using a wholly owned trading company to manage fundraising risks

Interesting question, and my reaction is similar to Daniel's - if your desire is to distance the Charity from its principal fundraising activities, don't do it!

The trading company route is useful if you are going into trading in a major way - the cost/benefit analysis is different for a trading operation, apart froom anything else - but the generality of fundraising needs to be integrated into the life of the charity, not insulated in its own ghetto.

Cheers

Gerry

If in doubt don't. Trading - selling of goods and services that are not "primary purpose" activities - is a risky business. Apart from the top 100 charities, how many make a good return on their investment in trading?

my story is of a charity that did not manage the risk - some years ago a charity I worked for relocated to the North to reduce costs with the idea of using the extra space they could now afford for other organisations and conferences. All went well to start with with a number of new organisations located in the building and a successful conference programme, however when the costs of running the building began to spiral my organisation had to quickly move the risks (and assets) to a new organisation.
Some years down the line the conference centre is doing well, but the original charity has downsized several times!
The moral is that strategy is not just about managing risk, it is also about seeing and achieving potential!

David