Major Giving News

Princes Trust to receive half a million

The Prince’s Trust is to receive a hefty £500,000 donation from rapper and philanthropist Will.I.am in a bid to inspire the next generation into the world of science.

Speaking on his donation, he said: ‘Be a technician, be an engineer, be a mathematician. The world needs more engineers. It’s important that kids be brought up to speed on where the world is going. They need to be given a shot and encouraged to take an interest, because the world is going to be different ten years from now and 20 years from now it’s totally different.’

The trust’s fundraising Director, Tara Leathers, also added that ‘Will.I.am’s donation has been a catalyst for The Prince’s Trust, creating a momentum that has brought technology to the forefront of our work with young people.’

Lowry gallery nets £1m

The Lowry art gallery in Salford is set to receive the largest single donation in its 14 year history.

The donation has been made by Andrew and Zoë Law, of the Law Family Charitable Foundation, and it will be put towards a major redevelopment project that has been planned for the gallery.

In a recent statement regarding their donation, the couple said that: ‘Having childhood and working links to the area, we are excited to support The Lowry.’

‘(The Lowry) is a wonderful home for the performing and visual arts. Providing a contemporary and dramatic setting for theatre productions as well as learning, it has become part of North West cultural life.’

In recognition of the donation, the Main Gallery spaces at The Lowry will be renamed The Andrew and Zoë Law Galleries in their honour.

Van Gaal and United to donate £1.2m

As part of his first contract with Manchester United, football manager Louis Van Gaal has given the hefty sum to charity after forgoing the use of a managerial agent.

He requested that the club instead donate the money to his favourite charity, Muscles for Muscles and he has also matched the £600,000 donated by the club.

The Dutch based charity, for which he is also an ambassador, raises awareness for spinal muscular atrophy and provides support for those who suffer from the disease.

Next section: Report

Report: ‘Public Trust and Confidence in Charities 2014’

This month, we have included our summary of the most recent report on public trust and confidence in charities, conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Charity Commission.

The 2014 research is intended to monitor progress on improving public trust and confidence in the sector, and to answer some other key questions.

Methodology

A representative survey of 1,163 adults aged 18 and over in England and Wales was conducted via telephone. Leads for the survey were generated at random and in addition, four discussion groups were also conducted in order to explore some of the issues raised in greater depth.

Key Findings

Overall, there is a great deal of trust and appreciation for the important role charities play across England and Wales. The public gave an average score of 6.7 out of 10 when asked how much trust and confidence they have in charities, which is consistent with the answers given in previous editions of the report.

Charities are also faring well when compared with other public bodies and similar institutions, with only doctors (7.6 out of 10) and the police (7.0) receiving higher trust scores. However, there are some indications that the public’s impression (whether accurate or unfounded) of charities’ behaviour is affecting some aspects of their trust and confidence in the sector.

Much of this impression is based upon a specific area of expenditure, and in particular, how charities are using their funds. Indeed, based on the surveys 2014 findings, there is a much greater emphasis on ensuring that donations are being spent on the end cause rather than salaries, administration and on fundraising methods that the public are not comfortable with.

A second interesting observation found in the 2014 survey is the continuation of a trend noted earlier in 2012 – namely an increasing number of people who are reporting using charity services. Two fifths (40%) of the public report that they, or their close family or friends have benefited from or have used the services of a charity (this statistic is up from 34% in 2012).

This is a significant figure, and the proportion has steadily increased from 2005 when only 9% gave this response. The research suggests that not only do more people need to use these charitable services, there is also possibly less of a stigma involved in doing so than there has been in the past.

The 2014 research has also shown some continuing concerns that charities are being forced to ‘fill the gap’ in providing public services, which echoes the research findings from previous years. However, there is something of a contrast between the fairly negative economic outlook expressed in 2012 and the more optimistic projections for 2014, which is something that may prove interesting when looking at future trends.

A third interesting finding arose in the discussion groups for the survey. This was that in addition to a greater sense of expectation being placed on charities, there is also perceived to be a greater proliferation of charities. Related to the greater emphasis on ensuring that donations are reaching the end cause, this was accompanied by questions over the need for many different charities to be working for similar causes. It is thought that this sense of competition, rather than partnership, could potentially exacerbate perceptions of insufficient donations reaching the end cause, and lead to reduced trust in the sector as a whole.

Though over half of adults in England and Wales have at least heard of the Charity Commission, few know in detail exactly what the organisation does, and most assume it has a more active role in the day-to-day running of charities than is actually case.

