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Data, re-valued

Posted on by Chris

LevelBusiness is a new website that contains copies of the accounts of the 2.4 million companies registered with Companies House. It is free to access and includes simple, clear, easy-to-use search and tracking tools.

It contains, in other words, the same data that we would normally pay Companies House to see. More tellingly, it contains the same data that Bureau van Dijk and ICC offer, at purchase prices ranging from a few pounds to thousands of pounds per annum.

LevelBusiness form part of the shift from data itself as a business asset to data manipulation, data sharing, and leadership in data discovery as the assets.

A few nonprofits are moving in this direction too, using their knowledge of a humanitarian emergency or an environmental disaster to create stories that supporters can follow (for example, MSF). Or to provide useful summary information on a specific situation or condition (for example Drugs for Neglected Diseases)

But there is a long tail of organisations in Europe who could develop valuable data tools building on what they know from their work on the street or in the field. LevelBusiness is showing us why; it is data manipulation, data sharing and leadership in data that counts.

State-controlled Spanish foundations ‘cannot invest in business’?

Posted on by Chris

Professor Barbacid ‘halts research into lung cancer treatment’

That was the headline in El País, 4th May 2011. Professor Barbacid is one of the leading cancer researchers in the world, brought back to Spain from the USA with the promise of a substantial research centre, and funding.

He is Director of the National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO, www.cnio.es) where he and his team have discovered that a specific cell protein could be used as the target for drug treatments for lung cancer. The results were published in Cancer Cell, April 2011. The next step, of course, is to develop the drug treatments.

Prof Barbacid proposed the creation of an entity that combined commercial and foundation interests, in order to attract the €10m he estimates that is required to develop a pharmaceutical treatment based on this latest discovery.

But the Ministry of Science and Innovation has told him, according to El País, that:

a state-controlled foundation cannot establish agreements which would imply its participation in a [profit-making] company.

This is, plainly, rubbish. A number of other state-controlled foundations – ranging from Spain’s largest museum, El Prado, to Spain’s universities – have shares in businesses.

Worse, it’s a brake on the development of different, new financial models for foundations in Spain. Spain desperately needs to renovate its foundation sector – and may do so soon, with a proposal to split savings banks into bank + foundation – but this type of bureaucratic intervention simply slows that process down.

Major Donors – the Keys to Success

Posted on by Chris

Martine Godefroid, Managing Director of Factary Europe, gave a seminar on major donor fundraising at the Belgian National Fundraising conference on 5th April 2011. Martine’s seminar focused on defining, understanding and approaching strategic donors, and included a valuable overview of the situation of individual philanthropy in Belgium.

Download a copy of the presentation here.

The seriously philanthropic

Posted on by Chris

Our latest analysis of Factary Phi, our online database of donors and supporters of UK nonprofits, shows more than £12 billion (£12,895 million) in donations of £1m or more. In total we’ve identified 658 gifts at this level.

Education and international development are leading recipients of £1m+ gifts. We’ve identified more than £3.1 billion in gifts of £1m+ to education, and more than £2.4 billion to international development charities in the UK. Children’s causes (£1.4 billion) and health (£1.1 billion) are other main recipients of £1m+ gifts.

For more information, get in touch with us.

Diligence and due diligence

Posted on by Chris

The media storm over the LSE’s gift from Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation – the story is explained in detail by LSE here – is an example of one of the many difficulties in running a due diligence process. Before the gift was accepted, the prospect research team at LSE (led by Dr Karl Newton, who is one of the best researchers in the UK) will have done a very thorough piece of due diligence research on the foundation, and provided colleagues with a balanced view of the prospect.

But what they, and no-one, could have predicted at the time was that the media view of their prospect/donor would change so dramatically in just a week, late February 2011. The same has happened with other prospects and donors. A charity that accepted a donation from BP on April 19th 2010 after a due diligence process would have to think very hard when, on the 20th, Deepwater Horizon exploded.

LSE has sensibly responded by describing the due diligence process that they went through before accepting the gift. They have been able to do so in part because of the diligence of their prospect research team, who, diligently, record and date all the research they do.

Karl Newton posed this as a question in a post on 9th March 2011 on prospect-research-UK:

“As well as looking at ethical policies you should also ask yourselves the question: How would anyone know what I did in two years time?”

“…an ethical policy goes hand in hand with prospect tracking and information management: What have you done, When did you do it, Where is it?”

Due diligence means diligence in the simple, basic stuff – record keeping, tracking, histories, a good database. Worth remembering when the boss asks why you’re spending time keying data.

Trust Fundraising

Posted on by Chris

A new edition of Trust Fundraising has just been published by the Directory of Social Change including a (very) revised chapter by me, Chris, on trusts as funding partners.

In the new edition, I have emphasised partnership between trusts and nonprofits, talked about the growth of the sector (using data from Factary’s New Trust Update publication) and touched on Venture Philanthropy. I discuss (briefly – it’s only 8 pages long!) the trend toward individuals structuring their philanthropy.

The book includes research, perspectives, advice on relationships with trusts and material on foundations in the USA. At £24.95, it’s a bargain.

The Venture Philanthropists

Posted on by Chris

The UK’s venture philanthropy industry, now nine years old, is worth more than £1.5 billion and provides more than £50 million in support for nonprofits, according to a report issued today by Factary.

But who are the people behind this new wave in philanthropy?

Factary’s report, ‘The Venture Philanthropists – A Review of Venture Philanthropy funds in the UK and the people behind them,’ focuses on the 135 trustees, donors, patrons and board members in the UK VP sector, including brief biographies on each. Over half of the trustees come from the financial sector – with 29% coming from the private equity industry, a key target audience for many nonprofits. Many are wealthy – we identify more than £5.2 billion in personal wealth in the report.

Factary’s team has analysed the UK venture philanthropy sector, identifying the eleven key funds, reviewing their areas of interest, their finances and the people involved. We review the spectacular growth in investment income in the sector and look in detail at the £51.8m in charitable grants, loans and investments made by the sector.

The report – 70 pages of newly researched information – includes a detailed index of corporate and trust connections. The report details the trends in the sector, as well as giving background on venture philanthropy – history, definition and key features. Download a contents list here.

How to Order

To order a report email research@factary.com with your contact details. The report is available at £125 per copy.

The report is featured in UK Fundraising and there is an interview with Chris Carnie at Helen Brown Group. We’re also featured at Philanthropy UK.

Major Donor Fundraising conference, 7th Feb 2011, London

Posted on by Chris

Chris Carnie will be chairing a session at the Institute of Fundraising’s Major Donor Fundraising conference in London, 7th February 2011.

His session will include:

  • Addressing the challenges of integrating fundraising in to the heart of the organisation
  • Smaller charities: building an effective major donor strategy with a small team
  • International charities: creating specific projects suitable for major donor funding


Full details on the conference are at the Institute of Fundraising website.