A fellowship of up to 1,000 local philanthropists will be encouraged and supported by a £750,000 grant from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.

This fellowship will involve donor networking, education and joint-funding initiatives, all of which is designed to get donors speaking to each other about philanthropy and act as advocates for philanthropy in their local communities.

Time to Give is the result of a donation from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation to the Community Foundation Network and coincides with the Foundation’s 50th anniversary. The fellows who get involved in Time to Give will be supported by their local community foundations.

Matthew Bowcock (pictured), chief executive of the Community Foundation Network, said, “Time to Give represents for us an opportunity to make best practices in philanthropy and donor networking accessible to a broad range of givers, large and small.

“In this sense we hope that Fairbairn Fellows will become champions for philanthropy in their areas and actively support their local community or wider society. It is exciting evidence of a developing culture of philanthropy in the UK.”

Esmee Fairbairn chief executive Dawn Austwick, meanwhile, said that the foundation hoped that the initiative could prompt a new era in British philanthropy.