Welcome to the August 2014 issue of the Factary Phi Newsletter.
Major Giving News
Wealthy widow donates £60m
Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, who is the widow of the United Arab Emirates founder Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, is set to donate £60m to Great Ormond Street Hospital in a bid to improve the health of future generations.
The money will be put towards the construction of a new, state of the art research centre dedicated to the treatment and study of rare genetic disorders.
Speaking on her donation, Sheikha Fatima said: ‘The most important work that we can undertake as a global society is to improve the health of future generations so that communities can thrive and grow,’
‘To reach this goal, we must form collaborative partnerships that have the potential to benefit all children.’
She is currently Head of the UAE’s General Women’s Union and she is also Chairwoman of its Family Development Foundation. Her centre is expected to be completed in early 2018.
Leonard Cheshire to receive £2.4m grant
The disability charity have been a given a 4.1m dollars from management consulting company Accenture in order to continue running one of its international projects.
More specifically, the grant will enable job and entrepreneurial training for around 13,400 disabled people, and it will also see the expansion of Leonard Cheshire’s existing Access to Livelihoods aid projects in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines and South Africa.
Speaking on the donation, a spokesperson for Leonard Cheshire said their organisation had had a long-term relationship with Accenture:
‘A two year pilot was started in 2008 and this is an expansion of a really successful project which has helped people with disabilities around the world to find work,’ she said. ‘In the first phase of the project, over 10,000 people gained new skills and 6,000 of those have found new work.’
Government to match £2m in public donations to Gaza Relief
Donations are being made to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), and the money will be used in order to provide much needed food, shelter and medical care to civilians caught up in the conflict.
The government’s International Development Secretary, Minister Justine Greening said that: ‘For people wanting to help civilians in Gaza caught up in this crisis, giving now means every pound they donate will buy twice as many food parcels, provide twice as many blankets and help twice as many people to get through this crisis.’
Saleh Saeed, who is Chief Executive of the DEC said this was a ‘vital moment’ for Gaza and explained that ‘Hundreds of thousands of people have left their homes, and whilst many are now returning the situation they are returning to is very grave,’ he said.
Since the start of the crisis, this £2m commitment by the government will raise the total support for the people of Gaza to over £17 million.
Report: ‘The Politics of Charities’
This month, we have included our summary of a recent report on The Politics of Charities, conducted by NFP Synergy.
The report is intended to ask what the public, MP’s and journalists think of campaigning and political activity by charities.
Introduction
The report begins by acknowledging that for many people, the idea of politics and campaigning can be thought of as ‘dirty words’ when associated with charities. Therefore with this mind, the research is focused upon uncovering some of the different perspectives that the public, journalists and MP’s have had on the political activities by charities.
Views of the Public
Is this campaigning by charities a source of concern? According to the report, the short answer to this is no. Some of the responses have been summarised below:
- Almost no-one is put off giving to charities because of their campaigning activities. When given a list of reasons, only 4% of respondents cited ‘the charity campaigning to change the law’ as a reason why they might not give. To provide some contrast ‘too little money going to the cause’ and ‘too much money spent on staff salaries’ were chosen by 62% and 53% respectively.
- 58% of respondents agreed that ‘charities should be able to campaign to change laws and government policies relevant to their work’, while only 10% disagreed.
- Respondents were also asked whether certain types of activities are wasteful or worthwhile. ‘Lobbying government and other organisations’ was seen as worthwhile by 46% of the public, while just 22% saw it as a wasteful endeavour
Journalists Views
In a biannual poll, journalists were asked: If you considered a charity to be political, what would this mean to you? This question was intended to be more open ended, rather than giving them a list of definitions to choose from.
An analysis of these answers suggested that:
- Two-thirds of journalists (67%) felt neither negative nor positive about charities being political
- Around 24% felt negative about it
- Around 6% were positive
- 3% did not comment
Journalists were also asked which of two statements on campaigning was closest to their view:
- 13% chose the statement ‘Charities should concentrate their funding on helping their beneficiaries, not on campaigns’
- 87% agreed with the statement ‘It’s fine for charities to spend funds on campaigning if that’s a key part of their purposes’
MP’s Views
According to the responses, while a large proportion of Labour MP’s (50%) are neutral about charities being ‘political’, the vast majority of Tory MP’s (78%) are negative. In contrast, Liberal Democrats are evenly balanced between neutrality (38%) and negativity (38%).
