At the recent IoF Legacy Conference, lawyer Alison Talbot of Blake Talbot gave some valuable insights into a lawyer’s perspective on legacy fundraising, covering discretionary legacies, advertising in charity gazettes and asking solicitors to promote a particular charity.
News that Oxford academic Toby Ord has pledged to give away £1 million during his lifetime - and is encouraging others to pledge 10% of their income to charity - made the national media this week. If Ord had been a wealthy donor, it would still have been newsworthy, but the fact that he is a philosophy researcher on an ordinary salary makes the story all the more interesting. Fundraisers will wish that there were many more Toby Ords around. But of course there are….
The recent spat between the Charity Commission and the Department of Health over who owns the assets of some hospital charities highlights the peculiar no man’s land in which state controlled charities live, as well as seriously undermining their case for support.
As if the current recession was not tough enough already for trust fundraisers, the threat to the Lloyds TSB Foundations and the winding up of the J. Paul Getty Jr. Charitable Trust sound an altogether more worrying note for charities that rely on trusts.
I’ve lost track how many times over the years I’ve been asked by prospective clients to provide consultancy on commission. It happened again recently and it’s always a bad sign, especially when it’s the first question! You just know it’s not a serious enquiry.
Now I’m not one of those who sees the government (of whatever colour) as the Devil incarnate, but recent warnings about the risks of state funding cuts for charities do make me think “I told you s
So much of the sector media and conference slots seem to focus on larger charities with fundraising teams that it’s easy to forget that many fundraisers work alone in smaller organisations - often w
