Cancer Research UK has signed up 16 high-flying philanthropists to the development board to lead its £100m fundraising campaign for the Francis Crick Institute.
The board is led by Goldman Sachs partner Charles Manby (pictured), and features leading figures from the world of finance, media, fashion and banking. Just four of the 16 philanthropists had previously been engaged with CRUK, the rest were brought on by Manby himself.
While donating to the campaign is not a pre-condition of joining the board, a spokeswoman for the charity told civilsociety.co.uk "clear terms of reference were created which include an understanding that board members will support the campaign and approach others to do the same."
Some, however, have already made "significant" donations to the campaign to support the building and operation of the Francis Crick Institute, currently under construction in Kings Cross, London, which will be the largest biomedical research facility in Europe.
The board will be working with the top brass at CRUK for the Create the Change campaign, and are tasked with opening up their contact books to the campaign. They are working on creating both their own events and inviting their existing networks to Cancer Research ones. The support for the philanthropists is intense; each of the 16 is paired with a member of the charity's major gifts team and the chair, Manby, is meeting regularly with CEO Harpal Kumar to discuss strategy.
Director of the Francis Crick Institute Sir Paul Nurse said that the Institute, which has a total price tag of £650m, will lead the world in research and specifically in shortening the timeframe between medical discovery and the release of new treatments on to the market. “But we need the funds to make this a reality which is why having such an eminent group of people to lead the fundraising campaign is so exciting,” he said.
Last year CRUK was one of two organisations to receive a £10m donation from an anonymous donor, which was earmarked for the institute.
While CRUK is the public face of the campaign, five other organisations are working together in developing the new institute and include the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, UCL, Imperial College London and King's College London.
The Create the Change board:
- Sherry Coutu CBE, entrepreneur and investor serves on finance boards of Cambridge University, CUP, Cambridge Assessment, advisory board of Linkedin.com
- Lord Fink of Northwood, CEO International Standard Asset Management; former CEO Man Group Plc.
- Michael Geoghegan CBE, former group CEO HSBC Holdings Plc.
- David Harding, founder and president Winton Capital Management
- Richard Hayden, chairman: Haymarket Financial LLP, Towerbrook Capital Partners Senior Advisory Board
- Ray Kelvin CBE, founder and CEO Ted Baker Plc.
- Dr Mike Lynch OBE FREng, co-founder Autonomy Corporation; founder Invoke Capital
- Patrick McKenna, founder and CEO Ingenious Media; chairman Hat Trick Productions
- Helena Morrissey CBE, CEO Newton Investment Management; founder 30% Club
- Lady Palumbo, founder Foreign Sisters UK; chairman The Walbrook Club
- Andrew Pisker, former group CEO e Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein; founding partner Richmond Park Partners
- Lee Portnoi, founder and former chairman/CEO TIS Group Plc.
- Sir Martin Sorrell, group CEO and founder WPP
- Mark Thompson, CEO New York Times; Former Director-General BBC
- Mark Yallop, UK group country CEO UBS; former group chief operating officer ICAP Plc.
