you have experience of delivering ESF programmes – either good or bad – NCVO’s funding and finance policy officer, Paul Winyard would like to hear from you.
Weston Charity Awards – applications open
The Garfield Weston Foundation and Pilotlight are inviting applications to their Weston Charity Awards from registered charities in the North of England, the Midlands and Wales working in the areas of youth, welfare and community.
The awards celebrate and support front-line charities working in the fields of youth, welfare and community, and offer eligible charities an opportunity to plan for sustainability, development and growth through a year-long programme.
To access more information and news on the latest funds from around the sector subscribe to NCVO’s Funding Central.
Training and events
Go to the training and events section of our website to see all our upcoming events. Highlights include:
- Certificate in sustainable funding strategies – Starts 4 December – Our flagship OCN accredited course will help you create a funding strategy for your organisation.
- Charity finance for non-financial managers – 8 December – This course will provide you with increased confidence and greater ability to review and assess your organisation’s financial health.
- Developing your theory of change – 18 January 2018
- Enterprisingly charitable – 26 January 2018 – This course will help you explore the opportunities and challenges of income generation for charities.
- GDPR training and other support resources – Jan, Feb, Mar in Newcastle, London and Leeds
- NCVO Charity Regulation Conference 2018 – 5 February, London – find out what you need to do to ensure your organisation is legally compliant and hear from experts in charity regulation and governance, including the Charity Commission and the Fundraising Regulator. Find out more and book your place
- NCVO Annual Conference 2018: Different thinking, bigger difference – 16 April, London – Join us to explore the importance of thinking differently when leading a charity and how to effectively harness diversity in thought and action to strengthen your organisation and make a bigger difference. Find out more and book your place
You can always contact us about training or consultancy support.
Richard Sved is an NCVO sustainable funding consultant. He has worked and volunteered in the charity sector for 25 years. He has led the fundraising function (in-house and as an interim) for six national charities, including National Literacy Trust, Leap Confronting Conflict and Girlguiding. 
