Top philanthropists donations down as Dikshit tops Giving List

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 6 May 2011

The amount of money given by the UK’s top philanthropists has taken a dramatic tumble, according to the Sunday Times Giving List, to be published this weekend.

The top 100 philanthropists who comprise the Sunday Times Giving List gave £818m less this year than last, giving a total of £1.67bn. But this may not necessarily mean a spike in stinginess of the ultra-rich; the top 30 philanthropists gave a mildly larger proportion of their wealth (3.42 per cent) than in the previous year (3.22 per cent).

Indian entrepreneur Anurag Dikshit (pictured) was the most generous philanthropist in the UK, according to the List he gave away nearly five times his personal wealth, making donations of more than £172m over the course of the year. Dikshit and his wife run the Gibraltar-based Kusuma Trust, which they established in 2007. Dutchman Bart Becht was the second-highest ranked giver, with Christopher Cooper-Hohn in third place.

Charities Aid Foundation, which produced the list in association with the Sunday Times, was keen to point out that there has been growth in lower-level major gifts; the number of £1m-plus gifts over the year increased to 129 from 118 in the previous year.

Motivations surveyed

Charities, however, could be getting more from these philanthropists. A survey attached to the list, completed by 29 of the top 100 givers, found that less than two-thirds of the philanthropists, giving sums in the dozens of millions of pounds, were satisfied with the level of communication they received from the charities they support. Three of out five said that charities need to improve their communications in order to get the most out of their philanthropy.

Seeing the impact of their donation was critical to giving for the Giving List philanthropists, 89 per cent said they only give to charities which can demonstrate impact. Most also said they aimed to give strategically.

Nearly all said personal values motivated their philanthropy, followed by personal experiences (76 per cent) and the sheer enjoyment of giving (69 per cent).

Directory: Charities Aid Foundation

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