Opinion

Time to teach young about giving

Fundraising | Matthew Bowcock | 9 Mar 2009

Britain lags far behind America in terms of a giving culture, so it’s about time we started actively teaching lessons in philanthropy in schools says Matthew Bowcock.

Britain collectively donated a staggering £10.6bn last year, so in spite of the economic climate the shutters are far from down on charitable giving.

In our experience this is because philanthropists who engage with their local community are driven by the need of the beneficiaries rather than the values of their stocks. In times of crisis, need goes up, therefore, so does the desire of philanthropists to help out.

But before we get too self-congratulatory, we should remind ourselves that Britain still lags far behind North America when it comes to a culture of giving.

For too many people in the UK, charity remains at best a gut response to crisis – a tsunami, a hurricane etc – at worst, a means by which government seeks to offload its responsibilities.

So how do we go about changing the culture of giving in this country? Time and again, the answer comes back to education.

Teachers often say of their students: “if they hear, they forget; if they see, they remember; but if they do, they understand”. This sentiment is core to community foundations: what changes the occasional impulsive charitable giver into a fully fledged strategic philanthropist is the ability to ‘do’, to see up close and where possible directly work with the beneficiaries.

This is the model which we should be aiming to apply in our schools.

Just as a number of schools now entrust pupils with real money and encourage them to market test entrepreneurial ideas, so schools should hone their pupils’ social entrepreneurial instincts with real money and real beneficiaries.

The Institute for Philanthropy recently finished a successful ten school UK pilot of the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI). The scheme gives secondary school students hands-on experience of philanthropy as they explore the social needs of their local communities. Each small team picks the charity they believe is best placed to make a positive contribution and, having learned how to carry out basic due diligence, pupils visit their chosen organisation to interview staff and beneficiaries. Pupils then present the reasons their proposed charity is most deserving of support. The group judged to have made the best presentation in each school is granted £3,000 to award to their charity.

An independent evaluation of the programme found: “The overwhelming feedback from students is one of enthusiasm for and interest in YPI and this way of learning.”

Pupils and teachers alike are very motivated by the fact YPI is real, and demand for the programme is high. Thanks to the Wood Family Trust and Credit Suisse, as well as the Canadian founders of YPI, the Toskan Casale Foundation, the programme is expanding fast.

The Community Foundation Network is drawing up a manifesto for philanthropy over the next few weeks and months. In our view the opportunities for young people to learn in this way are significant, and when and it comes to changing the culture of giving in Britain teaching is all very well, but ‘doing’ is what will actually make the difference.

Matthew Bowcock is chair of the Community Foundation Network.

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