Tips on giving

Donor Q&A

Each edition of our quarterly magazine, Giving Insights, addresses a common donor question. Here is a selection:

• How can I meet other donors with the same interests as me?
• How do I stop funding a charity?
• Should I fund a charity for more than one year?
• If I support a large charity, will I achieve less impact?
• What should I think about when giving in a recession?
• Should I set up a charitable trust?
• Why should I support a charity that runs campaigns instead of helping people directly?
• Should I use admin costs as a way of assessing charities?

Good giving principles

There are several principles you can follow to make the most of your charitable giving. For example:

• Choose charities based on their results.
• Keep your engagement with charities ‘light touch’.
• Fund whole organisations rather than projects.
• Think about what's appropriate for the amount you're giving.
• Provide multi-year support, rather than giving a one-off donation.
• Pay for charities to evaluate their results.

Tax-efficient giving

Finally, it is important to give in a tax-efficient way to increase the value of your donation.