There is a public desire for strong and effective charity regulation, and also for organisations to be bolder both in terms of publicising their activities, and in terms of penalising charities that fall short of the required standard. The public felt that this would also help to raise the profile of the Commission, and increase trust and confidence in both its own work, and the work of the charity sector.

The research also indicated that those who personally work in the sector, or those who have used the services of a charity in the past are likely to give higher overall trust scores for charities and the sector. Conversely, it was found that those with a lower level of knowledge tend to have a lower sense of trust. This suggests that it is often negative perceptions, (the survey showed that these are typically media-led and often based on isolated incidents) that lead to lower levels of trust and confidence in charities.

Trust and Confidence in Charities

As was also the case in 2012, the majority of respondents stated that their trust in the sector has stayed the same over the last two years. However, there is a small increase in the percentage reporting that their level of trust has changed. 1 in 10 said their trust has increased (10% compared to 9% in 2012), and 2 in 10 said their trust has decreased (18% compared to 16% in 2012).

Looking at charity roles in more depth, the public generally trust charities to:

• make a positive difference to the cause they are working for (7.1)
• make independent decisions to further the cause they work for (6.7) and;
• to ensure fundraisers are honest and ethical (6.7)

Also for the first time, the report’s statistical Key Driver Analysis has shown that ensuring that a reasonable proportion of donations make it to the end cause is the most important factor driving trust and confidence in charities overall, displacing the objective of making a positive difference to the cause they work for. This contrast between ensuring donations reach their end cause as the strongest driver of trust, whilst receiving the public’s lowest trust rating highlights its increasing importance.

Overall Perceptions of Charities

As was the case in previous surveys, most respondents agreed that charities provide society with something unique (80%), and that charities are effective at bringing about social chance (73%). In 2012, a higher proportion than in previous years agreed that they play an essential role in society (37%) and the proportion who hold this view has remained unchanged in 2014. The vast majority (96%) of the public say that charities play an essential, very or fairly important role in society.

However, although overall levels of trust remain high, there are certain areas where public trust has failed. In 2014, 71% of the public agree with the statement: most charities are trustworthy and act in the public interest compared to 74% in 2012 (and 75% in 2010). Furthermore, three fifths of those surveyed agreed (60%) that charities are regulated and controlled to ensure that they are working for the public benefit, compared to 64% in 2012, and 60% in 2010.

In a new question featured in 2014 survey, 54% of the public felt that charities in England and Wales are regulated fairly effectively, and a further 14% felt they are regulated very effectively.

There has also been something of a decline in the proportion of people who say they trust charities to work independently. In 2010 it was 68%, and this has now dropped to 62% in 2014.

The fundraising techniques that are employed by charities have become another major concern, according to the survey. Two thirds of the public agreed with the statement ‘some of the fundraising methods used by charities make me uncomfortable’. In 2012, this feeling increased significantly from 2010 (from 60% up to 67%), although it has remained stable in 2014, at 66%.

Three in five agree that charities spend too much of their funds on salaries and administration although there is a significant difference between the views of younger and older people; as those aged 18-34 are much less likely to be concerned about levels of expenditure compared with those people aged 55 or older.

Charities and Service Provision

The issue of charities providing public services was also explored in the survey. When asked if they would be more or less confident in public services provided by charities, 7 in 10 said that it would make no difference.

2 in 10 stated that they would be more confident if a charity took on the provision of a public service. This represents a 5% drop compared to 2012. Also generally, people felt that charities will be less likely to provide a high quality or a professional service.

In spite of this however, when charities do provide public services, they are thought to provide a high level of care, with just over two fifths of respondents feeling that charities are the best at providing a caring approach to service provision (44%). This is far higher than the private sector (5%) and public authorities (21%).

Public Awareness and Understanding of the Charity Commission

More than half (55%) of respondents have heard of the Charity Commission, a figure which has remained unchanged since 2012. Public awareness of the organisation remains consistent with 2010 and 2008, though it is worth remembering that this is an appreciable rise compared to 2005, when only 46% had heard of it.

In total, 98% felt that that the Charity Commission has an important role to play, the same percentage as 2012, and 56% considered it essential.

Of those who are aware of the Charity Commission, 31% felt they know the Commission either very or fairly well, in line with the previous findings. Those people gave the Commission a mean score of 6.1 when assessing how much trust and confidence they have in the organisation, while those who know the Commission very or fairly well gave it a mean score of 6.9.

Public Awareness and Understanding of the Charity Commission

Over a third of people in England and Wales (36%) said that they, or a member of their close circle of family or friends work for a charity, which closely matches the 2012 percentage (37%). However, the percentage that claims to volunteer has fallen from 26% to 22%.

