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Applause for new research centre

Fundraising | 10 Oct 2008

A new centre dedicated to research into charitable giving trends and third sector issues has, after a long process of consultation, finally opened in London.

The Economic and Social Research Council’s Research Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy, is part of a £2.2m research programme funded by the government and the third sector.

Housed in the Cass Business School, in Islington, the centre will act as a hub for a number of different research initiatives which will be investigated by teams from the univerisities of Strathclyde, Southampton, Kent and Edinburgh.

Initial projects will include work on international giving, trends in family foundations and trends in corporate and trust giving.

“The launch of the centre for charitable giving and philanthropy couldn’t have come at a more important time. With the economic turmoil going on around us, it seems to me that this is a particularly important moment,” said Phil Hope, minister for the third sector (pictured).

“We need to better understand some of the fundamental questions about giving. There’s still a lot of untapped potential.”

Adrian Allsop, ESRC director of research, said the centre will be looking to produce sustainable results.

“We will embark on a long-term effort to make sure we have the capability to understand the sector not just now but for years to come, so we get an accumulation of knowledge rather than just a snapshot picture which might be out of date in a few months.”

Centre co-director Professor Cathy Pharoah called for members of the third sector to communicate with the centre to ascertain what type of research is needed.

“If the centre is going to be successful it will be based on a two-way process. It will involve the sector coming towards the centre as much as the other way.”

“We are not aiming to be a cartel. We are an open co-operative,” added co-director Prof Jenny Harrow.  

Suggestions for research topics

At the centre’s official opening on 1 October, an audience of academics and representatives from foundations and charities voiced support for the centre, and also suggested a number of issues that could be investigated.

Ideas included whether the push to transparency encourages more giving, why people elect not to give and research into giving trends in other parts of the world.

Geoff Mulgan, director of the Young Foundation, said historically there has been a reluctance to investigate philanthropy.

He said: “There have been some globally strong strands of the foundation world that are still uncomfortable with too much analysis, too much intellectualism and too much theory.”

However, Mulgan asserted, there is a move across the world towards funding greater research into charitable giving and philanthropy.

Earlier this year, Prof Harrow expressed frustation at the length of time it had taken to shore up the funding contracts for the centre, but conceded there was a need for the process to be thorough.

Funding for the centre is provided by the Scottish Government, Office of the Third Sector, ESRC and the Carnegie Trust and is secured for five years.

Hope said it is expected the centre will bring in its own funders before 2013 to make the facility sustainable in the long term.

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