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Philanthropy manifesto demands £30m IT investment fund

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 1 Jul 2009

The government should establish a £30m fund to boost internet technologies for the charity sector, according to a manifesto released this week.

The Community Foundation Network (CFN) has released its long-awaited Manifesto for Community Philanthropy, which calls on government to create a ‘Philanthropy Infrastructure Investment Fund’ to invest in those projects aiming to increase giving levels, but also to introduce new philanthropic tax breaks and bank account types.

While the manifesto reports that the number of significant donors to charities has continued to rise throughout the recession, CFN says it is critical that the government makes several legislative changes and consider a number of initiatives in order to make giving easier and boost the culture of giving.

The Philanthropy Infrastructure Investment Fund is one of the cornerstones of the manifesto, with CFN suggesting the £30m grant and loan fund should be bankrolled by the proposed Social Investment Bank. The proposed fund would invest in the development of internet technologies to make giving easier for donors and online operations more available to a wider range of charities.

Specialised philanthropic bank accounts, where donors could ‘save to give’, is another proposal put forward in the manifesto, which suggests that retail banks currently offer inadequate services and niche banks, such as CAF Bank, have failed to live up to expectation.

Tax breaks

Tax reform is another major theme of the manifesto, with the authors calling on government to reconsider gift aid changes and the introduction of lifetime legacies. It also calls for the development of ‘special giving zones’, wherein donors are given tax breaks for donating to specified deprived areas or particular causes.

As CFN chair Matthew Bowcock (pictured) revealed in a previous issue of PF, the network is also pushing for greater education around philanthropy at school level.

A spokesman told PF that CFN is already in consultation with the Office of Third Sector about the recommendations in the manifesto.

The recommendations are now open for public consultation. Interested parties can read the manifesto here and are encouraged to respond to its suggestions before the deadline of 31 July, 2009.

The final document should be released in September or October. 

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