Clickhere for a full version of the report.

Next section: Phi Database Update

Phi in Numbers July 2014

For this month’s edition of our database update, we have decided to revisit some earlier analysis on donations made by titled individuals to various activity types throughout the database.

In our May 2013 Database Update, we surveyed the percentage split of donations from titled individuals throughout the database and came up with following results. We found that the majority of donations from titled individuals in the database came from donors titled Sir with 2,582 donations, followed by Lords (1,108), The Honourable (351) and finally Dames (254).

Since then, while the overall balance of donations from these four groups has largely remained the same in Phi (apart from a slight 3% increase in donations from Lords, and a slight 3% decline from those titled Sir), there has also been some notable increases in the number of records from each group.

As is demonstrated by the above pie chart, the Lords category has received the biggest increase in the number of donations compared with previous results, with a new total of 1,512 records (36#37; more entries), followed ‘The Hon’ with 432 total donations (23#37; increase), Dames with 302 total donations (18#37; increase) and finally Sir, with a total of 2,953 (18#37; more) records of donations.
To give an idea of which areas these more recent donations have been going to, we have also included a second breakdown of all titled donations to various sectors, which can be seen below.

Compared with our May 2013 analysis, there have been some significant increases in donations from titled donors to several activity types. In the Lords category for example, the highest proportion of new donations to be added to the database have been made to Political and Arts/Culture related causes.

Elsewhere, while a large number of donations from donors titled ‘Sir’ have previously been found in support of Education/Training and Arts/Culture related causes, our latest survey has also uncovered significantly more (225) records of donations to Health related causes.

Next section: Profile

Profile: Mayfair Charities Ltd

Formed in 1968, this trust was founded by Benzion Freshwater, who is a multi-millionaire property investor of Haredi Jewish descent.

His father, Osias Freshwater, was born in the year 1897 in the village of Sassoon in Galacia, Poland. However, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, he left the country from the port of Danzig with the intention of procuring visas for his family. Tragically however, although his family escaped to Danzig and then as far as Lvov, both his wife and son were eventually claimed by the Holocaust.

Osias made it to England and by 1947, he had settled in London’s East End. There he met Nechama Stempel who had been widowed as a result of the holocaust, but much like himself, had escaped and taken her two sons with her.

The family business and source of their wealth began as Daejan Samoedra Estates Limited, a small group of plantation businesses based in Indonesia. However, when the country became independent in 1949, it sold its remaining commodity assets and became a dormant shell company, although it did maintain its listing on the London Stock Exchange.

It would later become Daejan Holdings Company and by 1957, the Freshwater property business had become firmly established after having acquiring a number of landmark assets in London. The company continued to expand at a rapid pace and by 1972, it had acquired City and Country Properties Limited, which had a property portfolio valued at £32.7 million compared to that of £51.8 million owned by Daejan at the time.

Osias Freshwater died in 1976, and his eldest son Benzion Freshwater was appointed as Chairman of the board in 1980. His youngest son, Solomon, also joined the board where he is responsible for sales and its United States portfolio.

Today, the family are featured on the Sunday Times Rich 2014 with an estimated wealth of £1.2b based on their various property assets, including a £633m stake in Daejan alone.

For the financial year ending the 31st of March 2013, the trust reported an income of £4,570,000 and an expenditure of £5,280,000. Factary Phi holds 669 records of donations made to various organisations since 2008 worth a minimum of £9,106,603.

According to Phi, the average size of donations made by the trust is £13,612, and the largest proportion of these donations have been made to causes associated with Religious Activities (471), followed by Education/Training (163), International Development (12), Heritage (7), Children/Youth (6), General Charitable Purposes (2), Health (2), Welfare (2), Arts/Culture (1), Elderly (1), Environment (1) and Sport (1).

The Trustees

Benzion Freshwater

Benzion Freshwater is Managing Director and Chairman of Daejan Holdings plc and he is also a Trustee of Beth Jacob Grammar School for Girls Ltd, Regent Charities Ltd, Service to the Aged and the Raphael Freshwater Memorial Association.

Solomon Freshwater

His younger brother, Solomon Freshwater is also a Board Member of Daejan Holdings plc where he is responsible for sales and the company’s United States portfolio. He is also a Trustee of Sassov Beis Hamedrash, Service to the Aged and The Raphael Freshwater Memorial Association.

David Davis

David Davis is a chartered accountant and a Director of Daejan Holdings plc. He is also a Trustee of the Beth Jacob Grammar School for Girls Ltd, The Raphael Freshwater Memorial Association and Vendquot Ltd.

Next section: News