‘We are in trouble if more people don’t get involved in philanthropy’ 

22 Feb 2017 News

John Nickson author of Our Common Good

Charities need to encourage more people to get involved in giving and volunteering “if society is to meet challenges ahead of us”, says the author of a new book. 

Our Common Good: if the state provides less, who will provide more?, by John Nickson, looks at the changing role of the relationship between the state and society. 

Speaking to Civil Society News about his book which is released this week, Nickson said: “I think our present circumstances and the challenges we face require absolutely everybody to think about their relationship with society.”

Nickson, who has been responsible for fundraising at the British Council, English National Opera and others, said the book follows on from his first one – Giving is Good for You – which looked at why more people don’t give to charity. 

He said that when the welfare state was first created “90 per cent of people said there was no need for charity” but that has proven not be the case. 

He said that because “British voters are not willing to vote for any party that will increase taxation,” “the state needs to rethink its role”. 

This means it should an “enabler” not a “provider”. 

Nickson said that there have been problems where larger charities have taken on more public service delivery. But he said that there were examples of where it works well, and that in these cases the contract has been “on the terms of the charity and not the public authority”. 

‘No increase in giving’ 

He warned that more people needed to be involved in donating and volunteering for charity “to meet the challenges ahead”. 

Nickson said that while society has got richer, “there is no real evidence that charitable giving has increased in the last 30 years" and that “unless it does we are in trouble”. 

Part of this means businesses having a CSR policy that responds to its “customers and employees” he said. 

Role for community foundations 

He said the word “philanthropy” does “not resonate with most people” but that “actually anybody can be a philanthropist – it is about time and commitment”. 

He added that community foundations could play more of a role in getting people involved.

“At the moment community foundations focus on major donors but there is a role for community foundations in reaching the wider public,” he said.

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