In the final area of research, MP’s were also asked which sectors they felt were particularly political, with ‘overseas aid’ and ‘housing’ named as the two most political areas by Tory MP’s (24% and 22% respectively). The environment sector was a close third with 21%.
The rank order was also very similar for Labour MP’s, though the percentage was approximately half that of Tory MP’s (12% for ‘overseas aid’, 11% for ‘housing’ and 5% for ‘environment’). Technically, Labour MP’s saw welfare benefit charities as slightly more political than environment charities. However, it is noted in the report that given the size of the sample, this was probably only one or two MP’s in real terms.
The Implications
The public are broadly supportive of campaigning by charities
From the research, all the evidence suggests that the public are, at worst, indifferent to charities campaigning and at best see it as an important and legitimate part of the charities’ work. So, a charity should not necessarily keep away from campaigning just because they think their donors won’t like it.
Journalists are neutral about campaigning and ‘being political’
Journalists also appear to be broadly relaxed about charities campaigning and indeed, about political, in the sense of supporting, opposing or developing government policy. According to the research, this is partly because journalists have a vested interest in charities’ campaigning, as it provides good stories. However, when campaigns cross the line and become party political, very few of them are supportive.
Language is Vital
The report highlights the importance of language and correct interpretation. For example, for some journalists and particularly some MPs, ‘charities being political’ may be considered synonymous with being party political or wedded to a particular ideology. For others, being ‘political’ may be as simple as campaigning on policy. With this in mind, it is important for any charity operating in this area to make use of their language with great care when campaigning, and to remember to always make sure campaigns are evidence-based and relevant to its cause and its beneficiaries.
It’s not just Tory MPs who have a problem with charities being ‘political’
While it is true that Tory MP’s are overwhelmingly negative about charities being political, it is also true that other MP’s are at best, ambivalent. For example only 16% of Labour MP’s are positive about it, along with just 8% of Lib Dems. Based on this, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that very few MP’s actually want charities to be political. Then again, there is also no evidence to suggest that charities actually want to be political; rather, they simply wish to change the policies that affect their beneficiaries.
Has the political climate among Lib Dems been misread?
The research also suggested that seeing the Lib Dems as proponents of ‘freedom to campaign’ for charities might be out of date. Perhaps, it is thought, their perspective has changed as a result of being in government and being the target of charity campaigners. Indeed, the last few years in power seems to have made them much more wary of charities and their campaigners. Perhaps this is one reason why the recent Lobbying Bill has gotten as far as it has.
Clickhere for a full version of the report.
Phi in Numbers August 2014
For this month’s edition of our database update, we have decided to survey donations made to Arts/Culture related causes from the year 2010 to 2013, and compare this with some earlier analysis on donations made to the Arts between the years 2008 to 2009.
It should be noted that these statistics are based on donations as they appear in Phi, and as such they are not necessary representative of the wider giving sector as a whole.
In our earlier analysis, we found that numbers of donations generally appear less frequently as the banding of the donation (the donation size) increases. This was to be expected, however, there was a notable exception in the £10,000-£14,999 banding and also the £20,000-£49,999 banding featured below, which could provide an indication of the donations that many organisations typically look for.
Below, we have included an updated breakdown of donations to this activity type according to donation size (£). It should be noted that where an exact donation amount was not included, we have instead used the gift band-lower amount, while donations with a gift band upper have been excluded, in order to provide a more accurate picture of donation amounts (£).
As is demonstrated by the above graph, this is relatively consistent with our earlier analysis of donations to arts causes in Phi, however it is interesting to note that there appears to have been a steady increase in the number of donations in the £20,000-£49,999 bracket, while the number of publicised donations in the £15,000-£19,999 bracket have remained relatively low compared with other bandings year on year.
Profile: The Jane Hodge Foundation
Formed in 1962, this foundation was founded by Sir Julian Hodge, who was a London born entrepreneur and merchant banker.
Although born in London, he grew up and spent the majority of his life South Wales, after moving to the town of Pontllanfraith with his family at the age of five. After leaving school, he got his first job as an assistant in a chemist’s shop, before joining the Great Western Railway as a junior clerk in 1920.
Whilst there, he also began studying accountancy in his spare time and by the year 1930, he had qualified as a corporate accountant. He continued to work for the railway when, in 1934, he went into business for himself, building up a substantial portfolio of audit and insurance businesses.
Julian finally left his position with the railway in 1941 and by the end of the Second World War, his already substantial business interests had increased further. He bought up garages and sold cars by hire purchase and he also became a Director of a large number of other companies, earning himself a reputation as a combative leader and ‘boardroom agitator’.
His business interests continued to expand, and in 1961 he floated his own company, in the process becoming a paper millionaire. Julian reportedly celebrated this by taking his wife to one of his own cinemas for the evening.
Some years later, the Hodge Group was sold to Standard Chartered Bank for £43m, and fortuitously for him, the sale took place just before the onset of the ‘fringe banks’ crisis of 1973, a stroke of luck he considered to be something of a ‘guardian angel’ in light of the much reduced sum who would otherwise have received for its sale. He remained in his position as Chairman of the company.
The Jane Hodge Foundation (named after his mother) was established in 1962 under the supervision of Sir Isaac Wolfson, who was also a financier and philanthropist. Broadly, the foundation was established in order to support religious and educational causes as well as children and the elderly.
For the financial year ending the 31st of October 2012, the trust reported an income of £815,293 and an expenditure of £946,531. Factary Phi holds 58 records of donations made to various organisations since 2006 worth a minimum of £383,388.
According to Phi, the average size of donations made by the trust is £9,830 and the largest proportion of these donations have been made to causes associated with Health (20), followed by Education/Training (10), Children/Youth (6), Arts/Culture (4), Elderly (4), Disability (4), Animals (4), Welfare (2), Religious Activities (1), Development/Housing/Employment (1), Environment (1) and International Development (1).
The Trustees
Derrek Jones
Derrek Jones is a Director of Glenside Developments Ltd however based on his age and lack of any other current Directorships, we believe him to be retired. He is a Trustee of the Lisvane Community Association and the Sir Julian Hodge Charitable Association.
Ian Davies
Ian Davies is a Partner with the law firm Eversheds LLP where he specialises in pension’s related law and the establishing and running pension schemes. He is a Trustee of the Rhoddwyr Trust.
Jonathan Hodge
Julian’s son, Jonathan Hodge is a Director of Julian Hodge Finance Ltd and a large number of related companies. He represents the family’s interest on the Boards of both Hodge Life and Julian Hodge Bank and he is a Trustee of The Sir Julian Hodge Charitable Trust.
Karen Hodge
Karen Hodge is married to Jonathan and alongside her husband, she is a Director of The Sterling Club Ltd and The Pound Club Ltd.
Adrian Piper
Adrian Piper is a board member and non-executive Director of Hodge Lifetime. Before holding this position he worked for the Bank of England where he was its Agent for Wales. He is a Director of the Carlyle Trust Ltd, Hodge Life Assurance Co Ltd and the Julian Hodge Bank Ltd.
Keith James OBE
Keith James OBE is a non-executive Director and Chairman of Hodge Life and he is also Chairman of Julian Hodge Bank, Admiral Insurance Company and Confused.com. Prior to this, he has held Directorships with the Admiral Group, Atlantic Venture Capital, Bank of Wales, Axa Insurance, HTV and International Greetings. He was also Chairman of Eversheds LLP and he was awarded an OBE in 2005 for services to business and the community in Wales.
Alun Bowen
Alun Bowen is a board member of Hodge Lifetime where he is Chairman of its risk and conduct committee. He is also a non-executive director of Julian Hodge Bank. Prior to this, he worked for KPMG where he was Managing Partner of KPMG in Kazakhstan and also a Senior Partner with the same firm in Wales.